The Big Short

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 [A] strikingly original take that offers an enhanced understanding of the debacle...Since his first book, Liar's Poker, Lewis has tackled big, engaging stories...by finding and developing characters whose personal narratives reveal a larger truth. He's done it again. -- Daniel Gross 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 It is the work of our greatest financial journalist, at the top of his game. And it's essential reading. -- Graydon Carter One of the best business books of the past two decades. -- Malcolm Gladwell I read Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods. I'll never play like that. But it's good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like. -- Malcolm Gladwell I recommend everyone within the sound of my voice to read [this] book. -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) I've joined a lot of other people in just finishing Michael Lewis's book, The Big Short, and it's really an eye-opener of what was going on at the time that this real estate bubble was created. -- Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) I read it, marked it up for my staff, underlined it, made copies and asked them to read it. -- Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) [A]n incredible piece of commentary on Wall Street. -- Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) If you're wondering if there's importance or an urgency to this issue, read the book The Big Short by Michael Lewis, and then, when you're finished reading, come back to the floor and say that you support this amendment [on financial reform]. -- Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota)