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Liar's Poker (by Michael Lewis)
Thank you very much, Seyed, for sending me this book! It was a fantastic read. It's the true tale of Michael Lewis' time as a trader with Salomon Smith Barney in the 1980's during the (now probably second-) craziest time in the modern history of financial markets. He describes in great detail how the investment powerhouse grew from big to ultra-big and how the firm ultimately got destroyed by that growth. The book is not mainly about the company but about its nexus of people: the managers, the traders, the customers, and their relationships. It's about greed in the purest form, it's about unbridled arrogance, it's about money-seekers and ruthlessness, it's about getting caught in the hype.
The book is hilariously funny (I literally laughed out loud quite a few times), and if you're a business person, inevitably you'll find more or less of yourself or your surroundings mirrored in the book. Liar's Poker also portrays an important time in our financial markets. It teaches about bonds, bond trading, and investment banking. Afterwards, investment banking seems to be more thrilling and enticing as well as more frightening than before. The book is definitely very subjective and generally negative on business and management, but that's just fine because Michael Lewis never ceases to be ironic on himself as well.
In summary: Enjoyable must-read for everybody even remotely interested in business.
Sidenote: Michael Lewis has become my favorite author, I think. I have read three books of his: Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, and Next: The Future Just Happenend. They've all been very good and are highly recommended.
- Book Title: Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street
- Book Author: Michael Lewis
- Buy the book at Amazon.com or Amazon.de.
- My rating:
