The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
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4.4 • 59 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The #1 New York Times bestseller: "It is the work of our greatest financial journalist, at the top of his game. And it's essential reading."—Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair
The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn't shine and the SEC doesn't dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can't pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren't talking.
Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar's Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely-really unlikely-heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Michael Lewis' rundown of Wall Street's 2008 subprime fiasco is too captivating to put down. The bestselling author and former banker puts into plain-speak the calamity that bankers created, sharing jaw-dropping anecdotes of willful blindness, greed, ignorance, and deception. His portraits of those few in the finance industry who saw the disaster coming years in advance are particularly fascinating: an awkward ex-neurologist, a terrifyingly blunt Gordon Gekko–haired trader, and a cynical, brazen fund manager who relished punishing big banks. All in all, The Big Short took us on a stomach-churning (and infuriating) ride through the finance sector's implosion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Although Lewis is perhaps best known for his sports-related nonfiction (including The Blind Side), his first book was the autobiographical Liar s Poker, in which he chronicled his disillusionment as a young gun on Wall Street in the greed is good 1980s. He returns to his financial roots to excavate the crisis of 2007 2008, employing his trademark technique of casting a microcosmic lens on the personal histories of several Wall Street outsiders who were betting against the grain to shed light on the macrocosmic tale of greed and fear. Although Lewis reads the book s introduction, narration duties are assumed by Jesse Boggs, a veteran narrator of business titles (including Lewis s own 2008 book Panic!). Boggs s rich baritone is well suited to the task and trips lightly through a maze of financial jargon (CDOs, derivatives, mid-prime lending) and a dizzying cast of characters. Lewis returns on the final disc for a 10-minute interview about the crisis s aftermath, including a savvy assessment of the wisdom of the financial bailout and where-are-they-now updates on the book s various heroes and villains. A Norton hardcover.
Customer Reviews
Great account of what led to the 2008 financial crisis
Reading The Big Short for the first time in 2021 I found out it was not easy shorting the subprime mortgage bond market leading up to the financial crisis. It took guts and patience and The Big Short tells the story of those that cashed in big time. And since the market is a zero-sum game there had to have been big losers as well.