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The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine [Paperback]

Michael Lewis (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 27 Jan 2011

From the author of Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis's international bestseller The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is the extraordinary true story of the men who made millions from global economic meltdown.

From the jungles of the trading floor to the casinos of Las Vegas, The Big Short tells the outrageous 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

Michael Lewis was born in New Orleans and educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. He has written several books including the New York Times bestseller, Liar's Poker, widely considered the book that defined Wall Street during the 1980s, Panic!, Moneyball, later adapted into a film of the same name starring Brad Pitt, The Blind Side, adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Sandra Bullock, and Boomerang. Lewis is contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, columnist for Bloomberg and Slate.

Frequently Bought Together

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine + Liar's Poker (Hodder Great Reads) + Boomerang: The Biggest Bust
Price For All Three: £20.37

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (27 Jan 2011)
  • Language: Unknown
  • ISBN-10: 0141043539
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141043531
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

It's time to throw another tank of petrol on the Wall Street pyre, as only Lewis can (Financial Times)

He is so good everyone else may as well pack up (Evening Standard)

No one writes with more narrative panache about money and finance than Mr. Lewis (Michiko Kakutani New York Times)

Probably the single best piece of financial journalism ever written (Reuters)

Hugely entertaining (Economist)

Terrifying and superbly told (Daily Telegraph)

Genius (Sunday Times)

Compelling and horrifying (GQ)

A more than worthy successor to Liar's Poker ... if you want to know about the origins of the credit crunch, and the extraordinary cast of misfits, visionaries and chancers who made money from the crash, there's no more readable account (Daily Telegraph)

A triumph ... riveting ... a genuine page-turner (Times)

The very best book about this whole affair (John Lanchester, author of 'Whoops!')

If you read only one book about the causes of the recent financial crisis, let it be Michael Lewis's The Big Short (Washington Post)

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. (The Sunday Times)

Magnificent ... a perfect storm of brilliant writer meeting big subject. (The Guardian)

About the Author

Michael Lewis was born in New Orleans and educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. He has written several books including the New York Times bestseller, Liar's Poker, widely considered the book that defined Wall Street during the 1980s. Lewis is contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and for Vanity Fair. He is married with three children.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
133 of 147 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Good - but not as earthshattering as Liar's Poker was, or as timely 17 Mar 2010
By AK TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Let me get one thing straight out of the way - this book is unlikely to have the impact of Liar's Poker (Hodder Great Reads) for two reasons. The former was one of the first on the subject and defined 1980s banking to an extent, it got many graduates excited about potentially becoming BSDs themselves. It was in a way the perfect pitch for the industry, working even better as a result of being a critique of the system. The second reason was that while Liar's Poker was timely, this book came out a bit late to the 2008 financial meltdown party. Books like The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable or Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets were a lot more timely, and while not everyone will appreciate Taleb's writing style, they were in some ways more general and applicable to broader sets of situations.

Be that as it may, Lewis is still an accomplished writer and knows how to package the book well. Unlike in Liar's Poker, this book is not based on his own personal experiences (he retired from the industry prior to writing Liar's Poker) but follows several of the investors, who saw the unsustainability of the subprime mortgage market and decided to short it ahead of the curve. Through their stories Lewis shows how the market developed, the systemic problems plaguing the sector (a bit like in the second part of Liar's Poker) and how the downfall happened.... Read more ›
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69 of 77 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Generation Kill goes to Wall Street 12 May 2010
By O. Buxton
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Michael Lewis is one of the most gifted and entertaining writers today - anyone who has read his reputation-forming Liar's Poker will know this (if you haven't, and you aspire to a career in finance, you should), but his subsequent offerings, particularly the singularly brilliant Moneyball have also been outstanding. He distinguishes himself from his peers firstly by his thorough insider's understanding of how, when and why finance works (and by extension how, when and why it doesn't) but also a deft turn of phrase and devastating wit. When the subject is the logic-defying but leaden topic of tranched portfolio credit derivative armageddon, both attributes are in good demand. And both, in the shape of Lewis' airy but insightful writing, are in abundant supply.

