Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It

After two books (The Proving Ground and Hooked), Bruce Knecht has quickly become one of my favourite authors. Unfortunately, his output isn't high - so when I received his new book in the mail, I took comfort while it sat on bookshelf unread, knowing that I still had it ahead of me.

Grand Ambition tells the story of the construction of a mega-yacht in a global economy responding to the financial crisis. The book uses the yacht to examine the wealth divide in the United States during a politically turbulent time in which Obama became President. Knecht is not wedded to any particular ideology. He shows great sympathy for all of the people involved in the story regardless of their income. Once again, the author has done a fantastic job and show more has proven his versatility as a non fiction writer. While his previous books have had moments of action and suspense, this stands alone as an insightful social commentary. Does wealth drive employment for the working class, or simply take advantage of it? show less

Highly entertaining, true story about the building of a very large yacht as the back drop. The real story is the intersection of the very wealthy couple who commissioned it, and the builder (yard) and their employees who built it. The financial crisis of 2008-2009 and it's impact is on display as unwelcome to disruption to all.