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cdjdhj's review against another edition
4.0
Every summer, my husband an I read the same book as sort of a "reading date." I had heard good things about this book, so for Father's Day, I gave us both a copy so we could read it together. My husband is a former accountant/finance guy and is very astute and the economy and markets in general. The most interesting and yet the most unsettling thing about the story told in this book is that it is true. It is the real tale of how our entire economy, society, and way of life very nearly went down the tubes due to incompetence, dishonesty, fraud and greed. The worst part is that the story isn't over, because the problems have not been solved and we, as a society, are setting ourselves up to have them happen again. We do not seem to learn the vitally important lessons we need to learn.
I finished the book before my husband, even though I read many parts of it 2-3 times just to make sure I understood it. (My husband took notes on much of it). It is not that the book is poorly written, Michael Lewis makes the very complex financial issues he writes about in this book about as clear as they can possibly be made, yet for someone like me, they are still hard to understand. Lewis says that a root cause of the Great Recession of 2008 is that even those in government, banks and brokerage houses, who are paid millions to understand the risks and rewards of our capitalistic economy, really had no clue as to what was going on in the sub-prime mortgage industry prior to 2007.
Lewis does not come across as either a liberal or conservation in this book, he simply tells the story, through the eyes of several of the key players, of how the shortsightedness and greed of a few brought the economy of the United States of America to its knees. In my opinion, every American needs to read this book or one like it. We all need to know just how fragile our system really is, especially when manipulated by greed and self-serving interests. There is some language when Lewis quotes the hedge fund managers who were manipulating our economy. Highly recommended - even though I gave it only four stars because it deals with such a complex issue. Don't let that deter you - READ IT!
I finished the book before my husband, even though I read many parts of it 2-3 times just to make sure I understood it. (My husband took notes on much of it). It is not that the book is poorly written, Michael Lewis makes the very complex financial issues he writes about in this book about as clear as they can possibly be made, yet for someone like me, they are still hard to understand. Lewis says that a root cause of the Great Recession of 2008 is that even those in government, banks and brokerage houses, who are paid millions to understand the risks and rewards of our capitalistic economy, really had no clue as to what was going on in the sub-prime mortgage industry prior to 2007.
Lewis does not come across as either a liberal or conservation in this book, he simply tells the story, through the eyes of several of the key players, of how the shortsightedness and greed of a few brought the economy of the United States of America to its knees. In my opinion, every American needs to read this book or one like it. We all need to know just how fragile our system really is, especially when manipulated by greed and self-serving interests. There is some language when Lewis quotes the hedge fund managers who were manipulating our economy. Highly recommended - even though I gave it only four stars because it deals with such a complex issue. Don't let that deter you - READ IT!
david_donhoff's review against another edition
5.0
Another wonderfully illustrating documenta-novel by the master Lewis... brilliant, as usual!
astroprof's review against another edition
3.0
Informative, instructive, and infuriating (especially in the epilogue), it also feels thin in its analysis of the broader implications of the way that the big banks were allowed to rip-off their shareholders and hand off their bad bets to the American people.
fbroom's review against another edition
3.0
great book, difficult to read for someone with no financial background
lastpaige111's review against another edition
3.0
I understood about a third of this book, and both comforted and discomforted knowing that even the people who sold these arcane financial instruments -- and those who bought them -- didn't understand them either. What I did take away from the book is that I am very glad I fled Wall Street in 1981 before I was seduced and became a vampiress who produced nothing but misery.
Hey -- I did figure out what selling short means. That's something, right?
Plus I watched BLINDSIDE while skimming the book -- how gripping Lewis' one narrative is compared to the other. But maybe that's just me. I just can't get excited reading about how Wall Street's CEO's have bankrupted us. Even if the book is about the oddballs who figured it all out in advance ...
I remembered the guys I worked with in 1980-81, and I hated them even more. But they don't care. They're very rich. And we taxpayers took care of that for them.
But I read this entire book and I didn't care about anyone in it, one way or the other. I think that means that Lewis is not the greatest nonfiction story teller of a generation, as he has been touted to be.
And Obama is wrong wanting to end the Bush tax cuts? Puh-lease. They should send all of us personal checks, too.
Hey -- I did figure out what selling short means. That's something, right?
Plus I watched BLINDSIDE while skimming the book -- how gripping Lewis' one narrative is compared to the other. But maybe that's just me. I just can't get excited reading about how Wall Street's CEO's have bankrupted us. Even if the book is about the oddballs who figured it all out in advance ...
I remembered the guys I worked with in 1980-81, and I hated them even more. But they don't care. They're very rich. And we taxpayers took care of that for them.
But I read this entire book and I didn't care about anyone in it, one way or the other. I think that means that Lewis is not the greatest nonfiction story teller of a generation, as he has been touted to be.
And Obama is wrong wanting to end the Bush tax cuts? Puh-lease. They should send all of us personal checks, too.