A Wunch of Bankers

In a rollicking and witty blow-by-blow account of his year covering the Hayne Royal Commission for the ABC, Ziffer attends to the more grotesque malpractices unearthed by the Royal Commission...Drawing heavily on hearing transcripts, Ziffer delights in replaying the squirming, verbal contortions of witnesses under the inscrutable questioning of Hayne and the counsels assisting. --Ben Huf, Australian Book Review Daniel Ziffer doesn't suffer from inertia. His book, A Wunch of Bankers, is a supercharged flight through the absurdity of the year he spent reporting from the commission for ABCTV. --Peter Martin, The Saturday Age Wucking funderful. --Wil Anderson A devilish peek into the barren soul of the banking industry. --Sammy J [A] rollicking blow-by-blow of the Hayne Royal Commission into banking...Ziffer's doom, gloom and snark sums up our twenty-first century tastes perfectly. Enjoy this real-life Dickensian nightmare, and despair! --Chris Dite, Readings After covering last year's banking royal commission, I never thought I'd want to read another word about it, but reading this book is like being next to the naughty schoolboy. The result is hugely entertaining but also affecting as Melbourne journalist Daniel Ziffer's light touch reminds us this was about normal people who were impacted by bank wrongdoing. The book works brilliantly as a guided tour through the sordid details of the royal commission as he embraces the pettiness and absurdity of the excuse making of many of the major players. Where the banks and other financial institutions were so tone deaf, Ziffer's ear is pitch perfect, showing warmth and respect to those who were done over as well as piquing the phoniness of excuses by the institutions. Nothing is sacred--from the extremes of corporate lies and cover-ups to laughing at pompous CEO signatures. Ziffer's book has what the banking system was shown to lack--a moral compass and real heart. --Jeff Whaley, Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin