The big short
2009
- economic conditions
- global financial crisis, 2008-2009
- financial crises
- history
- finance
- nonfiction
- nyt:paperback_business_books=2012-02-25
- economic recession
- crises financières
- history, 21st century
The story
The #1 *New York Times* bestseller: a brilliant account—character-rich and darkly humorous—of how the U.S. economy was driven over the cliff. 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 #1 best-selling *Liar’s Poker*. Who got it right? he asks. Who saw the 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 bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times.
What it’s like
Dry, fluorescent-lit and sharply observed, this is a book of trading floors, investor offices and suburban kitchens where the numbers go strange, rendered in Michael Lewis's brisk, wry sentences that keep the jargon moving and the jokes landing. Its texture is conversational rather than lyrical: short scenes built on dialogue, close portraits of eccentric men in cluttered rooms, a steady undertow of indignation under the deadpan. The vibe is wry, grim and oddly exhilarating, the mood of watching a slow disaster from a seat with a good view. It suits a long train ride, a reading session with a coffee going cold, or a late evening when you want to feel clever and a little appalled at once. Pacing is quick and chapter-driven, with the tension built from characters waiting for the market to prove them right. Emotionally it follows outsiders who are dismissed by their peers and slowly vindicated, so the register shifts between black comedy and quiet dread about how many people were hurt. Intensity is low: no violence or gore, and the hardship is financial and described from a distance, though the stakes for ordinary families are never softened. It is for readers who enjoy sharp narrative nonfiction, character-led business history, and clear-eyed satire of institutions that should have known better.
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