The Buy Side

A Wall Street Trader's Tale of Spectacular Excess

By: Turney Duff

Narrated by: Turney Duff

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A former Galleon Group trader portrays an after-hours Wall Street culture where drugs and sex are rampant and billions in trading commissions flow to those who dangle the most enticements.

A remarkable writing debut, filled with indelible moments, The Buy Side shows as no book ever has the rewards—and dizzying temptations—of making a living on the Street. Growing up in the 1980’s Turney Duff was your average kid from Kennebunk, Maine, eager to expand his horizons. After trying – and failing – to land a job as a journalist, he secured a trainee position at Morgan Stanley and got his first feel for the pecking order that exists in the trading pits.

Those on the “buy side,” the traders who make large bets on whether a stock will rise or fall, are the “alphas” and those on the “sell side,” the brokers who handle their business, are eager to please. How eager to please was brought home stunningly to Turney in 1999 when he arrived at the Galleon Group, a colossal hedge-fund management firm run by secretive founder Raj Rajaratnam.

Finally in a position to trade on his own, Turney was encouraged to socialize with the sell side and siphon from his new broker friends as much information as possible. Soon he was not just vacuuming up valuable tips but also being lured into a variety of hedonistic pursuits.

Naïve enough to believe he could keep up the lifestyle without paying a price, he managed to keep an eye on his buy-and-sell charts and, meanwhile, pondered the strange goings on at Galleon, where tens of millions were being made each week in sometimes mysterious ways.

At his next positions, at Argus Partners and J.L. Berkowitz, Turney climbed to even higher heights – and, as it turned out, plummeted to even lower depths – as, by day, he solidified his reputation one of the Street’s most powerful healthcare traders, and by night, he blazed a path through the city’s nightclubs, showing off his social genius and voraciously inhaling any drug that would fill the void he felt inside. A mesmerizingly immersive journey through Wall Street’s first millennial decade, and a poignant self portrait by a young man who surely would have destroyed himself were it not for his decision to walk away from a seven-figure annual income, The Buy Side is one of the best coming-of-age-on-the-Street books ever written.

©2013 Turney Duff (P)2013 Random House

Critic reviews

“This is why I keep my money safe and sound under the mattress. You could get high just reading this book. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Wall Street traders." (James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls)

“Bracing…calls to mind books like Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, and especially Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis…As spectacle [the book] easily trumps both…Mr. Duff proves a fine wordsmith: his prose is smooth, lean and rhythmic…An entertaining and cautionary tale, well worth your time.” (Bryan Burrough, The New York Times)

“Turney Duff is a natural storyteller, and his tale of how a naive kid from Maine traded in L.L. Bean for Armani and got sucked into the seamy side of Wall Street is almost impossible to put down. The book is by turns hilarious, harrowing, maddening, and illuminating. After this debut, the smart money will be on Duff.” (Bethany McLean, New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Guys in the Room and All the Devils Are Here)

Train Wreck on Wall Street

Turney Duff takes us from his days as a wide eyed newbie at Morgan Stanley, through his trading days at Galleon, Argus Partners and J.L. Berkowitz in a book which one hopes was as self healing for Duff to write as it was interesting for us to read. Throughout the book you keep asking yourself, "how bad can this get" and saying, "I know this isn't going to end well, when does the train hit the wall." When done, it leaves you asking the age old question, "How could someone who had everything let it get so out of control?"

Some good stuff on Galleon and its founder/felon Raj Rajaratnam, more examples of Wall Street putting self interests ahead of clients, an interesting take on Jim Cramer, and the obvious lesson on the danger of drugs.

Great read. Could happen to anyone.

This was a great book. It is an informative look into how Wall Street works. It is also a cautionary tale that could happen to anyone from any industry. There are highs, lows and funny and sad parts. It was a fun easy read.

Raw and rewarding

Thank you, Turney, for laying it all out there. Your story on Wall Street is probably one experienced thousands of times. I hope the back 1/2 of your life is as good as I imagine it will be.

Kind of depressing

A tale of addiction that while entertaining remains a sad expose of the famed elite of the financial sector.

Fantastic all the way through.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I found myself rooting for the main character even when he was acting like an $&@hole. I liked the pace and lack of sugar coating things. Thanks for a great “read”!

Very entertaining

What made the experience of listening to The Buy Side the most enjoyable?

Being a financial advisor to individuals, this 'exciting' side of the business has always fascinated me. I am so far removed from it but in many ways envy the lifestyle. Listening to this story allows you to live vicariously thru Turney's ups and downs without the ramifications. Kind of like a Wall Street fraternity party that went too far. In the end I have to say I'd recommend The Buy Side for a truly quick read/listen.

Very insightful

It is a dirty world on Wall Street ... actually all financial centers around the world. This is another story of human weakness ... which can't be regulated away. A depressing reality.

Excess Wall Street excess

Tourney's experiences climbing the Wall Street pecking order kept me wanting more. My favorite genre of book is Wall Street excess. This fit the bill.

And Tourney seemed to cross paths with all the who's who of Wall Street. Raj, Cramer...

But as the story entered the final third the attention given to his personal struggles (cocaine) was excessive. No doubt the author's drug problem were key to his downfall but in this kind of book I am looking for more Wall Street specific excess and less info about self driven coke and masturbation marathons.

Overall a good story. I'd buy again but would not endure after (spoiler alert)

He goes to rehab

Great read.

Where does The Buy Side rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

A little slow out of the gates, but content gets real juicy as the book progresses. A very open tale of his life full from the good to the bad. It's a good read.

Wonderful book

Would you listen to The Buy Side again? Why?

Definitely - it's just a great story and very well written.

What other book might you compare The Buy Side to and why?

Straight to Hell.

Which character – as performed by Turney Duff – was your favorite?

Turney Duff and his buddy Turbo.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The author relapsing and almost ending up homeless was tough. I was rooting for him to straighten up his life and his relapse surprised me.

Any additional comments?

Funny, moving, and informative book. Very well written and author-performed books are always the best. This is no exception - loved every minute.