Fun While It Lasted: My Rise and Fall in the Land of Fame and Fortune - Hardcover

D'Antonio, Michael; McNall, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786868643 ISBN 13: 9780786868643

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

Bruce McNall became obsessed with coin collecting at the age of 10. At 16, his collection was worth $60,000. During college, he traveled the world buying coins stolen from ancient sites and tombs. McNall's first major sale was to Sy Weintraub, the head of Panavision, who bought $500,000 worth of coins in one sitting. Soon, McNall branched out into horse racing, movie making (The Fabulous Baker Boys), and owning the L.A. Kings hockey team.

About this title

About the Author

Movie-maker, sportsman, and raconteur, Bruce McNall was one of the most famous coin collectors of all time. He was released from prison in 2001 and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Michael D'Antonio is the author of ten books, including Tin Cup Dreams, Tour '72, and Mosquito. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, he lives in New York.

Reviews

When McNall was a kid, his dad wasn't emotionally available, and, as a result, McNall grew up with a need to be liked. An oversized need, actually, which is why, he says, he defrauded several financial institutions out of $236 million. As a teenager, McNall was fascinated by ancient coins and soon became one of the world's leading collectors and dealers. Later, he got into horse racing, creating ownership syndicates that included the rich and famous. He bought a movie production company, a Canadian football team and the L.A. Kings hockey team. He brought Wayne Gretzky to the U.S. and, in 1992, was appointed chairman of the National Hockey League. Alas, ethics weren't a part of McNall's voyage to millionairedom. He abused his position to buy ancient coins well below the wholesale price, smuggled coins out of Tunis, paid under-the-table commissions and, before long, graduated to fraud. Taking payment for coins he had not purchased and using assets that didn't exist to secure loans, McNall was essentially operating a loan pyramid. By the time the FBI came to call, his company had nine different sets of books. McNall got 70 months for his crimes and offers a detailed but unconvincing account of the rigors of minimum-security federal prison camps. In fact, McNall is unconvincing as anything other than a white-collar conman, and his story, while sufficiently dramatic, doesn't provide enough backbone to give him credibility, never mind sympathy.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

McNall, former millionaire owner of the L.A. Kings hockey team, provides an absorbing first-person account of his rise and fall in the arcane world of antiques, and the flashy worlds of movies and sports. McNall parlayed a youthful passion for antique coins into a lucrative business that brought him into contact with L.A. luminaries. He led a glittering life of owning racehorses, making movies (The Fabulous Baker Boys), and managing sport teams. The highlight of his career was recruiting Wayne Gretzky for the Kings. But he supported his tottering empire with various schemes, including using the same racehorse to collateralize multiple loans, unknown to the lenders and his celebrity friends and investors. Compelled by the dream of making the big score that would pay off his enormous debt, he continued to embellish the deception until he was finally caught. McNall details his "paper crimes," the downward spiral of his personal life, and his eventual punishment. For readers who enjoy insider tales of financial skulduggery, a la Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker (1989). Vanessa Bush
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Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786868643
• ISBN 13: 9780786868643
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304