The Lehman Trilogy

A Novel

By: Stefano Massini

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Magnificent in scope, internationally lauded, and transcendent, the novel in verse that inspired the sensational West End and Off-Broadway play of the same name. The Lehman Trilogy follows the epic rise and fall of three generations of that infamous family and through them tells the story of American ambition and hubris.

After leaving his native Bavaria, Henry Lehman arrives in America determined to make a better life. Sensing opportunity in the Deep South, he opens a textile shop in Alabama, laying the foundation for a dynasty that will come to dominate and define modern capitalism. Emanuel and his brother Mayer begin investing in anything and everything that will turn a profit, from cotton to coal to railroads to oil to airplanes—even at the expense of the very nation that forged them.

Spanning three generations and 150 years, The Lehman Trilogy is a moving epic that dares to tell the story of modern capitalism through the saga of the Lehman brothers and their descendants. Surprising and exciting, brilliant and inventive, Stefano Massini’s masterpiece—like Hamilton—is a story of immigration, ambition, and success; it is the story of America itself from a daring and original perspective.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Drama and Poetry

A three-generation tale expertly told in verse. I don’t think that I would have gotten as much out of the text if I had read the book rather than listened to this exquisitely read audiobook. Bravo!

Worth a listen!

Interesting historical time-line. The narrator was good at keeping the characters straight. nut bombastic at times.

Uniformly Interesting, but NOT Great

I’ve now “read” the novel and seen the play.

I find the story interesting and worth the effort, but I do not find either to be excellent.

I get the multi-generational story with great success in the early generations, conventional huge success in the next generations, and then lost generations as the years pass, with busted up marriages and straying ways.

The story sorta bores me after this. But here it is in a Jewish version. Not sure what I’m to carry away with it. The drama is very predictable, I fear. One day maybe the plot will go in directions I wouldn’t have guessed.

I’m glad I’ve read it, but not overly so.

I realize the actual and final downfall of Lehman Bank was due to the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Mighta been worth it to go the extra steps to tie the decline of the Lehmans to the later final decline of the institution.

Oh well - a Kaddish and out is sufficient.

Flawless

A terrific tour de force of great writing, perfect translation, and magnificent performance. I both read and listened to this book, and was really taken with the narration which so captured the spirit of this book.

Unadulterated triple crown winner in the Audible universe

To the writer: massini
The translator: Dixon
The narrator: ballerini

It is a modern classic; and it will age well with time