‘Junk’ Mines the Milken Era for Truths That Resonate Now
- 7 years ago
‘Junk’ Mines the Milken Era for Truths That Resonate Now
The author of “Junk,” Ayad Akhtar, has cited my book
and “The Predators’ Ball,” Connie Bruck’s pathbreaking account of Mr. Milken’s heyday at Drexel Burnham Lambert, as works that influenced his play.
Perhaps it has taken the perspective gained over nearly three decades to see what a turning point in American history the late 1980s turned out to be,
and how they shaped, as Mr. Akhtar puts it, “the world we inhabit today.”
“The 1980s represents a collapse of a collective vision of who we were as Americans,” Mr. Akhtar told me last week when we met to discuss his play.
According to Ms. Bruck’s account in “The Predators’ Ball,” Mr. Milken tried to pay her off so she wouldn’t write the book.
“The characters in this play are dramatic concoctions,” it reads, “stitched together — at times — with details pulled from history,
but these characters are never anything other than fictions.”
But make no mistake about it: “Junk” is about as close to reality as theater gets.
“Junk,” the riveting reincarnation of the junk bond era now playing at Lincoln Center, “is a fictionalized account
suggested by events in the historical public record,” according to an author’s note in the program.
I should know: I’m the author of “Den of Thieves,” which chronicled the rise
and fall of Michael Milken and his junk bond empire and the cast of characters that whirled around him.
The author of “Junk,” Ayad Akhtar, has cited my book
and “The Predators’ Ball,” Connie Bruck’s pathbreaking account of Mr. Milken’s heyday at Drexel Burnham Lambert, as works that influenced his play.
Perhaps it has taken the perspective gained over nearly three decades to see what a turning point in American history the late 1980s turned out to be,
and how they shaped, as Mr. Akhtar puts it, “the world we inhabit today.”
“The 1980s represents a collapse of a collective vision of who we were as Americans,” Mr. Akhtar told me last week when we met to discuss his play.
According to Ms. Bruck’s account in “The Predators’ Ball,” Mr. Milken tried to pay her off so she wouldn’t write the book.
“The characters in this play are dramatic concoctions,” it reads, “stitched together — at times — with details pulled from history,
but these characters are never anything other than fictions.”
But make no mistake about it: “Junk” is about as close to reality as theater gets.
“Junk,” the riveting reincarnation of the junk bond era now playing at Lincoln Center, “is a fictionalized account
suggested by events in the historical public record,” according to an author’s note in the program.
I should know: I’m the author of “Den of Thieves,” which chronicled the rise
and fall of Michael Milken and his junk bond empire and the cast of characters that whirled around him.