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Trust Me: Charles Keating and the Missing Billions
Jesse James. Willie Sutton. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. Charles Keating.
Charles Keating?
In the pantheon of Americans who have removed from banks what wasn't theirs, Charles Keating stands tall. Over $2 billion tall, to be exact. When the money disappeared from his Lincoln Savings & Loan, now collapsed, Charles Keating was accused of promulgating the largest bank failure in U.S. history.
In Trust Me, the bizarre world of Keating is revealed in a financial farce that reads like a collaboration written by Robert Penn Warren, Sinclair Lewis, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. See Keating battle Larry Flynt over pornography, give millions to Mother Teresa, and lose $100,000 at a craps table. Watch Keating contribute $1.4 million to five U.S. senators, build a $300 million hotel in the middle of the desert, and toss paper clips into the open mouth of his sleeping heir. Witness armies of federal regulators desperately try to piece together the methods, madness, and mystique of Charles Keating in brave attempts to nab him amid his great adventure.
Through it all, Keating has never confessed, begged for mercy, or recanted. Facing over five hundred years in prison, he remains defiant, an American original, a patriot who believes he did nothing wrong. Greed and power should be rewarded, not condemned; Keating simply used the rules to win.
Novelistic, captivating, and powerful, Trust Me is a brilliant morality tale about the American way - a red, white, and blue testament to piety and corruption run wild.
Charles Keating?
In the pantheon of Americans who have removed from banks what wasn't theirs, Charles Keating stands tall. Over $2 billion tall, to be exact. When the money disappeared from his Lincoln Savings & Loan, now collapsed, Charles Keating was accused of promulgating the largest bank failure in U.S. history.
In Trust Me, the bizarre world of Keating is revealed in a financial farce that reads like a collaboration written by Robert Penn Warren, Sinclair Lewis, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. See Keating battle Larry Flynt over pornography, give millions to Mother Teresa, and lose $100,000 at a craps table. Watch Keating contribute $1.4 million to five U.S. senators, build a $300 million hotel in the middle of the desert, and toss paper clips into the open mouth of his sleeping heir. Witness armies of federal regulators desperately try to piece together the methods, madness, and mystique of Charles Keating in brave attempts to nab him amid his great adventure.
Through it all, Keating has never confessed, begged for mercy, or recanted. Facing over five hundred years in prison, he remains defiant, an American original, a patriot who believes he did nothing wrong. Greed and power should be rewarded, not condemned; Keating simply used the rules to win.
Novelistic, captivating, and powerful, Trust Me is a brilliant morality tale about the American way - a red, white, and blue testament to piety and corruption run wild.
420 pages, Hardcover
First published June 29, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 12, 2015
Jesse James. Willie Sutton. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. Charles Keating.
Charles Keating?
In the pantheon of Americans who have removed from banks what wasn't theirs, Charles Keating stands tall. Over $2 billion tall, to be exact. When the money disappeared from his Lincoln Savings & Loan, now collapsed, Charles Keating was accused of promulgating the largest bank failure in U.S. history.
In Trust Me, the bizarre world of Keating is revealed in a financial farce that reads like a collaboration written by Robert Penn Warren, Sinclair Lewis, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. See Keating battle Larry Flynt over pornography, give millions to Mother Teresa, and lose $100,000 at a craps table. Watch Keating contribute $1.4 million to five U.S. senators, build a $300 million hotel in the middle of the desert, and toss paper clips into the open mouth of his sleeping heir. Witness armies of federal regulators desperately try to piece together the methods, madness, and mystique of Charles Keating in brave attempts to nab him amid his great adventure.
Through it all, Keating has never confessed, begged for mercy, or recanted. Facing over five hundred years in prison, he remains defiant, an American original, a patriot who believes he did nothing wrong. Greed and power should be rewarded, not condemned; Keating simply used the rules to win.
Novelistic, captivating, and powerful, Trust Me is a brilliant morality tale about the American way - a red, white, and blue testament to piety and corruption run wild.
Quite honestly one of the very best narratives I have ever come across - fiction, non-fiction or otherwise. I was taken aback actually at how incredibly good this book was when I first read it in 1995. Since then, I have honestly owned 3-4 copies and re-read the book at least a dozen times - literally a dozen times minimum. It's that good.
Why would a book about Charles Keating and his exploits during the S&L crisis be THAT good - in fact HOW could it be that good? To most, this sounds like the dryest topic you could possibly conjure up. Well, first off, I am a Finance Guy. I was a Finance Freak at 12 years old, I was when I read this at 20 years old, and I literally just ordered a fourth copy from Amazon (I keep misplacing the books during moves - it was only printed in two hard-cover runs and never in paperback nor has it been digitized ANYWHERE on earth - Trust Me: I've searched), because I am in Finance now and obviously you see the pattern. I also grew up right in the middle of this, I knew Charlie Keating, my family was both a part of Keating's good times and ultimately his fall (he was my father's corporation's financier; no, we did not own a S&L!). Maybe that is the reason...but it isn't.
That doesn't even come close to describing why I love this book so much.This line written above would be the best way I could possibly describe it concisely: "...In Trust Me, the bizarre world of Keating is revealed in a financial farce that reads like a collaboration written by Robert Penn Warren, Sinclair Lewis, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson." I mean, again, it is THAT GOOD.
From the very first sentence, describing Phoenix, Arizona on an extremely hot 120 degree late August day, to the introduction of the protagonist/hero/incredibly complicated main character in this very real-life drama, Charles Keating, to the description of his business dealings, this is just flat-out AMAZING writing. As his battles with the Federal Government grow more acrimonious and evolve into a literal war, the book picks up the pitch, tone, even the opening of paragraphs and the sentence structures grow more hectic and frenzied.
Charles Keating?
In the pantheon of Americans who have removed from banks what wasn't theirs, Charles Keating stands tall. Over $2 billion tall, to be exact. When the money disappeared from his Lincoln Savings & Loan, now collapsed, Charles Keating was accused of promulgating the largest bank failure in U.S. history.
In Trust Me, the bizarre world of Keating is revealed in a financial farce that reads like a collaboration written by Robert Penn Warren, Sinclair Lewis, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. See Keating battle Larry Flynt over pornography, give millions to Mother Teresa, and lose $100,000 at a craps table. Watch Keating contribute $1.4 million to five U.S. senators, build a $300 million hotel in the middle of the desert, and toss paper clips into the open mouth of his sleeping heir. Witness armies of federal regulators desperately try to piece together the methods, madness, and mystique of Charles Keating in brave attempts to nab him amid his great adventure.
Through it all, Keating has never confessed, begged for mercy, or recanted. Facing over five hundred years in prison, he remains defiant, an American original, a patriot who believes he did nothing wrong. Greed and power should be rewarded, not condemned; Keating simply used the rules to win.
Novelistic, captivating, and powerful, Trust Me is a brilliant morality tale about the American way - a red, white, and blue testament to piety and corruption run wild.
Quite honestly one of the very best narratives I have ever come across - fiction, non-fiction or otherwise. I was taken aback actually at how incredibly good this book was when I first read it in 1995. Since then, I have honestly owned 3-4 copies and re-read the book at least a dozen times - literally a dozen times minimum. It's that good.
Why would a book about Charles Keating and his exploits during the S&L crisis be THAT good - in fact HOW could it be that good? To most, this sounds like the dryest topic you could possibly conjure up. Well, first off, I am a Finance Guy. I was a Finance Freak at 12 years old, I was when I read this at 20 years old, and I literally just ordered a fourth copy from Amazon (I keep misplacing the books during moves - it was only printed in two hard-cover runs and never in paperback nor has it been digitized ANYWHERE on earth - Trust Me: I've searched), because I am in Finance now and obviously you see the pattern. I also grew up right in the middle of this, I knew Charlie Keating, my family was both a part of Keating's good times and ultimately his fall (he was my father's corporation's financier; no, we did not own a S&L!). Maybe that is the reason...but it isn't.
That doesn't even come close to describing why I love this book so much.This line written above would be the best way I could possibly describe it concisely: "...In Trust Me, the bizarre world of Keating is revealed in a financial farce that reads like a collaboration written by Robert Penn Warren, Sinclair Lewis, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson." I mean, again, it is THAT GOOD.
