Play Audiobook Sample
Liar's Poker (Abridged): Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
This audiobook is no longer available through the publisher and we don't know if or when it will become available again. Please check out similar audiobooks below, and click the "Vote this up!" button to let us know you're interested in this title. This audiobook has 4 votes
(4.00) - 18,976 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
It was wonderful to be young and working on Wall Street in the 1980s: never had so many twenty-four-year-olds made so much money in so little time. In this shrewd and wickedly funny audiobook, Michael Lewis describes an astonishing era and his own rake’s progress through a powerful investment bank. From an unlikely beginning (art history at Princeton?) he rose in two short years from Salomon Brothers trainee to Geek (the lowest form of life on the trading floor) to Big Swinging Dick–a bond salesman who could turn over millions of dollars’ worth of doubtful bonds with just one call. A born storyteller, Michael Lewis shows us how things really worked on Wall Street. The bond traders, wearing greed and ambition as badges of honor, might well have swaggered straight from the pages of Bonfire of the Vanities. But for all their outrageous behavior, they were in fact presiding over enormous changes in the world economy. Lewis’s job was to transfer money, in the form of bonds, from those outside American who saved to those inside America who consumed. In doing so, he generated tens of millions of dollars for Salomon Brothers, and earned for himself a ringside seat on the greatest financial spectacle of the decade: the leveraging of America.
Download and start listening now!
"Warning this book is pretty profane. However I picked it up and found myself stranded on a lake with it and could not put it down, and it was not because of the horrible language, which I have to admit at parts made it very real and funny. It was just the first "Wall Street" book that I have read that is not obsessed with the stock market but rather the dull and boring bond market(which is much bigger than the stock market but doesn't get near the attention). The author give his own account as an Investment Banker with Soloman brother in the 80's and all the ego's involved. Interesting enough Soloman brothers was the first firm to issue a collateralized mortgage obligation or "CMO" in the 80's, which have gotten a lot of press as of late."
— Lincoln (5 out of 5 stars)
Liar's Poker Listener Reviews
-
—
Jack Degrado, 11/9/2019
-
" Even if you think you don't care about business, and even though the content is dated. Great writing doesn't go out of style. "
— Mark, 2/15/2014 -
" Very relevant to our current times, great background on Sub-Prime etc. "
— Murray, 2/9/2014 -
" I think I will never read news of the bond market, traders, and the big wall street firms the same way ever again. Really really great fun to read even knowing where the story is going to go. "
— Ben, 1/22/2014 -
" I found it fascinating to know this culture existed since it was pretty much gone by the time I joined Salomon and also later when I worked at Goldman Sachs. Some of the financial stuff is over my head, but I actually learned a lot and surprisingly, found it really enjoyable. "
— Deborah, 1/12/2014 -
" Quotes like "The senior mortgage traders maintained that abuse led to enlightenment" and [the firm] "made a point never to interfere with natural jungle forces" describe the culture that led to Bonfire of the Vanities. Debunks the notion that markets are efficient. Fascinating and sickening. "
— Marilyn, 1/10/2014 -
" I read this book in 2002. That summer, I was interning for a guy who was mentioned in the book. It's a great, easy, entertaining read about life on the trading floor. This (and Monkey Business) should be a required read for MBA students who are interested in i-banking. "
— Chocoholic, 1/10/2014 -
" Excellent book with great explainations of very complicated financial matters. "
— Jim, 12/5/2013 -
" First Book I read about trading.Although the book has become dated but nevertheless a great insight into greed and power. "
— Himanshu, 12/3/2013 -
" If you want to have the heck scared out of you about Wall Street, this is the book for you. "
— Daniel, 11/4/2013 -
" Absolutely loved the book. Was introduced by a friend of mine who I met in my fixed income investment group at Ohio University - so maybe my point of view is a little biased. But the book is an exciting read and provides insight into one of the most exciting times in modern finance. "
— Robert, 8/9/2013 -
" what a great way to be introduced to the sinister world of bond trading: he has a great way of making economic issues understandable and fun to read about "
— Marc, 4/19/2013 -
" I can imagine those interested in money markets loving this book. 5 stars! But I am not interested in money markets. So so bored. 2 stars. "
— Georgia, 3/1/2013 -
" Reread this in preparation for reading Lewis' The Big Short. It still makes for an interesting but at this point ironic read. All you have to due is substitute the word "billions" for the word "millions" while you read it and it seems as fresh as ever. "
— David, 2/12/2013 -
" Great look into the 1980's stock and bond markets. Interesting insight about how mortgage bonds and junk bonds were invented. "
— Jonathan, 7/18/2012 -
" A very good read on Solomon Brothers culture in 80's. "
— Amit, 4/4/2012 -
" Excellent portrait of Wall Street investment banking in the 80s. "
— Mahesh, 1/5/2012 -
" Funny, easy to read look behind the culture and financial curtain of Wall Street, pre-2000 and 2008 disasters. "
— C.B., 11/11/2011 -
" This was an enjoyable book. It described an investment banking culture that is similar in some ways to what I have observed in the past (for better or worse). If you were ever curious what a trading floor culture is like, this book would be a good start. "
— Stephen, 6/17/2011 -
" Excellent book for anyone interested in the quirks and goings in the trading world. Not as relevant in the current world. But still a good read. "
— Woo, 5/18/2011 -
" I really enjoyed The Big Short, so had really high hopes for the book that brought Lewis to fame...but it fell short of expectations. It felt too often that he was exaggerating his stories, which I felt took away from the story. Fine read, but not as good as I thought it would be. "
— doug, 5/14/2011 -
" A true classic about the (modern) financial system and its many ingenious and dangerous innovations. "
— Zachary, 5/13/2011 -
" I laughed and liked the most the part where he describes his training class. Back-row people vs. front row people :D "
— Jakub, 4/21/2011 -
" Yet another highly entertaining read by Michael Lewis. "
— Christy, 4/17/2011 -
" dont judge a book only by its cover! it may looks a hard book to read, but i'm so enjoying to understand how wall street works.. "
— Dee, 4/16/2011 -
" This was a fine, quick read. Not nearly as interesting as The Big Short but that is probably because it is less current. Basically confirms a lot of my suspicions about bond traders. "
— hillary, 4/12/2011 -
" As I've written elsewhere, I don't see what all the hooplah is about Michael Lewis--his writing is good and this book was fine but I never understood why people revered this book. "
— Diane, 4/11/2011 -
" Engaging read, although there is some question about just how factual the account is. Nonetheless, it was a worthwhile and quick read. "
— Andrew, 4/10/2011 -
" This is a highly entertaining look at the culture of Wall Street during the 80's. "
— Thomas, 4/4/2011 -
" Michael Lewis is a compelling storyteller. Good account of inside story at Salomon Brothers in 80s. Quite relevant even today. "
— Saugat, 4/4/2011 -
" Just finished. Interesting that the mortgage bonds of the 80's were so similar to what just happened in the mortgage market recently.<br/> "
— Katherine, 4/3/2011
About Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis is the New York Times bestselling author of several books. His global bestselling books lift the lid on the biggest stories of our time. They include Flash Boys, an exposé of high-speed scamming; The Big Short, which was made into a Oscar-winning film; Liar’s Poker, the book that defined the excesses of the 1980s; The Fifth Risk, revealing what happens when democracy unravels, and The Premonition, one of the first books to take account of the coronavirus pandemic. He was educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics.