Product Description

In this shocking and illuminating road trip through an America ravaged by debt, award-winning film director James Scurlock examines our multitrillion-dollar addiction to easy credit in all of its absurdities and contradictions.

Maxed Out ventures beyond the mind-numbing statistics to expose a financial industry spinning wildly out of control. From the gilded master-planned communities of Northern Las Vegas to the shotgun shacks of the Deep South, the world's largest financial institutions are trolling for customers, hooking the nouveau riche and the poor alike with promises of cheap and easy credit. Maxed Out exposes how Wall Street and Congress spawned the subprime mortgage crisis and reveals how credit card issuers form multimillion-dollar partnerships with universities -- paying them millions for access to their students' personal information, setting kids up for financial ruin before their first job. The industry's final frontier, "debt buying," is a veritable Wild West in which ambitious young men make quick fortunes off the misery and misfortune of others.

Hilarious, fascinating, and deeply disturbing, Maxed Out is one man's answer to modern America's most pressing question, "Why can't we get out of debt?"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59598 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this companion to his documentary film of the same name, Scurlock takes a provocative though scattershot tour of "debt hell," exploring Americans' use and misuse of credit. He introduces us to upbeat debt collectors, downbeat academics, motivational speakers who insist that we can get out of debt by refinancing our homes and "skipping the a.m. latte," and "average Americans who are swimming in debt." Scurlock's villains are Visa, Citibank, credit bureaus, legislators who do the financial industry's bidding and a system of credit that "has mutated into a relentlessly efficient and voracious machine." We learn that most consumers who teeter on the brink of bankruptcy aren't bad people—they've just taken all those no-credit-buy-anyway ads at face value. It's all pretty involving, though as with most documentarians, Scurlock is only as good as his sources—and in print, anecdotes and testimonials aren't necessarily the best way to convey complex information or make an airtight case. The author also oversimplifies issues ("banking is about selling a single product: debt"), avoids engaging anyone who might challenge his banks-are-evil argument and turns occasional tangents into full-fledged digressions. But Scurlock deserves credit (no pun intended) for opening more eyes to this dire issue. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
If youÕre going to pay for this audiobook with a credit card, you might want to think twice--you could be contributing to a tsunami of debt thatÕs about to submerge our economy. Completed before the mortgage industry began its nosedive, this audiobook lays out some sobering statistics (more people will declare bankruptcy this year than get divorced) and provides some sad case studies about predatory lenders, frantic borrowers, and a greedy, unregulated industry. The audiobook is based on the popular documentary of the same name, and Scurlock narrates with authority and conviction. Unfortunately, because much of the material is derived directly from the film, those whoÕve watched the movie, may find it a cross between outtakes and DVD extras. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Scurlock, award-winning documentary filmmaker, writes this book as a companion to his film by the same name to spotlight the enormity of consumer debt in our society and its consequences. This engaging narrative presents numerous stories about easy credit given to students, the poor, the weak and the uninformed, whose lives are ruined by their debt burden, including some cases of suicide. In recounting the history of credit cards and the effort to sell credit as a lifestyle, the author claims that credit given to those who do not have the ability to repay it is entrapment. His is an urgent call to arms in the way we think about debt; he blames financial institutions and a seemingly powerless Congress that during the past 30 years has allowed bankers to make the rules on extending credit. While not everyone will agree with Scurlock, this is a valuable perspective for library patrons in our materialistic, debt-ridden society and provides excellent education on an important topic. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Surface Scratcher
In a snappy 250 pages, Maxed Out offers a pleasant and informative survey into several aspects of the modern (U.S.) financial services industry, as seen through the eyes of its various predators and prey. Written in the style of a "Fast Food Nation" (i.e., related through personal interviews and anecdotal cases representative of larger trends), Maxed Out is an informative, enjoyable read on a topic of immeasurable importance.

On the down-side, Maxed Out misses some key aspects of the modern credit "bear trap" (as he calls it), such as payday lending and "sale-leaseback" scams. Statistics and other details that could add perspective to the problem are missing in action. And Scurlock devotes a bit too much ink to indignant rants against injustice rather than exposing his compelling evidence -- a flaw novice writers are instructed to avoid by the phrase "show, don't tell."

In fairness, Maxed Out the book appears somewhat of an afterthought to Maxed Out the documentary film, and evidently Scurlock never intended to be thorough or textually polished. Very Michael Moore in that way, so dig this like Roger & Me.

America's credit card culture
The problem, as writer and filmmaker Scurlock brings out in his book (and companion documentary film), is that Americans are living on borrowed funds and we'll all be in trouble when the bill comes in. The fact that the government kowtows to big corportions like Citigroup and Bank of America should be enough to anger most Americans. The simple fact that America is the only nation in the civilized Western world where you can declare bankruptcy due to medical bills should outrage any sane individual. At some point, Scurlock argues, this credit-built house of cards will fall down and take everyone with it.

Proud Deadbeat and Freeloader...
...off of MasterCard :) As I was finishing Maxed Out, I received my statement for my single credit card, which I am proud of having paid of the entire balance over the past six months. What do they do? Tack on a whopping $0.96 cent finance charge! I just have to laugh. As tempting as it is, I finally decided not to mail them 96 pennies accompanied with a snapshot of my hand flipping them the bird. On the few occasions I have no choice but to deal with the teller at my bank, I get a robotic sales pitch for the same $%^# card I already have. More than once I've told this drone, "I already have it; you ask me that every time. I'm paying off the balance and not using it until after that." This book has confirmed what I already suspected: that's exactly what the finance industry does not want to hear. Because lenders are loaning to people who can't afford to pay it back (and they try every way possible to make sure we can't ever do so), our economy is going fast down the sewer, and the repercussions that James Scurlock describes are flat-out frightening. Bankruptcy rates are higher now than during the Depression? WTF? If that isn't a wake-up call to the banking industry to stop preying on people with offers of "easy" credit, then nothing will be. The suicide-riddled stories of how college students fall into this "bear trap" particularly burn me up. I work at a community college, and the credit card vultures periodically set up a table right in the student center. When I pass by, I sometimes have to restrain myself from pulling the 18-year-old freshmen away from it and giving the slimy salesmen a piece of my mind. I'd never really do that, but I fantasize about it. It's a pretty simple concept, college kids: If you don't have a job with a reasonable paycheck, DO NOT get a credit card. End of story. Who cares about the latest gadgets you think you have to have? Grow up and start thinking about your future instead, and debt can very easily wreck it permanently. I think this book should be required reading in freshmen-level college classes, and I very highly recommend it to everyone. It's a splash of ice water in the face about a very serious problem, and it seems the only way to solve it is by collectively telling the banks, corporations, and government "Enough!"