The rising tide of cheap credit, default credit swaps, and other contributors to the continuing global financial crisis are, for most of us, too complex to grasp. But author and finance journalist Lewis knows how to explain those intricacies, even if it requires coming up with characters so weird and cartoonish they almost certainly had to be faked. They weren't. Readers will meet a bright monk who figured out how to play Greek capitalism to save his failing monastery and a cod fisherman who, with three days training, became a currency trader for an Icelandic bank. His book has that rare combination of traits: educational and entertaining. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)