Why people recommend it
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael M. Lewis is a gripping non-fiction account that details the eccentric financial players who uncovered and profited from the housing market collapse leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. On Modern Wisdom, Chris Williamson spoke with Michael Lewis about his celebrated literary career, which includes works like Moneyball, The Blind Side, and The Big Short. Freakonomics Radio highlighted the book alongside Lewis's other major investigative projects, while Stephen Dubner on No Stupid Questions and a guest on The Daily Stoic praised it as one of the greatest and most successful non-fiction books of all time. Brad from ChooseFI recalled finding the book and its cinematic adaptation to be exceptional when analyzing housing market bubbles. On SmartLess, Jason Bateman and Michael Lewis discussed how the book was successfully adapted into a critically acclaimed film, with director Adam McKay sharing on the podcast how reading the book instantly sparked his creative vision to break the fourth wall.
Who recommended it
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 9
“I had an intriguing conversation once with author Michael Lewis, who has written 'Moneyball,' 'The Blind Side,' and 'The Big Short.' I asked him about the extraordinary success stories he had studied: which ones remained grounded and appreciated how far they had come?”
“His books include Liars Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys, and now, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.”
“Like um like I think about um Michael Lewis and 'The Big Short' which is one of the greatest non-fiction books of all time but also a massive hit.”
“And I think also Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short and Liar's Poker, I love his work. I'm also a big fan of Richard Thaler, the Nobel Laureate economist.”
“As we were looking at what’s going on in the housing market, I thought about how it’s wonderful, the book's great, and the movie's great as well. A lot of people, when we started this episode, were talking about comparisons, and you pushed back on that.”
“Some of his books have even become some of our favorite movies, such as The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short.”
“And what's funny is I said that to each of the directors and the writers who have taken the projects on: John Lee Hancock with The Blind Side, Bennett Miller with Moneyball, Adam McKay with The Big Short.”
“And I got lucky to some degree; it was The Big Short when I read that book, I had one of those weird moments where I just knew how it should look and I knew that I was going to break the fourth wall.”
“On August 22nd of 2019, Michael Burry, who is famous from The Big Short, discloses a three percent position in the company and highlights that ninety percent of GameStop's 5,700 stores are free cash flow positive.”