Michael Lewis Books

Which ones are worth reading? Liar’s Poker? Flash Boys? Panic?

I’ve read Moneyball and The Big Short. I really enjoyed The Big Short

Just about to start Boomerang.

It never ceases to amaze me that there are some people in this industry that have never read Liar’s Poker. It should be mandatory. That’s where the term BSD originated.

My strong belief is that you cannot legitimately say you work in the industry unless you have read Liar’s Poker and seen the movie Wall Street, which I think eliminates about half the people on AF. Oh, and American Psycho. Please go watch that so you know what Sweep is talking about in 50% of his posts. For shame people, for shame.

Best ML book IMO is Moneyball (way better than the movie if you like to nerd out with details), followed by Coach but I haven’t read Boomerang of Flash Boys yet.

Agree Moneyball book>movie.

Will read Liar’s poker next.

Liars Poker, Den of Thieves, When Genius Failed, Barbarians at the Gate — all must reads (even though not all mike lewis)

You sound like the type of person that could get reservations at Dorsia.

I met that smug prick at a book signing. Wouldnt even look up to the camera when I was trying to take a picture with him because he was too busy signing books.

So much good stuff on this thread. Liar’s Poker is definitely the book to read, especially if you work in fixed income. I’ve also read When Genius Failed and Den of Thieves. I really enjoyed both of those as well. Flash Boys was ok. I enjoyed it but I felt like at times it was embellished a bit to fit Lewis’ agenda to bring down HST. Remember, Lewis traded bonds for like 18 months 20 years ago. People make him out to be like he’s some industry expert. He’s not. He’s an author.

Flash boys sucked. Big Short and Liars Poker are his best works.

+1 Liars Poker, solid read.

There’s no doubt he is his biggest fan.

I liked the Big Short, I think ML goes overboard in exaggerating some of the characters involved…

This is the best quote from Wall Street 1987: “The public’s out there throwing darts at a board, sport. I don’t throw darts at a board – I bet on sure things.” Still true today.

I loved all of these…I think Barbarians at the Gate was my favorite, though.

Another one not mentioned yet (also not Michael Lewis, though):

Clash of the Titans: Greed, Hubris, the Fall of Merrill Lynch, and the Near-Collapse of Bank of America

Might not be “high finance” enough for you guys, but I thought it was super interesting.