“Liar’s Poker” is yet another book about Wall Street in the 1980s. Movie, music and books have depicted this time of crazy profits, wild stories of the men of Wall Street and how in their own way the whole group was setting the country up for some failure in the future, and yet “Liar’s Poker” is in a whole class of its own. The book is written by Michael Lewis and is a firsthand account of his time in in the 1980s in Wall Street. A graduate of Princeton and the London School of Economics, Martin was a prime candidate to quickly rise through the ranks at Salomon Brothers and he tells of it all in his book “Liar’s Poker”.

Lewis focuses a lot on what it is like to be lower on the totem pole in Wall Street and uncover the stuff you would never be told about in an interview if you ever considered working on Wall Street. He describes layoffs in 1987, conflicts, management tactics and more. Although Lewis did eventually become a successful producer, his stories are more about the view from the bottom which makes his book unique and interesting.

Another thing I particularly liked about “Liar’s Poker” is that every page and story is trickled with humor. It is nice to be able to laugh along with the author as he describes a truly one-of-a-kind experience. Fortunately Lewis is a very good writer and fun to read which is not true of all Wall Street books. Don’t worry about being swept away in lingo. If you pick up a copy of “Liar’s Poker” you are in for a treat.