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    Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It
    Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It
    Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It
    Ebook332 pages4 hours

    Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It

    By G. Bruce Knecht

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    About this ebook

    G. Bruce Knecht, former reporter for The Wall Street Journaland author of The Proving Ground and Hooked, describes the creation of an outsized yacht in a sweeping narrative centered on the men and women who made it happen.

    Doug Von Allmen, a self-made man who grew up in a landlocked state dreaming of the ocean, was poised to build a 187-foot yacht that would cost $40 million. Lady Linda would not be among the very largest of the burgeoning fleet of oceangoing palaces, but Von Allmen vowed that it would be the best one ever made in the United States. Nothing would be ordinary. The interior walls would be made from rare species of burl wood, the floors paved with onyx and exotic types of marble, the furniture custom made, and the art specially commissioned.

    But the 2008 economic crisis changed everything. Von Allmen’s lifestyle suddenly became unaffordable. Then it got worse: desperate to reverse his losses, he fell for an audacious Ponzi scheme. Would Von Allmen be able to complete Lady Linda? Would the shipyard and its one thousand employees survive the financial meltdown?

    The divide between the very rich and everyone else had never been greater, yet the livelihoods of the workers, some of them illegal immigrants, and the yacht owners were inextricably intertwined. In a sweeping, high-stakes narrative, the critically acclaimed author of The Proving Ground and Hooked weaves Von Allmen’s story together with those of the men and women who are building his yacht. As the pursuit of opulence collides with the reality of economic decline, everyone involved in the massive project is forced to rethink the meaning of the American Dream.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateMar 5, 2013
    ISBN9781416576280
    Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built It, and the Millionaire Who Can't Really Afford It
    Author

    G. Bruce Knecht

    G. Bruce Knecht is a former senior writer and foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. Author of The Proving Ground: The Inside Story of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race and Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish, he has also written for The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, and Conde Nast Traveler. An avid sailor, Knecht raced across the Atlantic in 2005 on the yacht that broke the 100-year-old transatlantic race record. He lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for Grand Ambition

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    • 5/5
      Surprisingly good read for this non yachty person. Knowing little about boats and not that interested in them I found this a fascinating page turner.
    • 5/5
      Highly entertaining, true story about the building of a very large yacht as the back drop. The real story is the intersection of the very wealthy couple who commissioned it, and the builder (yard) and their employees who built it. The financial crisis of 2008-2009 and it's impact is on display as unwelcome to disruption to all.
    • 4/5
      After two books (The Proving Ground and Hooked), Bruce Knecht has quickly become one of my favourite authors. Unfortunately, his output isn't high - so when I received his new book in the mail, I took comfort while it sat on bookshelf unread, knowing that I still had it ahead of me.Grand Ambition tells the story of the construction of a mega-yacht in a global economy responding to the financial crisis. The book uses the yacht to examine the wealth divide in the United States during a politically turbulent time in which Obama became President. Knecht is not wedded to any particular ideology. He shows great sympathy for all of the people involved in the story regardless of their income. Once again, the author has done a fantastic job and has proven his versatility as a non fiction writer. While his previous books have had moments of action and suspense, this stands alone as an insightful social commentary. Does wealth drive employment for the working class, or simply take advantage of it?

    Book preview

    Grand Ambition - G. Bruce Knecht

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