From the very first sentence, describing Phoenix, Arizona on an extremely hot 120 degree late August day, to the introduction of the protagonist/hero/incredibly complicated main character in this very real-life drama, Charles Keating, to the description of his business dealings, this is just flat-out AMAZING writing. As his battles with the Federal Government grow more acrimonious and evolve into a literal war, the book picks up the pitch, tone, even the opening of paragraphs and the sentence structures grow more hectic and frenzied.
November 6, 2008
This is Michael Binstein and Charles Bowden's probing biography of Keating and the S&L scandal of the 1980s. In it one see the roots of our current financial crisis here and the cause laid squarely at the door of government who deregulated and ignored their own regulators until it was too late. I'd recommend in tandem with this an article in this month's Commentary that makes much the same argument but traces unwarranted government interference back to 1836. It's John Steele Gordon's "Speculators, Politicians and Financial Disasters."
Speculators, Politicians and Financial Disasters
One clip from the article:
Consider the savings-and-loan (S&L) debacle of the 1980’s. The crisis, which erupted only two decades ago but seems all but forgotten, was almost entirely the result of a failure of government to regulate effectively. And that was by design. Members of Congress put the protection of their political friends ahead of the interests of the financial system as a whole.
Frightening.
Speculators, Politicians and Financial Disasters
One clip from the article:
Consider the savings-and-loan (S&L) debacle of the 1980’s. The crisis, which erupted only two decades ago but seems all but forgotten, was almost entirely the result of a failure of government to regulate effectively. And that was by design. Members of Congress put the protection of their political friends ahead of the interests of the financial system as a whole.
Frightening.
July 22, 2024
AN UNSYMPATHETIC PORTRAYAL OF A KEY FIGURE IN THE SAVINGS & LOAN SCANDALS
Journalist Binstein and writer Bowden Charles (they call him "Charlie") Keating's "obsession about pornography" (banning it, that is); "He lives surrounded by filthy pictures---for his work he must have a collection as evidence."
They observe, "Debt seems to make Charlie Keating free... To track Charlie Keating is to witness a pattern of constant cash injections, constant purges of money by big spending and yet a strange lack of avarice." (Pg. 148-149)
When federal regulators begin investigating Lincoln Savings and Loan Association's risky investments, "The threat of lawsuits is hurled at the regulators... It is the instinctive way Charlie Keating always deals with government bureaucracies---drag them out of their bureaucracies, get them into court where there are rules, a level playing field." (Pg. 220) In 1986, when "Charlie Keating has had a bellyful of the federal government... Some of his aides are advising caution... (and that) Keating should stop being so hostile, so aggressive in his dealings with the regulators. Charlie Keating dismisses both ideas. He will not bend his knee to federal civil servants, he will not grovel." (Pg. 248)
They observe, "what he always insists on, is that he did not initiate this way of running the United States, this custom of buying influence. He just recognizes how things are actually done in his country, and he does what he has to do." (Pg. 293) They later add that Keating "has rarely talked to the press. He considers them beneath contempt." (Pg. 361)
Not the most "detailed" or "factual" treatment of the S&L crisis, nor the most objective, this is still a very engaging treatment of the matter, and well worth reading.
Journalist Binstein and writer Bowden Charles (they call him "Charlie") Keating's "obsession about pornography" (banning it, that is); "He lives surrounded by filthy pictures---for his work he must have a collection as evidence."
They observe, "Debt seems to make Charlie Keating free... To track Charlie Keating is to witness a pattern of constant cash injections, constant purges of money by big spending and yet a strange lack of avarice." (Pg. 148-149)
When federal regulators begin investigating Lincoln Savings and Loan Association's risky investments, "The threat of lawsuits is hurled at the regulators... It is the instinctive way Charlie Keating always deals with government bureaucracies---drag them out of their bureaucracies, get them into court where there are rules, a level playing field." (Pg. 220) In 1986, when "Charlie Keating has had a bellyful of the federal government... Some of his aides are advising caution... (and that) Keating should stop being so hostile, so aggressive in his dealings with the regulators. Charlie Keating dismisses both ideas. He will not bend his knee to federal civil servants, he will not grovel." (Pg. 248)
They observe, "what he always insists on, is that he did not initiate this way of running the United States, this custom of buying influence. He just recognizes how things are actually done in his country, and he does what he has to do." (Pg. 293) They later add that Keating "has rarely talked to the press. He considers them beneath contempt." (Pg. 361)
Not the most "detailed" or "factual" treatment of the S&L crisis, nor the most objective, this is still a very engaging treatment of the matter, and well worth reading.
