Rating: 
Summary: just plain bad
Review: jmurphy is right; this is just a bad imitation of Catch-22. It's not funny, interesting, or insightful
Rating: 
Summary: poor mans catch-22
Review: mr bronson certainly does a good job in finding bizarre elements of the bond industry, and stretching them to ludicrous levels.
the securitization of a third world country is
certainly memorable , but i feel that he owes most
of his laughs to joe heller,and the constant catch-22-like characters and situations which he creates.
for lisa lisa read major major!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent...Hits close (almost too close) to home
Review: Not only is this a hysterical depiction of the finance-bond world.. but it's quite accurate for the sales profession in general. Bronson captures the panic and off-the-wall anxieties found in high stakes sales people. Dare I say, I learned from it, finding "alternative" people management skills and techniques. Now, if only they would work..
Rating:
Summary: Nothing short of terrific
Review: Po Bronson is one of the best contemporary writers in America today. In all of his fiction he attempts to blend topical commentary with humor wrapped in a strong narative. In my opinion, with Bombardiers he was most successful. Although he is more known for his books on Silicon Valley culture, don't overlook this one! Bombardiers is an extremely funny, easy read with fun characters and an engaging plot. I actually read Catch-22 after this book and knowing it was an homage made me enjoy Catch all the more!The side-plot of creating a trading market around breakfast was not only hilarious, but also brilliantly clever. If you enjoy reading about the creativity, anxiety, and outright insanity born out of extremely high pressure environments (like WWII pilots, or Wall St. Trading...)you'll love Bombadiers.
Rating:
Summary: Witty, Engaging Satire
Review: Po does a great job sending up the various players of the financial world. For the cynical set, this is a must read full of hilariously troubled characters and wonderful language. He reminds me a little of T. Coreghesan Boyle with Eggs Igino as the prototypical fish (shark?) out of water. Bronson's *The First $20 Million Is Always the Easiest* is excellent as well.
Rating:
Summary: Pathetically awful
Review: Po must have been a very stupid bond trader, because only a loser could write such a terribly dull book
Rating: 
Summary: Hacked
Review: Po's story about the world of investing kept me entertained. The characters are engaging and the prose, although not jumping off the page, is good. Bombardiers is readable, there's just one problem: Catch 22's been done already. This novel is a complete hack from motif right down to the loopy dialogue. pass.
Rating:
Summary: Hacked
Review: Po's story about the world of investing kept me entertained. The characters are engaging and the prose, although not jumping off the page, is good. Bombardiers is readable, there's just one problem: Catch 22's been done already. This novel is a complete hack from motif right down to the loopy dialogue. pass.
Rating:
Summary: Fragmented and uneven
Review: Sid Geeder is a "bombardier", an investment banker who spends every waking moment working for the Atlantic Pacific Corporation. When he's not working, he's thinking about work. Stressed beyond his limits, the only thing that keeps him going is knowing that he only has nine months before he can cash in his stock options, and retire at the age of thirty-four. But Sid isn't the only trader with problems. Eggs Igino is the newcomer to the team, and he worships Sid as a mentor. As he tries to get the hang of life on the trading floor, Eggs finds he may be in over his head. Gorgeous Lisa Lisa may be a good trader in her own right, but she constantly encounters difficulties as she tries to make it in a man's world while hoping to find true love. And when Coyote Jack suddenly becomes unable to pronounce a single number without stuttering, he finds himself managing this team of money-hungry, dysfunctional employees. BOMBARDIERS moves at lightning speed, but despite the fast pace of the novel, the story falls flat. Perhaps it's because the characters don't seem real enough. They don't evolve, change, or grow over the course of the novel. Or perhaps the fault lies in the overuse of investment jargon and the utter focus on the life of a day-trader, all of which loses steam after the first hundred pages. Po Bronson drew on his own experience as a day trader to write this book, and it shows. His knowledge of the business is unquestionable, but BOMBARDIERS would have been a much more engaging book had he limited the number of essays on bond sales, and focused more on plot and characterization. Sudden and frequent point of view changes also left me dazed, and I often had to backtrack and re-read entire paragraphs to figure out what was happening. A fragmented, uneven look at the world of investment banking, BOMBARDIERS falls short of an intriguing read.
Rating:
Summary: Fragmented and uneven
Review: Sid Geeder is a "bombardier", an investment banker who spends every waking moment working for the Atlantic Pacific Corporation. When he's not working, he's thinking about work. Stressed beyond his limits, the only thing that keeps him going is knowing that he only has nine months before he can cash in his stock options, and retire at the age of thirty-four. But Sid isn't the only trader with problems. Eggs Igino is the newcomer to the team, and he worships Sid as a mentor. As he tries to get the hang of life on the trading floor, Eggs finds he may be in over his head. Gorgeous Lisa Lisa may be a good trader in her own right, but she constantly encounters difficulties as she tries to make it in a man's world while hoping to find true love. And when Coyote Jack suddenly becomes unable to pronounce a single number without stuttering, he finds himself managing this team of money-hungry, dysfunctional employees. BOMBARDIERS moves at lightning speed, but despite the fast pace of the novel, the story falls flat. Perhaps it's because the characters don't seem real enough. They don't evolve, change, or grow over the course of the novel. Or perhaps the fault lies in the overuse of investment jargon and the utter focus on the life of a day-trader, all of which loses steam after the first hundred pages. Po Bronson drew on his own experience as a day trader to write this book, and it shows. His knowledge of the business is unquestionable, but BOMBARDIERS would have been a much more engaging book had he limited the number of essays on bond sales, and focused more on plot and characterization. Sudden and frequent point of view changes also left me dazed, and I often had to backtrack and re-read entire paragraphs to figure out what was happening. A fragmented, uneven look at the world of investment banking, BOMBARDIERS falls short of an intriguing read.
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