Rating: 
Summary: Read this one!
Review: I have a hard time deciding 4 or 5 stars for this book. Lewis paints an enjoyable and informative picture of Wall Street and the London branch of Salomon Brothers, but takes a long hiatus in the middle chapters, delving into more history and neglecting his own experiences entirely. It's the (more) boring middle chapters that rehash Wall Street's history and cause a reader to lose interest.Lewis is at times funny, but this book is FICTION and loses some of its power when the author chooses pseudonyms or oblique references for real people in real situations. All in all, a good, easy read -- but don't expect a Salomon learning experience.
Rating: 
Summary: WALL STREET FAVORITE, WELL WRITTEN AND ENTERTAINING
Review: This is Michael Lewis's first book, and in my opinion by far the best. It takes place at Salomon Brothers, the famed former investment bank (now part of Citigroup) that had a reputation for a brash culture and greed. Michael is a new member of the sales and trading desk in the 1980s, a time when Salomon dominated the bond markets and pioneered the mortgage backed securities market. In an often cynical but always humorous style, the author describes the internal dynamics of Salomon, where testosterone filled the trading floor and greed was placed above everything. Since the book was published, Salomon got in a lot of trouble for illegal actions in the government securtities market, involving Gutfreund (in the book) and Meriwether (of When Genius Failed fame). In was actually interesting to meet one of the characters, Mike Mortara, who was at the time head of fixed income at Goldman Sachs. Overall this is a funny little entertaining book, and a must if you are going to work on Wall Street, since people assume you are familiar with it and may even quote from it.
Rating: 
Summary: the truth about liar's poker
Review: I have worked on Wall Street since the beginning of the 90's and have met many of the actual characters in the book (with the exception of the author who was long gone by the time I turned up). So I know who Dash Riprock, Herman the German and others are in real life as well as what they are doing now (or at least until recently). This book is now something of an anachronism - a testament to a different age when banks were places where real risk-taking happened. The atmosphere on "the street" by comparison today is very antiseptic with the quants (geeks in the book) having a larger role and everyone panders to customers. Having spoken to a number of the protagonists of the book the big question is how true are these stories? My impression is that Mr Lewis uses a liberal amount of literary license but without foresaking the feeling of the time and the place. Notwithstanding the book's age, I encourage everyone who is thinking of working in the global financial markets arena (especially fixed income and fx) to read this book and reflect on a different time when the pizzas were stacked high on fridays and not sushi boxes... Postscript - Ironically, one of the principal background players in the book - John Meriwether; became perhaps even more famous long after this book (with LTCM blowing up in 1998) as being the only individual person (fund) who has directly provoked the Federal Reserve to adjust monetary policy (interest rates) downward, and surely 1 of the few people in the world to have lost more than a billion dollars of investors money in the market. Unlike Liar's Poker the partners at LTCM didn't all follow the "no tears" rule (by complaining about market conspiracies (!) etc.) when they lost the money.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to read style with punch
Review: The impression I gained from Liars Poker is that the book is almost a series of short stories, linked together by people or events. The writing style is very witty. But make no mistake, though this book is entertaining, it is not light. I learned plenty about the trading rooms, and such debt instruments as mortgage bonds that the heroes of this book traded. It also is a bit frightening- America has (or used to have) an image of financial people as rational beings- this book exposes them as living, breathing, emotional people who have an equal capacity to hit the lottery or go bust. Truly frightening considering the percentage of the world's capital that trades through "the Street" daily. This is not just a great book about the financial services industry, this is a good book PERIOD, and can be enjoyed by anyone who has some intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable Cheeky Look at Wall Street
Review: I really enjoyed this book, and Mr. Lewis's writing style is gripping and amusing. He lampoons greed and arrogance without rancor. I also enjoyed a witty book written by one of Mr. Lewis's Liar's Poker classmates. It is a lucid and entertaining explanation of the exploding credit derivatives market. For finance professionals, I highly recommend: "Credit Derivatives and Synthetic Structures" 2nd Edition by Tavakoli
Rating:
Summary: Awesome detail of the Investment Banking Industry
Review: Hysterical assesment of the Investment banking industry. This should be a must read of any college student wanting to make it in Investment banking. Describes in detail how millions were made very quickly by taking advantage of the stupidity, or ignorance of those with money. The author give an acurate account of the industry with out being as pretentious as you would think an investment banker would be, he is quick to tell the reader that he did make a lot of mistakes due to his own ignorance. Really a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant...Hilarious and Insightful
Review: Lewis is articulate, insightful, cynical, and hilarious in his analysis on the rise and fall of Investment Banking at Solomon Brothers during the 1980s. Liar's Poker is a brilliant portrayal of Wall Street during an era of unprecedented greed and arrogance. Until the early 1980s, equity traders were the most revered people in the industry. However, unforeseen circumstances, largely spurred by the highly leveraged Savings & Loan industry, led to the innovation of new types of financial derivatives. Essentially overnight, a new market for bonds was created for speculators and commercial banks. Volume and profits soared on the bond trading floor, and from that point on the bond traders were the "big swinging ...." of investment banking. So, against the backdrop of billion-dollar deals and million-dollar salaries enters Michael Lewis, Princeton Art History major and unlikely protagonist. His depiction of the Fraternity-like culture of investment banking is laugh-out-loud, I wish I had thought of that, funny. Lewis reaches rare form in describing the Solomon mortgage traders, a group of fat, mean Italian men with street smarts and a dislike for Ivy League MBAs and every other group within the firm. Nonetheless, Liar's poker is more than just funny-it's insightful. Lewis combines personal narrative and investigative journalism to present a fresh perspective on the collapse of Solomon Brothers. He argues that Solomon's superiority complex resulted in a failure to react to the changing trends in the industry and the retention of key personal. This book is a quick read and a lot of fun. I wouldn't list it as a reference in an academic publication but it's a great addition to the bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Good Beach Reading
Review: ... In short, reading Michael Lewis' account of his tumultuous two-year stint at Salomon Brothers in the mid-1980s delivers all the pleasure and enjoyment of reading good pulp fiction. Lewis is -- much to my surprise, I must admit -- an extremely talented writer with a gift for metaphor and the art of character description and analysis. One of the endearing things about this book, I think, is that it is laced with a certain self-deprecating tone. Lewis' basic thesis (although I don't think he really believes it) is that the the most glaring sign of Salomon's impending demise was that it started hiring people such as himself. Despite many self-effacing comments, however, Lewis points out repeatedly that he was the highest paid -- and thus best producing -- young bond salesman at Salomon during his tenure and seeks to assure the reader that he isn't some scorned ex-employee who couldn't hack the perils of life on the trading floor. Lewis dedicates a few chapters to explaining the rise of the mortgage trading desk at Salomon and the junk bond market under Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham, although neither have much to do with Lewis' career as a government bond salesman in Salomon's London Office. Did the author think this gave proper perspective and background to the telling of his personal story or was it an effort to pad out an already short piece of work? Probably a bit of both, is my guess. In sum, if you approach this book (as I did) as a roman a clef, with all the exaggerations and artistic license associated with fiction, rather than a legitimate memoir, you'll probably get a lot more enjoyment out of it. It is funny, fast-paced, often incredible -- and will quickly expunge any thoughts you once had of being an investment banker, no matter how high the salaries might be.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing serious
Review: Basically a typical "story" about a typical financial firm. Some fimilar names if you have read other books of the time. Author himself doesn't show up until last quarter of the book. A passtime if you have nothing else to do, but definitely not worth 100+ 5-star reviews
Rating:
Summary: Obvious Cry Baby
Review: I want you to realize that Michael Lewis is only one perspective albeit a very biased and skewed one at that. If you speak to any one who worked at Salomon they will bluntly tell you that the book is not completely factual. Michael Lewis has an agenda, and it is very obvious that he has it in for the Salomon and Wall Street traders. And, he is willing to bend the truth and exagerate things to make the people look like monsters. Using the endearing term of Human Pirhana speaks to this point. I loved the book, because it gives you somewhat of a perspective on the life of traders, but I don't think you truly know what it is you're up against until you go and do actual trading. I wouldn't believe everything you read in Liar's Poker, and I would weigh each word carefully, because Meriweather isn't the only playing Liar's Poker here. Enjoy, and don't let the book discourage you from hedge funds and investment banking, especially if you really love finance.
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