The Big Short
Inside the Doomsday Machine
-
-
4.4 • 241 Ratings
-
-
- £5.99
-
- £5.99
Publisher Description
THE OUTRAGEOUS NO.1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, NOW AN OSCAR- AND BAFTA-WINNING FILM
From the jungles of the trading floor to the casinos of Las Vegas, The Big Short, Michael Lewis's No.1 bestseller, tells the story of the misfits, renegades and visionaries who saw that the biggest credit bubble of all time was about to burst, bet against the banking system - and made a killing.
'In the hands of Michael Lewis, anything is possible ... if you want to know how a nation lost its financial mind - and have a good laugh finding out - this is the book to read' Sunday Times
'Magnificent ... a perfect storm of brilliant writer meeting big subject' Guardian
'A triumph ... riveting ... The Big Short reads like a thriller' The Times
'A terrifying story, superbly well told' Daily Telegraph
'A rollicking good yarn' Financial Times
'Probably the single best piece of financial journalism ever written' Reuters
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
Very good read, interesting point of view.
Enjoyed this book, and it's view on what caused the current financial turmoil. Explains all the financial technical terms in easy to understand layman's terms.
A financial story of the utmost importance
The Big Short is a incredible glimpse into the power and control a few players in the investment banking world have over a whole country's economy.
Lewis lets this real life story flow with an utter ease that you forget that something so terrible is happening and yet people can still profit whilst highlighting the deficiencies in the financial market.
Although the financial terms can be confusing the basic principles and moral attitude coupled with the lack of regulation show how easy it is for large banks to get into such terrible difficulties without any real consequence.
Read the book, see the film never has a subject been so important to the long term future for the world economy.
The Big Short
A very good read!