Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street Reviews

• A must-read, if you are thinking of working on Wall St

  
  By A7JSYWIO35PP5 on 2000-12-13
  I worked for CSFB for three years, and am still in investment banking for a smaller firm. So I have seen a part of the world that is described here. I'm not saying that this is an exact description of what I saw, because Lewis picks the most exotic creatures that he met, but the atmosphere is perfectly conveyed. This book will tell you all the stuff that they don't teach you in an interview or recruitment visit - the pecking order, the politics, and how to get paid.

  The other reason to read this is that Lewis is a brilliant writer, with a real talent for describing people and their situations. Lots of other people have written boring books with the same raw material. For a non-specialist like my mother, the technicalities were hard work, but you don't need a lot of special knowledge to like this book. My mother certainly did.

  Probably the best way to look at this book is like a travel book - you're not visiting a country, you're visiting a world. Great travel books are not word-perfect descriptions of a place, they are representations of what the author felt like when he was there, and they give the reader a feeling of what it was like to be there. If you read this book, you will understand what it feels like to work inside a big bank, and you'll enjoy the ride, even if you have no interest in actually working there.
  
  

• Trading on Wall Street in the Eighties

  
  By A16PB6GNBP68E3 on 1999-12-07
  Fascinating and entertaining look into the life of a trader at Saloman Brothers during the eighties. Most books about Wall Street seem dry and uninteresting to the outsider but Lewis has presented a humorous and enlightening story that you just can't put down. If you are at all curious as to what goes on inside Wall Street you must read this book.
  
  

• It made me laugh, it made me cry......

  
  By on 1996-07-30
  **** I read this book in my last undergraduate year of college. At that time, Lewis provided me with an eye-opening, first-hand glance of life in the high-flying world of finance (1980's) and the personalities that drove that period forward. It was relevant reading material since I was intending to pursue a career in the financial services industry, and here was a book written by a former bond salesman in the New York and London offices of Salomon Brothers. **** Nevertheless, this book is not limited to only those interested or involved in the world of business. This book is for anybody who is curious how the S&L crisis emerged; how the Reagan administration's deregulations affected the salaries of a select few in the US financial industry; how much the tax burden of the average American citizen grew as a result. This book is perfect for those who dislike the dry writing found in historical textbooks. **** Lewis's anecdotes will leave you in stitches! I am now working in the financial services industry. Most of the people I run into seem to have read this book at an earlier age and most enjoyed it as much as I did. **NOTE** Other "financial history" books that could be compared to "Liar's Poker", but written with very different writing styles: "Merchants of Debt" by George Anders; "Barbarians at the Gate".
  
  

• A Great Read

  
  By on 1999-11-09
  What a great read. A friend of mine recommended this to me and I can say that it certainly was a refreshing read.

  This book tells you about some of the influential people who shaped Salomon Brothers and Wall St in the eighties. I never realised the history that went with Salomon Brothers.

  The style is great and I can really identify with the author's early years going through the stages of obtaining and starting a job. Some of the characters in the book are hilarious, you can only just believe they are real.

  Only one complaint: sometimes the author goes on for quite a long time with his history e.g. the history of junk bonds and the history of various people in SB. I only wish that there was more about the author's story.

  Only one gripe though, and it can't prevent this from being a 5 star book.

  Buy it now! Thanks to the book, I am now constantly searching for books like this but this is the only one I have found recounting the story of a salesman as opposed to a trader.
  
  

• I was working at Salomon Brothers at the time...

  
  By on 2000-02-24
  ... that Mr. Lewis describes, and worked for the fixed income trading desk, so I know for a fact most of his descriptions are pure fiction. As for the rest, he has taken three years of events, embellished and exaggerated them, and presented them as if they occurred in a single day, creating an image of out-of-control mayhem in the company.

  Mr. Lewis is a mediocre writer at best, lacking in financial expertise, and interested solely in pulp gossips and self-promotion. If you wish to read an actually well-written book on Wall Street, read "Barbarians at the Gate", "Market Wizards" or "Money Machine" - skip this trash.
  
  

• Captures the essence of the culture
  By A37DAAORNEU8GX on 2002-07-04
  In Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis writes about his journey in becoming a bond salesman and his two years of work experiences at Salomon Brothers. While the book does offer some information about the finacial innovations driving the bond business in the 1980s, I think the principle thrust of the book is an examination of the culture and the personalities of Wall Street trading desks. The first chapter story, which is the basis for the title of the book, involving John Gutfreund and John Meriwether encapsulates the nature of this world.

