Rating: 
Summary: Sheds light on traders, but not Wall Street in general
Review: My expectations of this book were perhaps mislead. I thought that this would deal with more the generalized view of Wall Street. However, it really concentrates on the lives of traders.Lewis does shed some light on Wall Street trading in general, including a good description of mortgage trading and junk bond trading. However, this book sort of throws it into the mix. I wasn't sure what Lewis was trying to do. Sometimes it felt like a history book, sometimes a biography, sometimes an economics lesson, sometimes a comedy. It felt haphazard and lacked direction, and with the writing style presented, it lacked a certain amount of fluidity. It was fun to learn the different people in Wall Street. From the obese, abusive traders, the short sighted and greedy executives, the brown nosers, to the "back row" trainees. It's basically a fun little description of office life at Solomon Brothers in the eighties, not an exciting expose on the finance industry as the cover would like you to believe.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: This book is hilarious. I didn't think a bond trading floor could be so amusing, but Michael Lewis proved otherwise. Look up a picture of John Gutfreund online before reading the first chapter.
Rating:
Summary: Well written and informative
Review: I am a novice at financial markets. I picked up this book "just because it was there" (mountaineers will understand the pun!). I loved every page of it. The author's sense of humor and writing style is very impressive. What's more, for a finance novice, it is an education on bonds with a good mix of historical perspective. I found, at times, the author's low opinion of himself, a bit strange. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in a candid account of the upheavals, tricks and treacheries of the financial market.
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Summary: Captures the essence of the culture
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and informative
Review: 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.
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Summary: Remember the Savings & Loans debacle?
Review: This is the author's coming of age story, set in the world of investment banking in the 1980s. As a growth and wisdom book, it's pretty good, but it's really a non-fiction version of Tom Wolf's Bonfire of the Vanities. Of course what makes it interesting is that Michael Lewis came of age by successfully trading bonds for Solomon Brothers. Among other aspects of the firm, LP describes Solomon's Mortgage Bonds department, its influence over the savings and loans, and the effect of Fed Chairman Paul Volker's 1981 decision to let interest rates float. Lewis does a brilliant job of explaining how this lead to S&L's selling their mortgages in order to fund investments in higher yield securities. Here's the catch: Liar's Poker appeared before the S&L debacle but it laid out all the signs needed to predict the disaster to come. Much of the hand wringing over S&Ls in the early 90's could maybe have been avoided if the warnings given in this book had been acted upon. To be fair, the warnings are clear but they are implicit. Lewis never actually projects the current state of the S&L industry into the future, even if he does mention that the basic problem with mortgages (short term funding of long term loans) is not solved. Good read.
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Summary: Liar's Poker Review
Review: Liar's Poker, written by Michael Lewis, describes life on Wall Street during the 1980's and the four years the author worked for Salomon Brothers. Lewis discusses the evolution of the bond market, how mortgaged-backed securities came to exist, and the misfortunes of missing the junk bond market. The fantastic character portrayals are absolutely hilarious and they make the book come to life. Liar's Poker depicts many business ethics issues such as gender and race discrimination, consumer and investor protection, and hostile work environments. Lewis begins by describing John Gutfreund, Chairman of Salomon, and the Liar's Poker game. Gutfreund is portrayed as a manager that was both feared and respected. He was once a trader and managed Salomon with a trader mentality. Traders by nature are gamblers, so they are willing to take bets, or better yet, they are risk takers. Gutfreund apparently loved playing the game, Liar's Poker, because if a person was good at it, he was probably a good trader as well. The game is played predominantly by Salomon traders whereby a group gathers in a circle holding a dollar bill close to the body to hide the serial numbers. One player begins by making a bid such as "three fives," which means that all the players in the circle have at least three fives in their serial number. The player to the left can either challenge the bid or up the bid by saying three sixes or four fives. Only in a challenge do the players reveal the serial numbers on the bill. Essentially, it is game that rewards players for their ability to bluff or deceive the other players. Lewis uses the game to illustrate Salomon's corporate culture and its leadership. Liar's Poker does a fantastic job explaining how the mortgage trading business originated and how Salomon/Ranieri created mortgaged-backed securities. Lewis also details more stories about his escapades after the training program. The book is easy and fun to read because it is presents an accurate picture of Wall Street firms. Business ethics issues are presented through the text. The issues that are identified in this report are sexual and ethnic discrimination, hostile work environments, and unethical business practices. Many more ethical issues are present in the Liar's Poker. This book should be read by anyone hoping to join a Wall Street firm or simply a trading environment.
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Summary: Liar's Poker Review from Loyola U., Dr. Capaldi - Ethics
Review: Liar's Poker is an excellent view into the bond trading industry during the 1980s. It offers details on specific events that shaped and changed Salomon Brothers as well as the ethical and moral behaviors of bond traders during the time period. It touches upon the issues of money (compensation), loyalty to the employer, loyalty to the customer and LBO attempts. The book did not flow as well as it could, but overall it was an interesting read. I recommend this book if you want to learn more about the 1980s bond market or are interested in compensation and office politics.
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Summary: Limpy & wry tales gathered on short prof. period @ Sal. Bros
Review: I think you should read this book, if only to turn you off from a career or a job at Wall Street. It is in these pages that some of Wall Street's glamour garbs are literally torn off... I would not have wanted to trade places with Michael for a single instant, and I believe that somewhere inside himself, he is probably glad he quit his job at Sal. Bros when he did... The tales and stories are very dry and very wry, although most of the times presented in a humorous (at times cynical) fashion. Although it took me almost a year to get through the book (I found most of the depictions pretty repulsive, sometimes almost nauseating, so I can't really say I enjoyed the book, and almost had to force myself getting through it, in an episodic once-in-a-while fashion), it could in fact be considered as easy reading by most people... I have a few good things to say about it, though... and that's probably the only reason I'll give it a 3 1/2 star ranking. 1) It rings true. The limpy and shy style (at times the unconfortable feelings of the narrator can almost be palpable throughout some of these pages) conveys a feeling of authenticity. The narrator gives an outsider's view before he could get corrupted by the system (he stayed @ Sal. Bros for only a bit more than two years). 2) You may at least come out of the book with the happy feeling you did not have to share the experience, although you were somehow there through the vivid and lurid narration (you might even consider that, in some way, the author served as some kind of a guinea pig). 3) The book gets more and more interesting throughout the last few chapters (I don't know whether it is because one is nearing the end of the narration, or whether it is because one gets the feeling that the author will somehow get away from this lurid place, in one way or another). "How Can We Make You Happier", the second to last chapter, is probably the best one. It depicts how Sal. Bros missed the boat with the junk-bonds, and gives a few insights on Michael Milken and his financial accumen. To sum it up, if you are interested in the history of finance, this is probably a book you will be glad you have read (please take note of the past tense).
Rating:
Summary: Well written and informative
Review: I am a novice at financial markets. I picked up this book "just because it was there" (mountaineers will understand the pun!). I loved every page of it. The author's sense of humor and writing style is very impressive. What's more, for a finance novice, it is an education on bonds with a good mix of historical perspective. I found, at times, the author's low opinion of himself, a bit strange. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in a candid account of the upheavals, tricks and treacheries of the financial market.
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