The Big Short

Inside the Doomsday Machine

By: Michael Lewis

Narrated by: Jesse Boggs

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Featuring an exclusive audio interview with Michael Lewis

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 number-one best-selling Liar’s Poker. "Who got it right?" he asks. Who saw the ever-rising 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 best sellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times.

©2010 Michael Lewis (P)2010 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

“No one writes with more narrative panache about money and finance than Mr. Lewis....[he] does a nimble job of using his subjects’ stories to explicate the greed, idiocies and hypocrisies of a system notably lacking in grown-up supervision....Writing in faintly Tom Wolfe-ian prose, Mr. Lewis does a colorful job of introducing the lay reader to the Darwinian world of the bond market.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

“Superb: Michael Lewis doing what he does best, illuminating the idiocy, madness and greed of modern finance. . . . Lewis achieves what I previously imagined impossible: He makes subprime sexy all over again.” (Andrew Leonard, Salon.com)

"[Michael Lewis] is the finest storyteller of our generation.” (Malcolm Gladwell)

wow.

This book blew me away. The intertwined surreal stories of the people involved in the biggest fleecing of american taxpayers. The people in the know, and the people who should have been in the know, but failed us. In particular, the reaction of the SEC was most telling. I also found it shocking that the people who invented the equities were the same people involved with Milkin in the 80's. Criminals in suits, who carry out the biggest heist in history, and get away with it. Wall Street brokers, who after the entry of the internet era are no longer needed to buy stocks for customers, have turned to more sinister pursuits. One of the characters kept saying to his wife that this could be the end of democracy in the US. Maybe it ended a while ago and we just havent realized it yet, as the same people keep running these scams again and again. I am sure we havent seen the end of these people. I would have never understood what happened if Lewis hadnt written his book. All taxpayers need to read this book. I had to listen to it twice to catch all the nuances.

Wonderfully Told Story

Depressing, but well told. Makes you want to know more about where these people are now, even more than is told in the brief epilogue. And I would love to hear what Mr. Lewis recommends for how to avoid this in the future.

The movie or the book

We went to see the movie and much as we enjoyed it, apart from the language, it asked more questions than it answered. So we bought the book. It's a good "listen", engrossing and one that brings out the characters of the key players. Great attention to detail, and clear explanations when needed. Like Moneyball, you need to read the book to get the background. Something the movie makers don't have time for.

Awesome story. Interesting(and real) characters.

Michael Lewis made a bunch of confusing financial stuff that is crucial to the story easy to understand for the layman without dumbing it down. I would have never bothered to learn about collateralized debt obligations and the other complicated terms used in this story without listening to The Big Short.

If you choose to read (or listen to) this story, you will learn a lot about the 2007/2008 financial crisis while enjoying an engaging story.

Gripping tale of the guys who saw it coming

Would you listen to The Big Short again? Why?

Absolutely. I loved Jesse Boggs' narration, and I always enjoy Michael Lewis' way of telling a story and profiling his subjects. I could see listening again in a couple of years when I've forgotten most of the details.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Like he did in Moneyball, Lewis shows how an outlier's view of statistics and probability can lead to great success. It's fun because you know they were right, yet everyone thinks they're being foolish.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me angry at many points, because you're exposed to the carelessness and greed of so many people in the financial world. Of course it's easier to criticize in retrospect after seing the outcome of the 2008 mortgage crisis, but this wasn't just people betting that home prices would keep rising. The laundering techniques used to cleanse risky mortgage bonds to get them rated AAA when they were really BBB were particularly shocking. I was also frustrated to hear about Mike Burry and how his hedge fund investors doubted him despite his brilliance. But it's very satisfying overall because you know what's coming and who will be proven right.

Fantastic! Truth is stranger than fiction.

Lewis makes the complex world of high finance accessible and entertaining. He chooses great characters to show the madness of the recession.

Good Book

A good and simplified insight into the insanity of the Wall Street mortgage bond market...

Political Component

The book did not include the key component of why banks made bad loans and the Democrats involved in pressuring banks and guarantee that they might back loans that go into default.

cdos, credit swaps, and subprime mortgage loans oh

my god man this is straight up madness. i understood it wrll enough but can i really say i will ever understand? no

Wow!!!

One of the best written books on a very complicated subject I've ever "read". The movie doesn't so the story justice though it was good summary of the major themes. love this book.