Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Disturbing
Review: 24 Days reads like a John Grisham novel with the (naturally) two journalists as the protaginists sifting through the piles of obfuscation to get to the truth. Ultimately, the book shows that those who raided Enron were nothing more than common crooks, con men and money grubbing amoralists whose only interest was lining their own pockets. Sadly, justice has yet to be (if it ever will) served against many who were involved and the connections between Enron and current Administration remain woefully underreported.What I can say is that the two journalists have done a great job of showing how the house of cards fell down. My only criticism, and it's a minor one, is that to the layperson, many of the financial terms will be hard to understand and the complex transactions that hid the billions in debt Enron had can be difficult to follow. Otherwise, this is highly recommended reading for people who want to know what crony capitalism is all about.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for those who didn't know much about Enron
Review: As a busy law student, I heard the hub about the Enron and Andersen demise. But I never knew the big players or how things happened. This book gave me a great background on how things unraveled. I felt as though I had read the newspaper reports on Enron from beginning to end. The authors made this book a quick-read. Despite the complexity of the Enron transactions that lead to its downfall, the authors tried to make reading comprension easier for those unfamiliar with corporate dealings and the accounting/financial industry tactics used to further Amercian business. This is a great book that underscored the importance of caution in investing, and also highlights the side of corporate America that are unrevealed to the average investor. Wonderful especially for those who didn't keep up with the scandal when it was initially unfolding.
Rating:
Summary: Great for those who didn't know much about Enron
Review: As a busy law student, I heard the hub about the Enron and Andersen demise. But I never knew the big players or how things happened. This book gave me a great background on how things unraveled. I felt as though I had read the newspaper reports on Enron from beginning to end. The authors made this book a quick-read. Despite the complexity of the Enron transactions that lead to its downfall, the authors tried to make reading comprension easier for those unfamiliar with corporate dealings and the accounting/financial industry tactics used to further Amercian business. This is a great book that underscored the importance of caution in investing, and also highlights the side of corporate America that are unrevealed to the average investor. Wonderful especially for those who didn't keep up with the scandal when it was initially unfolding.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is about the authors NOT about Enron
Review: As I read this book I kept waiting to learn something new about the Enron scandal that I hadn't already glimpsed from the media. Instead the narrative (which was intended to be breathless) is all about the two Wall Street Journal reporters' account of themselves. They write in the third person even though it is themselves that they are talking about which ultimately starts to grate. A real disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: excellent storytelling
Review: For me this was the most enjoyable of the Enron books. What struck another reviewer as a negative -- how in the dark the reporters were about what they were writings about -- struck me as well, for a different reason, namely, how worrisome it is that things that have such a gigantic effect on the market's perception of the company can be so hard to find out about. And, as that reviewer pointed out, it highlights how little the media who write about the "business world" really know about the details. (Of course, anyone who has ever read a news story about a company they work for is aware of this).
I enjoyed following the reporters' quest to find things out - the "reporter as information hero" approach. It reminded me of "All the President's Men" and the days when I respected the press as the natural adversaries of bovernment / big business, which is always stonewalling. I also found the book to be much more intelligently written than many of the other books on the subject. I also agree with the reviewer who would have liked to see more discussion of What it All Means, although it's easy to see why the authors would have regarded that subject as something no one is interested in.
Rating:
Summary: Dull and labored
Review: Forget the hype--this book is a bomb. The authors could not get access to the real players in the Enron drama, so they did what they thought was the next best thing and wrote about themselves. But who cares how the Wall Street Journal gets a story? After reading this book, you won't care either. Power Failure told the story from the inside. This book tells the story from the outside and not as well. The writing is pedestrian, the insights marginal. Avoid.
Rating: 
Summary: The Enron case from WSJ point of view....
Review: I don't deny their achievement in undercovering the con, esp. Mr. Emshwiller inital groundwork about off-balance sheet items. In fact, Pulitzer prize do recognize them. However, I would say this book is too WSJ. If you like to see a grand view of what happened and minute details of the partnership that the insider created, you will feel disappointed. If you like to see how WSJ and only WSJ role in the Enron's quamire, here is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story - But Bits Need Better Explaining
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the story of two journalists painstakingly uncovering Enron Corporation lie by lie. Brilliant insight into the little-known world of how the WSJ reporters approach major companies. This is an important read for all corporate PR departments and top managers. In today's world, exevcutives must know how to deal with the press. ... However, I am disappointed the authors didn't simplify the accounting transactions and take time to really spell them out. They could have used some illustrations to give an idea of what Enron's CFO was doing. I read the book carefully, but still can't explain to others the basics of "off-balance-sheet partnerships". So, you will find this book insightful. It is well written. The reporting has the WSJ truthfulness about it. But,I just wish they took the time to explain off-blance sheet partnerships. Many companies use them legally/ethically. So what are they? I am still not exactly sure what Enron did.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: I was surprised to find that no customer review had yet been written for this book. I picked it up recently and read it quickly. It might be beyond imagining that a story about the fall of Enron that addresses the issues of stock prices and off balance sheet transactions (and not the more gaudy, excessive, tabloidish aspects) could be made, not only readable, but compelling reading. The authors were very successful in doing so. I am not an accountant and had difficulty understanding some of the finanical manipulations engaged in by CFO Fastow and others in the Enron group. I imagine professionals in the field also had difficulty, which helped Enron Executives to hide their machinations for so long. Regardless, the authors make evident the ethically void atmosphere within which this company conducted its "business" and provide fodder for one to wonder why they still walk the streets with millions of dollars of ill-gotten gain (Mr. Lay in particular).
Rating:
Summary: Corporate Scoundrels!
Review: I'm currently working on this book and was very pleasantly surprised to read through. I did not know much outside of the broad strokes of Enron, but this quick read threw me into the world of insane off-balance sheet accounting, investigative journalism, and the personalities behind one of the most damaging corporate scandals of the last 50 years. While I'm admittedly fascinated by business books, history bores me. In fact, I usually don't finish historical non-fiction titles, but this book reads more like a Grisham novel than a text. It's a shame that the story ISN'T fiction, it's certainly surreal. Jason Madhosingh
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