The Richest Woman In America: The Life And Times Of Hetty Green (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
A fascinating book that weaves US history together with the personal history of Hetty Green. There is even a short piece about the Wizard of Oz and finances/symbolism. The author gives us a more positive view of Hetty and debunks some of the legends about her..such as she let her son lose his leg because she was so stingy.. Not true. Hetty lived in our village of Bellows Falls and is buried there, so many of us here have a keen interest in her life and times..I grew weary of hearing of financial reports, since I am not an admirer or fan of financial dealings.. I guess since it's the story of Hetty Green we needed all the information about how finances work, and their history during Hetty's time.. but like one reviewer here, I wanted the story to focus more on Hetty herself. Still, one can learn a lot from this book This book was an enjoyable read, and I felt the author brought a valuable perspective to the life story of Hetty Green, who has often been portrayed in grotesque ways by previous biographers. Wallach made strong connections between the foolishness of investors in past financial crises and similar errors that brought on the current recession. She consciously compared the wisdom of Green with salient comments from contemporary economists about the crises of today. I call this type of biography "history lite," because the author was less interested in footnoting and documentation than in her sometimes florid descriptions of the how the wealthy lived in Manhattan in the Gilded Age.
What do You think about The Richest Woman In America: The Life And Times Of Hetty Green (2012)?
I'm glad I found out she wasn't just the miserly old woman I had heard about.
—patriciamorris
Read about 20 pages of it, wasn't interested in finishing the book ...
—Ldedison
Good historical look at New York and surrounding communities.
—jmacagnone