The rosette for "best book about the financial meltdown" is hotly contested - luminaries such as George Soros, Mohamed El-Erian and Hank Paulson have entered more or less weighty tomes (some excellent, some portentous, some a bit wacky); as have well-respected and deeply learned journalists like the NY Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin and the FT's Gillian Tett.... Read more ›
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars What a pleasure 28 Mar 2010
By Abhinav Chandra
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
After reading tons of material on financial crisis, I thought that this one will be just another book of financial breakdown. I was completely wrong, and this book has been truly a pleasure to read. In fact it has been the best of the dozens of books published spitting on credit armageddon. The typical Michael lewis style to put a very complex financial structure in simple english embedded in the very enchanting story will definitely leave a reader spellbound. Its worth reading again and again. I will go with 5/5 for this fantastic story of the greatest economic event of our times by the best in the field.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars `What kind of people, in which parts of the country, exhibited the highest degree of financial irresponsibility?' 12 July 2010
By J. Cameron-Smith TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
We are still living with the consequences of the global financial crisis of 2008. A sad story of losses and losers resulting from the construction and application of flawed mathematical models, untested assumptions and greed. Much has been written about the process of turning subprime mortgages into financial products which were then sold, after being accorded triple A (or equivalent) ratings by ratings agencies. Much is being spent by governments around the world to try to repair the damage. And, hopefully, changes are being made to try to ensure that such disasters are avoided in future.

In this book, Michael Lewis tells the stories of some of those people who analysed the market and saw the possibility that instruments created on the foundation of subprime mortgages could fall. In such circumstances, going short could reap a fortune.

So, how did these people know this? Were they prescient, or just lucky? Maybe both: together with the fact that they undertook some analysis of the subprime mortgages and realised that the facade was rotten. Who were these people? Mr Lewis writes about Steve Eisman and his team, who understood the US housing market and Wall Street. He writes of Michael Burry, who immersed himself in the bond market, and of the `garage band hedge fund' created by Jamie Mai and Charlie Ledley.

I found this book interesting because it sheds light on a different aspect of the crisis. Its discomforting to think that while some individuals undertook the analysis required to determine an opportunity for profit, the multiple entities involved in the subprime mortgage financial path (from lending money initially to manufacturing the financial products sold as a consequence) did not undertake appropriate risk analysis.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight
If ever you mis-understood the financial crisis, this is the resource for you. Not always the easiest read, but opens the door to the complete inadequacy of some of today's... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Bertie Conibear
5.0 out of 5 stars Profiting from the 2007-8 meltdown
The book gives a very good account of how the self-destruct mechanism in the subprime loans was set up and describes how some traders who saw the lunacy of it all profited from... Read more
Published 19 days ago by christodoulos kyradjis
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent follow up to Liar's Poker
Michael Lewis doesn't disappoint, a very entertaining and educational book and nicely written. Highly recommended to all in every way!
Published 25 days ago by Natasha
4.0 out of 5 stars Very engaging
Good introduction to the crash, highlighting the monumental stupidity of many people in a fun and engaging way. Also enjoyed the personal focus; Lewis is a good story teller.
Published 1 month ago by Cedric Bethwick-Swenton
5.0 out of 5 stars Good language and simple introduction to why Subprime loans went sour
Well written, and with a nice introduction to why subprime loans went sour.

This book cover a few of those few, who saw the crisis come. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mikdane
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Besides it's really close to a wallstreet film. It's nice to read if you have to understand the CDO market.
Published 1 month ago by Constantin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read and informative about the crash
This is a well-written read about the structured products that were a main reason behind the current financial crisis. Read more
Published 2 months ago by James
5.0 out of 5 stars notes from the people that predicted the failure of the system
I had read the previous book ( liars'poker) and finally got round to reading this
The account covers the people that predicted the crash of the financial mortgage system - and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jim
5.0 out of 5 stars A most for all parties, inside or outside Wall Street/The City
I loved this book, a little simplistic in parts but only because I knew about them beforehand, but does not skip on details and covers pretty much the whole debacle without been... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul Kilmurray
5.0 out of 5 stars great
bought this as price was very good compared to all others i had seen. arrived quickly, as described. highly recommended
Published 3 months ago by Tim Stopforth
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