  This book is an important read for anyone who thinks they might want to become a trader/salesperson on Wall Street. If not, it is still a very interesting peek into a world that most people do not understand.

  My last comment is a minor criticism of Michael Lewis. Lewis writes in the first person and is obviously a very self-involved individual with an extremely high opinion of himself. This is more evident in his later writings and columns for various periodicals (e.g. his NY Times article on Long-Term Capital was sickening). Despite this criticism the book is still very enjoyable.
  
  

• Wall Street Demystified
  By A11JXS9PB728PD on 2006-06-03
  For those of us that have an innate disbelief for brokers, traders, advisors and the likes working from Wall Street, this is a must read. For those of you who take lessons and advise from financial advisors, money experts, radio and TV charlatans, this book should be mandatory.
  
  The basic premise (mine, not the Author) is, why someone who knows what will go up or down, will share that with me? By a simple rule of supply and demand (and its effect in price), when more people find out about a `good deal', the `less good' the deal becomes. I.e. the fewer people that `know' that a commodity will go up in value, the better, as the demand for that commodity remains low. The more people that find out about this commodity (stock, bond, investment, metal, etc.) the demand will rise and so will the price. Why will someone that `knows' what will improve in price, share that with you? If your advisor really knew, he/she would not be wasting their time telling you about it, they would gobble up on that commodity, spend all they have to buy more, and then borrow some more. Then the opposite is also true: once he/she accumulated as much as possible of such commodity, then they would have a credible and legitimate reason to `spread the knowledge', so people would start buying and he/she can sell... and the price will go down!
  
  The only reservation which would oppose this logic is that the large and prestigious Wall Street bankers, with such tall buildings and important names, century old reputation, so much marble, granite and stainless steel, etc. `have' to be ethical, professional and give you a good service for your money. They can't be a sham; or can they? Introducing Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker. This is a book that is hard to put down. For a person like me, not very familiar with the doings of the stock market, banks, etc. this is extraordinarily revealing. What an education! This book should be required reading in any MBA program.
  
  The books is very entertaining and easy reading, Lewis' style is fun. There are some stories so amusing that I had to put the book aside until finished laughing. Constant references are made to true names, places and newpaper articles at the time of the events described. All this gives it the color of truth. I `googled' the Author and the book, and could not find a single article refuting any part of this book. Given the fame achieved by being listed as a # 1 bestseller in the New York Times, if someone had something to say, I am sure we would know by know.
  
  I happen to have a neighbor who worked as a stock broker for a decade or so. To my questions, especially to why he quit (he is still young and not a millionaire), he just handed me his copy of this book. He only added `there is a dark underbelly to trading'. And was he right!
  
  This book shows, from the inside, the inner workings of the famous, prestigious and powerful Wall Street banks. Nothing sugarcoated, the plain truth. I read the last 20 pages very slowly because I did not want the book to end.
  
  
  
• Liar's Poker
  By A3MR1REKDWAQSV on 2003-10-15
  This book is hilarious. You don't need to have a Wall Street or business background to enjoy it. Think of the movie "Wall Street" if it had been a comedy instead of a drama. Michael Lewis relates his personal experiences with wicked humor mixed with thoughtful insight.
  
  
• Funny and informative
  By A76YCUFC6WMW6 on 2001-03-09
  Liars' Poker is the quintessential business novel. Everyone businessman I know has either read it or heard of it. So, I decided that I should check it out.

  This book is an account of Michael Lewis' time at Salomon Smith Barney in the mid 80s, at the height of the junk bond craze. He perfectly describes the atmosphere of competitiveness and the vast rewards everyone was reaping as a result of the boom.

  What came as a surprise to me is that Lewis describes the mortgage bond market, an obtuse and vague instrument, very clearly and in a way most non-business people could also understand. This explanation also serves to show why these junk bonds ultimately collapsed.

  Then, of course, are his hilarious descriptions of his orientation, his bosses and coworkers. To read about these outlandish characters is worth the price of the book alone.

  So, to close, this book is a classic for a reason. It is informative and well written, but manages to be hilarious at the same time, a feat few authors can achieve. Read this book at all costs.
  
