Great Book. Great Narration.

Any additional comments?

I thought this book might be dry, but it was a really enjoyable narration of Senator Warren's personal story and her experiences with DC culture and her move into the political realm. I already lean towards her progressive ideas but I will say that she also cleared up some misconceptions I had about the financial crisis. Definitely worth a credit!!

19 people found this helpful

Very Listenable

In a modern era when, generally, we think so little of politicians, it is always a breath of fresh air that blows away these fetid thoughts. Elizabeth Warren is that breath. She is the fighting grandma (no disrespect intended) of my youth; the one everyone who ought to be afraid, was afraid of. My gran was as feisty as they come when she was defending something she believed in. Warren strikes me the same way. Passionate in her beliefs, personable in her presentation of them and, above all, tough as old boots.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story of her life, from a small town to the seat of power, and points in between. She is gracious when she needs to be, brutal when it's required and very, very sympathetic (unless you area Giant Bank, in which case you can take a short step of a high cliff). I enjoyed the detail of the Bail Out and the Consumer Bureau. I missed some of the detail of her life at Harvard Law School.
The best part of this autobiography is that Warren reads it herself. She has the nuances to give it a life beyond the mere words. If she ever retires, she has a new career in narration that awaits her.

6 people found this helpful

This book has "Audie" written all over it!

If you could sum up A Fighting Chance in three words, what would they be?

For the People

Who was your favorite character and why?

Elizabeth and all of those on both sides of the American political spectrum who are working for the American people.

What does Elizabeth Warren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I normally don't like it when authors narrate their own books; they tend to be very flat. Janice Ian was an exception to this rule, and Elizabeth Warren is as well. I can actually picture her teaching classes at an elementary school, or even at Harvard Law school... her inflection is fantastic!

Any additional comments?

I have NO interest in American politics and very little knowledge of the financial issues that caused the 2008 US recession. Elizabeth Warren's memoir details the work she and many others did on behalf of the American people - in studying the practices that caused people and families to go bankrupt, reporting on the causes of the 2008 financial services breakdown, and in pushing for a consumer agency that requires banks and mortgage lenders to provide plain language in contracts. But make no mistake - with very few exceptions, this is not a dry, boring, treatise on American banks. This is the story of one woman, who came from humble beginnings, who became one of the American peoples' strongest champions.

20 people found this helpful

inspiring

I didn't know just how special Elizabeth Warren is until I read this book. A go getter at an early age she gets the job done. whether you agree with her views or not, her life is inspiring and humble. What a national treasure.

3 people found this helpful

Pride! Tears! Goosebumps! G

This was an amazing book I am deeply touched, listening to this book I find myself shouting "yes" to her, agreeing with her and at the end start crying.. and she reads it with such a passion. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who's hungry for change and equality and believes in democracy!! YAY!

5 people found this helpful

Draft her for President

I'm not sure if the reason I give this book 5 stars across-the-board is because the story is so compelling, the reader is so adapt, or just the fact that I have hope for America once again. Elizabeth Warren is a rare breed of politician. Her politics and her phenomenal political rise are based solely on her passionate commitment for doing the right thing. Book about feminism and our generation, corruption and the influence of money in politics, the scandal was in the banking industry, I'm so much more. Ultimately, this book is a hero journey and a lesson for all of us about how destiny shapes our lives and how tenacity so often is ultimately declared the winner. Even conservatives Who may disagree with Elizabeth Warren will enjoy this narrative about struggle against high odds and how being given a fighting chance is so crucial to prevailing in this life.

3 people found this helpful

The fight for the middle class

Elizabeth Warren’s new autobiography reveals how her political career grew directly from a long career focused on the same issues she is championing in her public role. It is sort of a journal of how she got into the fight for the middle class. Warren spoke about growing up on the “ragged edge of the middle class” in Oklahoma. She tells about her childhood, her failed first marriage, trying to be a stay at home mom, going to school and becoming a law professor and of her successful second marriage. While a law professor she became an expert on the new changes to the bankrupt’s law. She and her students did research into causes and trends in the rash of bankruptcies in the 2000’s. She wrote articles in law journals and books telling about the problems and the pending collapse of the banks and the middle class. She blames most of the problem on the deregulation on the banking industry in the 1990s and the banking lobbyist. She tells of her work on a national oversight panel reviewing the bank bailout in 2008. She also tells about the fight for and then setting up of the Consumer financial Protection Bureau, her brainchild. She mixed policy points, with behind the scene anecdotes; she also does some big bank bashing Warren’s ability to translate complicated finance issues into plain English and parables that appeals to fair play is what rocketed her career. The book ends with her first year as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts giving us an inside glimpse at the horrible gridlock Washington is in. The book carries a message of hope that with the middle class pitching in we can put Washington into working order. Warren does a good job narrating the book.

