Liar's Poker
The time that I take to read every book is generally an indication of my liking towards it. The faster I read, the more I like it. But this time around, things have been different. It has taken me more than a month to complete the book "Liar's Poker", and I can definitely point my finger towards my work schedule for being the spoil sport.
LP is all about the culture inside the then-renowned firm "Salomon Brothers", the events that made it the most profitable company in the world, and the events that made it tumble down. The entire text kept reminding me of what my professors kept on bombarding on me through two years - change is the most important part of corporate success. Yes, contrary to my belief a decade back, the higher a company goes, the more it has to innovate and change.
Anyways, the reason that I liked the book is not the philosophy. At least that's not the main reason. The satire that flows through the authors' words is awesome. I have tried reading (and not completed) "The New New Thing" of the same author, but that book is a far cry from Liar's Poker.
LP starts with a really good first chapter wherein the author explains how he gets into the then-renowned firm "Salomon Brothers" and what were his expectations while joining. This chapter is full of satire over the wall-street business. Though the book is quite dated, all b-school grads will still be able to associate themselves with some amount of it as investment banking still prevails as the hot job in b-school territories.
When the author talks about his entry into Salomon brothers, he says that his salary then, at the entry level of his career, was lots more than that of his professors who were at the end of their career. I'm not sure on how much my professors earn, but I guess it is safe to assume that some of my classmates, if not me, earn more than them. "The world is not fair, and I love it that way", says Michael Lewis. So true. There are lots of catch sentences like these in the book. These are things that keep the reader's interest even when the narration slides towards the technical details.
One interesting aspect mentioned in the book is that the bond market, and thereby Salomon, flourished mainly due to an act passed by the government. This reminds me another book that I read about a year back - “The Iron Triangle”, which was the story of a company called “Carlyle Group” that was started to exploit an opening in the tax laws in Alaska. This firm later went on to become a huge group that had (has?) huge connections in the government and in the business scene.
Coming back to LP, the book has a true story with historical facts, and an awesome narration to go with. But, I would suggest readers to venture into the book only if they are comfortable with terms like mortgage, bonds, going short and going long. These terms are explained in the book, but I guess a person without prior background would loose him/her self in the new world of jargons instead of moving with the flow of the story.
LP is all about the culture inside the then-renowned firm "Salomon Brothers", the events that made it the most profitable company in the world, and the events that made it tumble down. The entire text kept reminding me of what my professors kept on bombarding on me through two years - change is the most important part of corporate success. Yes, contrary to my belief a decade back, the higher a company goes, the more it has to innovate and change.
Anyways, the reason that I liked the book is not the philosophy. At least that's not the main reason. The satire that flows through the authors' words is awesome. I have tried reading (and not completed) "The New New Thing" of the same author, but that book is a far cry from Liar's Poker.
LP starts with a really good first chapter wherein the author explains how he gets into the then-renowned firm "Salomon Brothers" and what were his expectations while joining. This chapter is full of satire over the wall-street business. Though the book is quite dated, all b-school grads will still be able to associate themselves with some amount of it as investment banking still prevails as the hot job in b-school territories.
When the author talks about his entry into Salomon brothers, he says that his salary then, at the entry level of his career, was lots more than that of his professors who were at the end of their career. I'm not sure on how much my professors earn, but I guess it is safe to assume that some of my classmates, if not me, earn more than them. "The world is not fair, and I love it that way", says Michael Lewis. So true. There are lots of catch sentences like these in the book. These are things that keep the reader's interest even when the narration slides towards the technical details.
One interesting aspect mentioned in the book is that the bond market, and thereby Salomon, flourished mainly due to an act passed by the government. This reminds me another book that I read about a year back - “The Iron Triangle”, which was the story of a company called “Carlyle Group” that was started to exploit an opening in the tax laws in Alaska. This firm later went on to become a huge group that had (has?) huge connections in the government and in the business scene.
Coming back to LP, the book has a true story with historical facts, and an awesome narration to go with. But, I would suggest readers to venture into the book only if they are comfortable with terms like mortgage, bonds, going short and going long. These terms are explained in the book, but I guess a person without prior background would loose him/her self in the new world of jargons instead of moving with the flow of the story.
Labels: Book Review
posted by Jammy at 3:47 PM
1 Comments:
LP is a real good one man
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