January 2, 2022
Managing public money in banks is prone to risk and mismanagement. There are several examples of people who succeed, but it is illuminating to know about the examples of failures. This book is a great way to learn about the 1980s S&L crisis, through the saga of Mr HCarles Keating. It is a wonderful, easy to read account from the origins of Keating and Lincoln S&L to its takeover by the Federal Government. The book is fast paced, with in depth accounts of one example of the S&Ls management during the crisis. The authors were involved in the story as it unfolded, talking to the Mr Keating before this scandal erupted. They have portrayed a balanced view of Mr Keating, taking care to highlight his perspective as much as possible.
I read this book in 2020, and I wonder how it was written in 1990s and has subtle warnings about accounting/auditing firm excesses and Wall Street greed - well before Enron in 2001, and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
I read this book in 2020, and I wonder how it was written in 1990s and has subtle warnings about accounting/auditing firm excesses and Wall Street greed - well before Enron in 2001, and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
May 10, 2025
I admittedly glossed over during the ample passages detailing financial exchanges that included exact dollar amounts on deals, but if it were half as long it would’ve been twice as good.
May 18, 2025
Wow. The degree smugness Charles Keating, Jr.displays while committing wide ranging fraud will knock you out.
June 14, 2009
This book is for those that need to know the truth. Not an easy read probably but a fascinating account of the behind the scenes workings of the financial industry and it's insidious so-called leaders. The book documents (in extreme detail) the machinations of Charles Keating and his empire--owner of Lincoln Savings & Loan--as the S & L's deposits were used for personal speculation and political power mongering. The book was written 20 years too early, for had it come out later, it most likely would have been much more visible (and more popular) what with the current banking industry's near meltdown. Toward the end of this story the former FHLBB (Federal Home Loan Bank Board) director, whom Mr. Keating succeeded in getting removed from his position (during the Reagan administration), is asked if anything was learned from the S & L fiasco. His reply is "No, no, no." Turns out he was dead right. The culture within the financial industry (and corporate culture in general) that existed (and was perhaps encouraged during the heady days of the Reagan administration) still exists today and nearly caused the collapse of our economy. The book serves as a "wake-up" call that went unheeded and continues largely unheeded today.
Mr. Bowden's prose throughout this book is his typical "in-your-face" frank style that those of us familiar with his work have come to crave. Truth must be told and to hell with semantics. Bowden is a genuis at parading the unpleasant truths of our societal short-comings. Most of his work throughout his career has been in documenting these unpleasant matters. I like to say he writes with "a red-hot poker dipped in blood". This book is no exception!
Can you handle the truth? This book should make you angry and may make you reconsider some of your long-held conceptions of how our country/government works. Charles Bowden's writing is for those who want the blunt truth. Can you handle it? 4 stars!!!!---at least.
LB
Mr. Bowden's prose throughout this book is his typical "in-your-face" frank style that those of us familiar with his work have come to crave. Truth must be told and to hell with semantics. Bowden is a genuis at parading the unpleasant truths of our societal short-comings. Most of his work throughout his career has been in documenting these unpleasant matters. I like to say he writes with "a red-hot poker dipped in blood". This book is no exception!
Can you handle the truth? This book should make you angry and may make you reconsider some of your long-held conceptions of how our country/government works. Charles Bowden's writing is for those who want the blunt truth. Can you handle it? 4 stars!!!!---at least.
LB
March 20, 2016
Fascinating story but told in a way that makes ir somewhat difficult to follow.
December 30, 2021
Extremely poorly written book.
Don't buy it.
Don't buy it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews