Author of the Year: Matt Taibbi

Gonzo journalist, Matt Taibbi, struck a resounding cord with many ordinary Americans this year in several of his now-famous articles in Rolling Stone magazine. In July, his scathing attack of Goldman Sachs in "The Great American Bubble Machine", inspired a general backlash against the company that actively participates in the speculative American economy. In October, Taibbi followed up with "Wall Street's Naked Swindle", describing the seeming collusion among the surviving banks of the crash to profit from the destruction of the ones that fell.

Taibbi's latest article, "Obama's Big Sellout", is a pointed criticism of Obama's failure to enact any meaningful reform after putting taxpayers on the hook for the hundreds of billions of dollars given to Wall Street banking institutions. He links the White House's giveaways and failures to the appointment of Bob Rubin, who "has been held in awe by the American political elite for nearly 20 years despite having fucked up virtually every project he ever got his hands on". Rubin brought in a cadre of old friends and like-minded colleagues to run the Obama show and have simply sold this country out, Taibbi argues.

Taibbi may have a bent towards conspiracy theory, he may be extreme, but he certainly raises controversy whenever he writes. His ability to discuss complex financial topics with ease is impressive. Agree with him or not, his articles are worth the read. He is a aggressive in his claims and holds allegiance to no one. He gets my vote for author of the year with his ability to explain the outrage Main Street feels but cannot quite place into words. Taibbi does it, and does it well.