Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey

By Steven Rattner. Houghton Mifflin, 349 pages. $27.

Forgive Rattner if he comes off as somewhat smug and condescending at intervals in his book. After all, the ongoing rescue of American automakers has been one of the few bright spots in the gloom of the recession. General Motors Corp., in particular, has emerged as a leaner, nimbler competitor and, late last year, came out of bankruptcy in an initial public offering that paid back Uncle Sam fully half of the $50 billion it loaned the company to help restructure--with more paybacks in the offing. Compared to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and other bailout recipients, GM is a star.

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Given that the book was completed well before the IPO, Rattner's belief in himself and his team of investment bankers is even more striking. But Rattner, a former New York Times business writer-turned investment banker, has no shortage of confidence. His career on Wall Street and previous work in Washington and connections with high-level Democrats put him in a particularly good position for such a tough assignment: developing a plan that would give the federal government control of two of the big three automakers, forcing the automakers into bankruptcy and restructuring them. (Ford Motor Co. elected not to take the government handout and has surged back to good health.)

The restructuring element of the plan, of course, was Rattner's raison d'etre; he had vast experience in private equity and buyouts, working for Wall Street giants Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Morgan Stanley and Lazard Freres &. Co., where he had risen to deputy chairman. He offered his services to the Obama administration before the 2008 election, and then-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers persuaded him to take on the rescue mission in February 2009.

The book truly is an insider's...