20 people found this helpful

Excellent Book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! Elizabeth Warren is a true leader for the people, the middle class. She's a brilliant and astute humanitarian. She writes very well and I will miss her voice when I walk my dogs in the morning

What other book might you compare A Fighting Chance to and why?

Any of the biographies of FDR.

Have you listened to any of Elizabeth Warren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

NO.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it's way too long. But it hold together when listened in shorter periods.

Any additional comments?

I really love her attitude, sensitivity and general feeling for the people in this country. I look forward to watching her career in the Senate if not the White House. She represents the 'power of the people'.

9 people found this helpful

Zowie, Wowie!

In 2006, James Scurlock produced "Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit." That was the first time I'd heard of Elizabeth Warren, and what she said in that movie was meaningful for me personally. Even though I have an undergraduate degree In Business Administration and a Doctorate in Law with a Certification in Tax Law, I thought I just didn't understand finance. In the 1990's and the first 8 years of the 21st century, I could not understand what was happening in the housing and credit markets. I knew retirees on Social Security with small pensions buying half million dollar homes; single mothers working in entry level retail jobs driving new BMWs; and people who worked at Starbucks taking long Paris vacations.

How was this possible? It sure didn't fit with my business education and its fiscally conservative approach. But I wasn't working in banking or finance, so I just thought things had changed and I hadn't kept up. I stayed away from Adjustable Rate Mortgages and Cadillac SUVs, and wondered what I was missing that everyone else was buying into. Besides, I had student loans to worry about.

I wasn't missing a thing. A good portion of the country, puzzled by Byzantine mortgages and lured by (in hindsight) too-good-to-be-true car loans, were living an ersatz American dream. When I saw Warren in "Maxed Out" in 2006, I was first relieved. "I'm not an idiot!" I thought. "It doesn't make sense, and here's a Harvard Law professor pointing at the Emperor's New Clothes." My relief turned to horror by the end of the movie - Warren was certain the economy was going to tank, and two years later, it did.

Warren's "A Fighting Chance" (2014) is a biography of sorts; an explanation of how 'The Great Recession' (2008 - ?) happened; a paean to motherhood, grandmotherhood, and the importance of family; an indictment of the lack of oversight and political machinations that made 'too big to fail' possible; and common sense suggestions to help people out of financial difficulties caused not because they were stupid, but because there were a lot of people engaged in deceit, if not fraud.

Warren's Oklahoma drawl and her homespun analogies make what banks and other lenders tried to obscure in legal labyrinths understandable. In arguing for regulation, Warren talks about the "exploding toaster". As Americans, we expect the Consumer Products Commission (CPC) to warn us if a product is dangerous. Warren discusses her unflagging work in establishing the US Consumer Protection Financial Bureau to warn about "exploding loans." She also talks about the concentrated efforts of banking lobbyists to make the Bureau "for show", and to stop Warren from heading it.

The lobbyists got the second half right - Warren's not the head of the Bureau. She is, however, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). What's the right cliche? Be careful what you wish for? Warren's far more of a threat where she is, introducing bills to protect college students from excessive debt, for example - than she ever could have been as head of the Bureau.

There's been talk of a Warren presidential run in 2016, and all I can say is "I hope not!" She'd be an accidental president, as William Howard Taft - who longed for an appointment to the US Supreme Court - was. And, please - don't put her into the Vice Presidency to shut her up, or balance out a ticket. Let her do what she does best: protect the average person from financial predators. If she stays in the Senate, more support - and if she doesn't, how about Attorney General?

I guess I'm gushing more than a little here, but that's to be expected with Hero Worship ( capitalization intended). This is a great book, especially if you are wondering how the world's greatest economy suddenly ended up on the short list for the train to 'hell in a hand basket.'

29 people found this helpful

Now I know Elizabeth Warren...

I am very impressed with this book and effort by Elizabeth Warren to share her story. I have huge respect for what she has done. Wonderful American experience and commitment to fairness for all.

2 people found this helpful