Inside the Doomsday Machine (movie tie-in) (Movie Tie-in Editions)

Its rare that someone can capture the complicated and sometimes boring world of wall-street's money mongering in a witty and interesting way, but Michael Lewis has done just that. In addition, after reading this book, I feel I have a good understanding of what occurred with the greatest financial disaster of our time.

I wish I still taught finance undergrads. I'd nix the stupid, arcane text and have them read this book. Granted, I worked in the industry, thus understand the instruments and events described herein, but even without that, it gives a near perfect representation of what happens behind the curtain in real life Oz, aka Wall Street. A must read.

Easy, delightful read, a thorough description of the human interactions that surrounded the subprime mortgage market and the financial disaster that ensued. Aside from the stories of the people depicted, in and of themselves crucial for the understanding of the catastrophe, the author is successful in explaining in plain english the technicalities of the financial instruments that were the doomsday engines.

Loved it. For those without a finance background, it's a bit more challenging from a subject matter perspective, but worth the read. The stories are astonishing and riveting. Everyone who lost money or jobs in the financial crisis should read this book.

Read after seeing the movie, short, but doesn't oversimplify. Manages to stay out of the weeds, and to provide compelling characters. A little too much focus on Michael Burry, when Eisman is clearly the more interesting story.

A clear explanation of what happens when greed overtakes the minds of people who are supposed to know better. They are not any better than the rest of us. These folks should have been tried and convicted of fraud and none were. Too bad because they haven't learned a thing.

This was an interesting and informative read. As complicated as the subject matter is, the author breaks it down and makes it easy and interesting to follow. The characters we follow in the book are all colorful and unique which makes the book fun to read .

This whole thing was a total bewilderment to me and I never understood any of it especially all the language the book is clearly written explains a lot of the abbreviations and weird concepts and I would recommend it to anyone

This is a great read for anyone interested in learning about the causes of the great recession. It gets a bit heady with the financial concepts at times, but overall it is accessible to a wide audience.

This book does something special, it makes the inner workings of Wall Street accessible to people who don't have financial training. It is humorous, inexplicable and maddening. Absolutely a must read!

As I expected, hard to understand what he is describing/explaining. But the writing is good, lively, and it kept me going. I still haven't finished it. But since Lewis tells us that the financial skulduggery was not even understandable to those doing it, I don't feel so badly about not understanding. Don't know if I'll finish it though. It has made me more aware of the lack of responsibility and knowledge that characterizes our financial institutions and the government that should be one step ahead of them.

While the subject is complex, the author does a good job of trying to explain in simple terms while focusing on then people involved. Focus on learning the people, not the complex story matter, and you will enjoy the book

An excellent synopsis of a financial/cultural disaster in our own life times. It is written in story format with a good summary at the end about the govt. rescue. It is a story we need to never forget.

I can only imagine the challenge of writing this complex a subject. But the author succeeds in humanizing this financial tragedy and conveying the enormous hubris of wall street and bravado of those willing to bet against the system. A very good read

The Big Short provides an experience of momentous events in our recent history of which all citizens should be familiar. Deeply entertaining and richly educating. Everyone should know what is in this book.

Interesting and incredibly well documented, but tends to repeat itself quite a bit. After a while you say to yourself, OK I get it, no need to run this down again. Seems like the author is accustomed to this, i.e. see his prior books

Some of the data might be obvious to some people, but the message is very powerful: The 2008 crash was in fact a giant disaster that was cultivated by a talented yet stupid group of people on Wall Street.

An engaging read with great characters, Michael Lewis finds a way to make the most esoteric details of the financial system clear and the quirky people who both foresaw the downfall and lead to it. Often maddening but never boring, it's no wonder Hollywood came calling.