The lives of the energy traders: High stakes, high cholesterol

By Jess Walter

Monday, December 27, 2010; 7:19 PM

"McMeel worked for 13 years in the energy markets, and he revels in juicy descriptions and office anecdotes, which have the unmistakable feel of insider lore. He colorfully describes the denizens of this all-male world (one has 'a skull the size of a pony keg') and their meals ('a haiku of fat.'). But as on-point as these descriptions might be, the men and their meals begin to blur; when everyone is larger than life, no one is."