The Asylum

“Hookers, Cristal, and the rise and fall of the New York Mercantile Exchange . . . A riveting tale of greed gone mad . . . A great ride for market fans.” —Bloomberg Businessweek

The Asylum is a stunning exposé by a seasoned Wall Street journalist that once and for all reveals the truth behind America’s oil addiction in all its unscripted and dysfunctional glory.

In the tradition of Too Big to Fail and Liar’s Poker, author Leah McGrath Goodman tells the amazing-but-true story of a band of struggling, hardscrabble traders who, after enduring decades of scorn from New York’s stuffy financial establishment, overcame more than a century of failure, infighting, and brinksmanship to build the world’s reigning oil empire—entirely by accident.

“An inside look at how an underdog crew of uneducated, street-smart New York traders brawled and yelled, drank and drugged their way to control the world’s oil markets.” —Fortune

“Goodman explores the lurid culture of NYMEX traders, scruffy hustlers who shriek and swear and pummel each other over deals, and bring guns, drugs, and hookers right into the trading pit . . . one of the year’s most colorful business histories.” —Publishers Weekly

“Traders are crude, says The Asylum . . . And yet this band of outsiders had more control than OPEC and the large Houston energy firms.” —New York Post

“A seriously informative and amusing look into the oil trading pits.” —Huffington Post

“In the complex world of the energy markets where pit trading is a blue-collar profession, Goodman captures the grit and spirit of the floor and the personalities in the board room . . . Her depiction of the players and the place ring true.” —Reuters