  

• an insightful look at Wall Street from the inside
  By on 2002-06-19
  A well-written book that exposes the "Money-is-God" attitude of Wall Street. From the profane, fat, slovenly, polyester-wearing traders that stuff their mouths all day long, to the frat-boy Ivy League trainees who heave paper-wads at the Salomon directors speaking in the training classes, one gets a highly accurate picture of the inside of a Wall Street investment banking firm.

  I was particularly amused by two anecdotes; the author had his first encounter with Salomon Brothers when he was seated next to the wife of a Salomon director at a St. James Palace dinner hosted by the Queen Mother. Of course, as close as she would get to the guests would be to stroll out of the room followed by her trained Corgi dogs who genuflect every 15 seconds. Perhaps insulted by the Queen Mother's indifference at her presence, the director's wife shouted out, "Hey Queen, nice dogs you have there!" after she passed. The second amusing anecdote occurs when the author is interviewed several times but not offered a job. Eventually a friend tells him that Salomon does not actually offer someone a job. Consequently, the author calls up the firm and says, "I accept the position", upon which he is welcomed as a new member of Salomon Brothers.

  The book also exposes the dirty little secret that Wall Street makes its money by entering into adversarial relationships with their clients. The author refers to this as "taking the other side of the fool". Specifically, Wall Street attempts to keep spreads on securities artificially wide in order to pocket that spread, for which they were ultimately busted by the SEC and heavily fined. They also hype stocks that they know are garbage because they have investment banking relationships with those companies (Merrill Lynch was just busted for this by the state of New York and heavily fined). Also, the investment banking fees they charge their clients to raise capital are grossly excessive, but their clients are too naive to understand this, or perhaps more accurately do not even care.

  Ultimately, the decline of the company that is chronicled in the book provides the following insight; even though Salomon always tried to hire the best and the brightest, this "talent" was eventually negated by the incompetence that arises from any hierarchical organization. That is to say, the brilliance of the few is always neutralized by the incompetence of the many inherent in the corporate structure.
  
  

• One hand, one million dollars, no tears.
  By A1J0YNR1SSFCVS on 2003-07-15
  In the 1980's, Michael Lewis was a neophyte bond salesman for Salomon Brothers in New York and London for four years. Liar's Poker is a high-stakes game the traders, salesmen, and executives play each afternoon, but it is also a metaphor for the Salomon culture of extreme risk-taking with immediate payoffs and clear winners and losers.

  This is the story of how Lewis survived the training program, inept but mean-spirited management, an aborted take-over even featuring a white knight, layoffs and the 1987 market crash before quitting to find his real calling as a business journalist. While Lewis's career did not take off quickly, he eventually became a highly paid producer, although not in the league of the true top dogs.

  Lewis tells the real story of Wall Street in both go-go and crash days with self-deprecating humor enlivened with his ecletic wit. Colorful and well-known Wall Street characters appear such as Michael Milken, Lazlo Birini, Warren Buffett, Bill Simon, Sr. and John Guetfruend. All business students need to read this as even those with advanced degrees in finance such as myself, will learn how things really work. The story of how the junk bond and collateralized mortgage backed security markets emerge is told to fill in a chapter in financial history. Perhaps most interesting is some of the political machinations, rampant at Salomon, which lead for example for Salomon to ignore the junk bond market, allowing others to flourish and eventually attempt to take-over Salomon using junk bonds.

  Lewis also describes for all investors the conflicts of interest and lack of governance on Wall Street long before Eliot Spitzer and Arthur Levitt became the champions of the little guy. My next step is to read Lewis's later books.
  
  

• Outstanding Synthesis of Economic Theory and Practice
  By on 2001-10-21
  Somehow Michael Lewis went from Art History major at Princeton to investment banker with Salomon Brothers. In this book he shows that he understood what these markets are all about, in a way that eludes the grasp of people who may spend years majoring in finance, going to law school or business school and slaving away in these same markets without a clue as to how the whole thing hangs together.

  Using bond trading theory to trade whole companies and industries, as Lewis explains Michael Milken, is especially helpful, and it suggests that Warren Buffett is doing the same thing--buying companies by acting as a "preferred" lender.

  The "us v. them" relationship between an investment bank and its customers was interesting, and in our current market times, I see a lot of this in how financial planners do the same kind of petty ripoffs that Lewis describes using bigger dollars and bigger customers. It's possible that today's minor aspiring financial planner types could read this book and aspire to be an even bigger malefactor of great wealth. It's refreshing that Lewis bailed out of the business, and this book stands the test of time as a continuing accurate diagnosis of the problems with sinners running markets. The trouble is , there will never be anyone else to run them.

  At the end of the book, he seems to have a weakness for praising John Meriwether. Isn't that the guy who lost a huge sum of money in the recent "Long Term Capital" hedging disaster? Even that proves the point of this book, which is that none of these guys care at all about anything but the dollars to be made in front of their nose at the moment. Exactly as Adam Smith said.
  
  

• Entertaining for awhile; falls off near the end...
  By A2EWCVGOTTPFAZ on 2001-05-14
  Liar's Poker is a funny look at life on Wall Street; especially the life of lower-level employees getting their start in the financial world. Michael Lewis uses the personal experience of his financial career in the Salomon Brothers bond program to tell the larger story of the rise and fall of the entire firm during the 1980s. Along the way he tells some funny stories and gives the reader an interesting, inside look at the fast-paced life on Wall Street. But in the end, the book starts to drag and Lewis's cynical view of the securities industry begins to get tiresome. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what a trader's life is like inside a major Wall Street firm. It is an interesting, initially humorous read that is appropriately not much longer than 200 pages in length.
  
  
• No better way to write about what happened
  By A1TDQZWRLYO7EI on 2001-10-31
  *
  This book is for everybody. Even if you've never worked in finance in your life, you will still think it's funny and entertaining. Besides which, you will get a thorough education on the bond market and its growth in the mid eighties.

  Since this was one of the books often referred to by MBA programmes, I was hesitant at first to read it (one of my pet hates is all those silly books about "how to" from supposed "experts" who have since lost all their money or credibility because they were too greedy or didn't see change coming - which is why they had to write the book). Yet, I found myself in need of literature one day and spotted the distinctive yellow cover (in Singapore at least). I was attracted immediately by the title and then proceeded to read the first paragraph. I almost sat down promptly on the floor to keep reading it - a good sign that this was good reading.

  Lewis has a talent for story telling. He combines this talent with an uncanny ability to be able to explain a very complex market in a very simple way. The "pull" of this story is that you KNOW it really happened. It is easy to cast your mind in the author's shoes, and BE on the trading floor with him. You can feel the excitement when the market turns, taste the sweat of other traders, hear the noise of the commotion on the 42nd floor, and sense the tense environment created by several hundred people in one area all trying to make a quick buck.

  The story begins by an explanation of the game "Liar's Poker" itself. From then on, the gambling begins and the dice continue to roll ... the very bizarre way in which Michael gets a much sought after position at a prestigious investment bank ... to an intriguing story about the movers and shakers at Salomon Brothers, and the company's inevitable downfall.

  Pseudonyms, of course, are used. But we can all imagine what "the Human Piranha" looks like and certainly know what type of person this is. Women can despise the competitiveness and prejudice that reaches its ultimate point in this type of environment, and is practised only by men, for men.

  The book tails off a little at the end. The author (rightly) describes how his career takes off with the company and his inevitable resignation from the firm (Michael, I'm totally with you -- it takes a certain type of person, without scrupples or morals to be able to sustain themselves in this type of workplace).

  The only slight weakness is that the author tries to justify his choice at the end (there's no need to, because we understand why early on), by saying "money isn't everything". Sure, it is not everything, but it's a lot to those who haven't got any.

  *
  
  

• Obvious Cry Baby
  By A1RKJVRM6X28UX on 2002-10-23
  I want you to realize that Michael Lewis is only one perspective albeit a very biased and skewed one at that. If you speak to any one who worked at Salomon they will bluntly tell you that the book is not completely factual. Michael Lewis has an agenda, and it is very obvious that he has it in for the Salomon and Wall Street traders. And, he is willing to bend the truth and exagerate things to make the people look like monsters. Using the endearing term of Human Pirhana speaks to this point. I loved the book, because it gives you somewhat of a perspective on the life of traders, but I don't think you truly know what it is you're up against until you go and do actual trading. I wouldn't believe everything you read in Liar's Poker, and I would weigh each word carefully, because Meriweather isn't the only playing Liar's Poker here. Enjoy, and don't let the book discourage you from hedge funds and investment banking, especially if you really love finance.
  
  
• The gold standard
  By AHE0DZVN59W56 on 2003-04-07
  I have read a lot of 'insider' accounts of high finance and I am amazed by how much they all seem to owe Michael Lewis for writing "Liar's Poker." From "Monkey Business" to works of fiction like "All I Could Get" to even movies such as "Boiler Room," all of them seem to have borrowed heavily from Lairs Poker.

  In this book Lewis tells the story of Solomon Brothers from its ascendancy from a small bond trading house, to the world's most profitable corporation to it's decline and eventual reorganization.

  Lewis narrates his story from the perspective he had as a Solomon bond salesman in the mid 1980's. This book shows off two of Michael Lewis best talents:

  1.) The ability to covey the feeling of how it was while he was there.
  2) The ability to write about events/activities in the past (or halfway around the world) AS IF HE WERE THERE.

  In this book, Lewis is a witness, a critic and a historian all at the same time and in comes together well. Reading this book, I kept think that Michael Lewis is too observant, insightful, and people-oriented to stay on Wall St. Maybe deciding to write this book, getting himself out of Solomon while getting back at his superiors, was just another smart trade.

  Maybe someday I'll read another `insider' account book that will blow me way, but for now "Liar's Poker" is the gold standard for the genre.
  
  

• Funny and informative
  By AUZYFSH1WFYWJ on 1999-11-22
  The book is hilarious. It's still one of my favorite gifts for friends in school or starting out in the business. Some people don't like the middle of the book, which is a bit of a history lesson. But the history lesson is a good one and should be be compared to in the industry today for those who are in the business. The beginning and the end are hilarious
  
  
• Rise Through the Wreckage
  By A2YCOBNM5SLUIJ on 1999-11-29
  Though Liar's Poker was written roughly a decade ago and Wall Street has changed somewhat since then, it is still a humorous and pertinent read. Lewis' prose flows well and pauses occasionally to bring his reader historically up to date. As a memoir, it is the only one I've found that truly takes you into the mind and life of a Wall Street trader. Perhaps it is time for someone to write about the late 90's equivalent of the hotshot Lewis...the Wall Street Research Analyst.
  
  
• First of its kind. Best of its kind. (for 8/90's and 21st .
  By A16IITISD2LAX0 on 2001-01-07
  You can neglect all the reviews and go straightly to any local bookstore to read the first chapter which describes the game "Liar's Poker". You will buy it then, I bet. It's not a trading book which I had expected, but a true story told by a bond salesman in Salomon Brothers about how bankers "stole" or sometimes "robbed" investors shamelessly. Though I still found two chapters quite boring, the rest are really interesting. Even you may not like the story, you will learn to be more careful when your private or personal banker calls you for a deal or two! Finally, I must agree with Management Today's comment that it "Should be made a legally required component of every MBA course".
  
  
• Too Narrow
  By A222LQEPE7O7BV on 2002-04-13
  I have read a good number of books covering Wall Street in the 80's and I really think there are better books out there, Den of Thief's, Predators Ball. This book is entertaining, well written, and gives us a view we normally do not have, the traders. With the movies Boiler Room and Rogue Trader, you can see that they take from this book. I think the best part of the book is the behind the scenes, almost sub plot story of Salomon Brothers and Wall Street in the eighties.
  The down side for me is that this book really just focuses on a small part of the whole 80's Wall Street, Junk Bond and M&A world. I would have liked him to have tried to captures so of the other things going on in his business t the same time and try and relate them to what he was doing. The ending is also about 10 pages too long. Overall this is an average book.
  
  
• Good Beach Reading
  By A1O96IRCAIDZRQ on 2002-11-16
  ...

  In short, reading Michael Lewis' account of his tumultuous two-year stint at Salomon Brothers in the mid-1980s delivers all the pleasure and enjoyment of reading good pulp fiction. Lewis is -- much to my surprise, I must admit -- an extremely talented writer with a gift for metaphor and the art of character description and analysis.

  One of the endearing things about this book, I think, is that it is laced with a certain self-deprecating tone. Lewis' basic thesis (although I don't think he really believes it) is that the the most glaring sign of Salomon's impending demise was that it started hiring people such as himself. Despite many self-effacing comments, however, Lewis points out repeatedly that he was the highest paid -- and thus best producing -- young bond salesman at Salomon during his tenure and seeks to assure the reader that he isn't some scorned ex-employee who couldn't hack the perils of life on the trading floor.

  Lewis dedicates a few chapters to explaining the rise of the mortgage trading desk at Salomon and the junk bond market under Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham, although neither have much to do with Lewis' career as a government bond salesman in Salomon's London Office. Did the author think this gave proper perspective and background to the telling of his personal story or was it an effort to pad out an already short piece of work? Probably a bit of both, is my guess.

  In sum, if you approach this book (as I did) as a roman a clef, with all the exaggerations and artistic license associated with fiction, rather than a legitimate memoir, you'll probably get a lot more enjoyment out of it. It is funny, fast-paced, often incredible -- and will quickly expunge any thoughts you once had of being an investment banker, no matter how high the salaries might be.
  
  

• This really is a home run - a great read and FUNNY
  By AUHG8KSHI529U on 2003-12-11
  This is a great book. A home run. While I am not an industry insider, I did read it while I was getting an MBA from the Michigan Business School and enjoyed it a great deal. It provided a great deal of background to what I was learning in various finance classes. Mr. Lewis helped me see the people who make these markets work and move and that it isn't faceless formulas free of emotion finding perfect prices; rather it is ambitious men (and women) ferociously and sometimes crazily pursuing their own financial interests.

  The book is amazingly funny without being slapstick. There are some amazing images - not only the Meriwether games of Liar's Poker, but the food being delivered to the physically rotund mortgage bond traders, the bond trader who felt like the price would rise and then kept buying billions of dollars in bonds to prove himself right. I loved reading about the training he received and what he was taught about selling bonds and how those folks really do view their customers. Some of the institutional stuff is a bit dated (but still valuable as history), but the human stuff still rings fresh and true because people and still, well, whatever it was they were back then.

  If you just want an entertaining read - read this book. If you want to read about the early go-go years in the bond trading and the pre-boom boom years on Wall Street - read this book. If you want to learn about some of the big names in finance and what they did - read this book. You get the idea. I am saying you should read this book and you will be glad you did. Really.
  
  

• Wonderful!!!
  By on 1999-06-26
  Last summer I worked on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs (the Salomom Brothers of the 90's). Going to NYC I expected to find the phone throwing backstabbing, disrespectful jerks in the book. What I did find was 90hr 6 days work weeks. The traders and salesmen were highly intense, intelligent, and most of all stressed. I did come across a few traders who still had the same mentality of the traders in the book. However, most of the "Liars Poker" types Wall Streeters have left. I actually met about three people in the book including Mike Mortara now head of fixed income @ Goldman.

  My advice read this book. But, even after reading this book if you want a Wall Street career be prepared to give up you life and sleep.
  
  

• This book was pure drivel.
  By on 1998-09-16
  I read the comments of both the customers and critics and was excited when the book arived at my home. Then, after reading the book, I re-read the comments to see to see if they were perhaps talking about the same book I read. This was pure drivel. Read the back cover on the book...then multiply that drivel by 250 pages.
  
  
• Waste of time
  By on 2003-10-17
  Probably, I misunderstood that I would learn something from this book about finance or markets in general and would be able to use these ideas to add to the bottom line - make more MONEY. But it seemed like my goal behind reading this (or any other) book was too clearly defined and this book did not help at all. If you have too much time, nothing to do, and are looking for something to pass time then read this. But if you want to achieve something such as gaining insight into trading, selecting, analyzing stocks or securities etc then do not waste your time. This book has no direction, no substance, and not much to learn from it which can be used to produce results.
  
  
• Fun at first, a chore to finish
  By A6S9WYU8TJ616 on 2000-03-29
  Michael Lewis knows how to tell some nice anecdotes about life on Wall Street, but after the first 20 pages, it's largely a tale of the stresses of bond trading. He does go into some detail about how the deregulations of the 1980's allowed for many interesting types of trading, but it remains largely dull for the rest of the book.

  If you're looking to be entertained, a better book about Wall Street would be Bombardiers by Po Bronson. After reading both books, it's very obvious that Bronson was heavily influenced by Liar's Poker, but by being pure fiction, allows for more interesting and sympathetic characters and is far funnier.
  
  

• Full service casinos!
  By A17E7K3MQ5KKR5 on 2000-01-28
  Unlike (nearly all, or all) academic economics books, which 'explain' that arbitrage does not and cannot exist, Lewis explains to us how the big bond houses live from arbitrage (buying low from the government or somewhere else and selling a bit higher to you and me). The book is a rare, a highly entertaining and very informative jewel: Lewis rightfully and poetically calls brokerage houses 'full servive casinos', far better than Monte Carlo or Las Vegas. Not only will they accept and place your bets, they'll also lend you (a large fraction of) the money needed to place your bets (margin)! A very good book to read now (1/27/00) during the 'wild ride' before the present big market bubble goes: POP!

  Unfortunately, Lewis tells us too litlte about Meriwether, who later seduced two of the top finance academics (they were willing) and, with their aid, constructed the huge, uncontrolled experiment in 'equilibrium theory' called 'Long Term Capital Management' (LTCM). Their philosophy, also believed uncritically by most working economists, was and likely still is: Equilibrium will prevail (even in the absence of restoring forces!). For the continuation of the story where Liar's poker leaves off ('portfolio insurance', arbitrage and more arbitrage, and the formation and collapse of the bubble called LTCM), see the new book "Inventing Money".
  
  

• Now Read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by B. Malkiel
  By on 1999-01-17
  As an analyst on Wall Street (yes, I do make a lot of copies) I must confess this was insightful reading even for me. If you want to work on Wall Street or you want to know what your broker really thinks of you, read this book. But to update the epilogue a bit, I temped at Salomon in 7 World Trade while waiting for my current job to begin. Much has changed. Real efforts have been made to combat the sexism in the system, though far more than mere vestiges remain. Each morning in the final months of the merger with Smith Barney pink slips were handed out and the process was very judiciously calculated. The pall of this book hung over each lay off. So be assured, if you have not read Liar's Poker, you are not culturally literate on Wall Street.

  One final word: The Market is Efficient! Only the investment banks made money on the buyouts of the 80s. With Liar's Poker in one hand and A Random Walk Down Wall Street in the other, you'll have the basic insights to manage your relationship with both your broker and the market.
  
  

• An amusing memoir, no more
  By A1XNX528XF733E on 2002-09-28
  While Lewis does a fine job as he writes a personal memoir of his time at Solomon Brothers in the mid-1980's, he soon loses focus of his main storyline. Lewis wanders off for three chapters to describe the creation of a home mortgage market and the personalities involved. It is as if Lewis or his editor suddenly decided that the amusing anecdotes of life on Wall Street were fine pulp, but needed to be framed in the context of historical substence in order for the book to be seen as respectable. (Ironically, Lewis's account of the rise to power of Michael Milken is more gripping, perhaps because Lewis was more directly affected by Milken's ambitions.) The evolution of equities as an investment is ignored almost completely, leaving the reader to wonder how, in the span of two years or so, the equities department of Solomon Brothers could go from "powerless" to surviving the layoffs started days before the crash of '87 to being the reason Solomon Brothers had its worst year in history. The author is inconsistent in his granting of pseudonyms or anonymity, naming a great many employees by name while protecting a chosen few. All in all, Liar's Poker is a quick, sometimes amusing account of Lewis's time at Solomon Brothers, but little more.
  
  
• Required Reading for Investors and the Wall Street Set
  By A1CYRTQ04LYI55 on 2005-06-28
  Liar's Poker takes the reader through the Go-Go era of Wall Street in the 80s, where banks expanded rapidly and ethics seemed to take second priority to making piles of money. (The more things change, the more they stay the same)
  
  Three big stories are at play here. First is the creation of the Mortgage Backed Securities business at Solomon. Creating this market generated a ton of money on the street, and also highlighted both the challenges and gains from creating a new business from scratch. It also demonstrated the knives pulled out in both stopping a new business from starting, and then fighting for scraps of credit.
  
  The second story is of junk bonds - a vehicle initially created to fund less creditworthy companies, but eventually used to finance corporate takeovers. This is the Michael Milken Drexel Burnham story. This was the other major move of finance in the 1980s, though in reality junk bonds are not as awful as the hype surrounding them. (Providing financing to less creditworthy companies is still a very valuable activity, and many funds did very well on this.)
  
  The third story, and perhaps the most important, covers the conflict of interest between banks and their customers. Many banks, traders and salesmen take their customers long term best interest to heart. This is not neccessarily a given, and Lewis highlights his own experience in trying to walk the line.
  
  Liar's Poker has earned it's place as required reading for all moving to Wall Street. It should also be required reading for investors.
  
  

• When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
• Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle
• Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco
• Den of Thieves
• The Predators' Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk Bond Raiders