BANG!

The Great Somali Goat Bubble

By: Julian Gough

Narrated by: Fleet Cooper

In his number-one Kindle Single "CRASH! How I Lost a Hundred Billion and Found True Love", Irish satirist Julian Gough deftly laid bare the Eurozone crisis in all its humor and absurdity. Now in "BANG!" Gough has turned his inimitable wit and wisdom to third-world economies, managing to explain derivatives, arbitrage, and futures through airplanes crashing into livestock.

Dr. Ibrahim Bihi of Somaliland has an advanced degree in economics and, as far as worldly goods go, a goat with three legs. Using his knowledge of temporary market inefficiencies and the propellers of a UN food plane, he turns his goat into capital and sends the global economy into a speculative frenzy. Soon most of the world's wealth is tied up in goat-backed securities. What could possibly go wrong? Only everything, and with our faithful orphan Jude as guide, we can sit back and laugh our way toward the resolution of this uproariously instructive satire.

A version of "BANG!" was the first short story to be published in The Financial Times, where it appeared in 2003. The story also was adapted as a BBC radio play in 2009 and sold-out stage production in 2012. For listeners unacquainted with the wonderful and bizarre universe of Julian Gough's literary fiction, this companion to the best-selling short story "CRASH!' will serve as a perfect introduction.

©2013 Julian Gough (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

innovative

This story has an intriguing way to incorporate economics into a simple story of a man and his goat.

Writing: 5 star. Narration: cartoonish & tiresome

Gough is an excellent writer & quite funny, but the always exaggeratedly precious & cartoonish narration of his stories wears on the nerves after a few minutes. Very offputting. I don't blame the narrators, they are merely exaggerating as directed. A shame, because this will turn off a lot of people who might otherwise enjoy Gough's stories.

Brilliant

Our economy boiled down for the lowest common denominator but in such a brilliant and numerous way it makes you glad to be an idiot!