MS Speaks

For decades Elizabeth Warren has been fighting for the interests of ordinary Americans, the people who are often hardest hit by the predatory practices of banks and large corporations. In this book she tells her life story, with an emphasis on how she developed her zeal for defending and insuring the rights of consumers.

It hasn't always been easy for her. Obstructionist tactics have been used against her by politicians and lobbyists representing the entrenched interests of the powerful banking industry. She doesn't whine about having been victimized repeatedly but what comes through in her book is that changing or designing legislation and organizing teams of people who will support and promote it are jobs that take patience and perseverance--and toughness.

There was a time when she was attacked for having falsely claimed Native American ancestry in order to gain an advantage academically. Though she doesn't come up with definitive proof of her Native American background, she makes a very persuasive case for it--and unequivocally states that she never used it for her own advancement.

While giving details about her own life and career, the book also provides some excellent discussion of the appallingly powerful banking industry--the banks that have been "too big too fail" have also been "too big to jail," as she puts it.

Moreover, this recorded book was narrated by the author herself. She is one very impressive person. She blows her own horn sometimes in this book, but she's one of the few people on the contemporary scene who probably ought to be blowing her own horn even louder. More power to her.