No economist could have predicted that the Penn Square Bank, a small, obscure lender in an Oklahoma shopping mall, would become the instigator of a financial charade that would see billions of dollars in loans made on the basis of imaginary oil and natural gas reserves--just as a worldwide oil glut and the repeal of regulatory gas laws were about to pull the rug from under the Oklahoma energy boom.

Belly Up tells this amazing true story with brilliant reporting, delicious detail, and an unbelievable yet all-too-real cast of characters, from the young geologist who convinced banks...