The Big Short Michael Lewis | ISBN : 0-393-07223-1

The Big Short

Author: Michael Lewis

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated

Publication Date: 16 March, 2010

ISBN: 9780393072235

Pages: 266

Subjects: Business

Available as: Trade Cloth, 978-0-393-07223-5 Trade Cloth, 978-1-4104-3026-7 Trade Paper, 978-1-59413-461-6 Trade Paper, 978-0-393-33882-9 E-Book - Open Ebook, 978-0-393-07819-0

Description:

When the crash of the U. S. stock market became public knowledge in the fall of 2008, it was already old news. The real crash, the silent crash, had taken place over the previous year, 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.

The crucial question is this: Who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices, a risk compounded daily by the creation of those arcane, artificial securities loosely based on piles of doubtful mortgages?Michael Lewis turns the inquiry on its head to create a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 best-selling Liar "s Poker. Who got it right? he asks. Who saw the real estate market for the black hole it would become, and eventually made billions of dollars from that perception? And what qualities of character made those few persist when their peers and colleagues dismissed them as Chicken Littles? Out of this 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 times.

PW Publishers Weekly

Review Source: Publishers Weekly

Review Date: 2010-05-03

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. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved