We dazzle you with our radiant erudition every day, but now Dealbreaker reader, it is your turn. We are looking to compile a firm canon of Wall Street literature and in the spirit of blogspheric democracy, we’re taking your suggestions. Please give us the classics, your favorites, must-reads, oldy-but-goodies, contemporary standouts, whatever you would anthologize in the Dealbreaker Authoritative Compendium of Business and Wall Street Literature. What makes a canonical Wall Street text? Prescient insight? Elegant prose? Amusing Anecdotes? You decide!
We will review the suggestions and compile the canon in good time.
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 4:20PM
every post made by BSD
Posted by fischer black , Jul 23, 2007 4:24PM
When Genius Failed, definitely
Posted by BSD , Jul 23, 2007 4:26PM
Thank you, my adoring fan.
I would, however, prefer that F.I.A.S.C.O. by Frank Partnoy make the list. It's what got me into this business and inspired me to become the BSD that I am.
Posted by Jeff "Mad Dog" Beck , Jul 23, 2007 4:29PM
Barbarians at the Gates
Posted by jake , Jul 23, 2007 4:33PM
ugly americans
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 4:35PM
Fabozzi's "Handbook of Mortgage-Backed Securities" aka theBible
if you want to really experience the mind numbing drudgery of working in finance reading this 1,500 page dinosaur is the way to go
Posted by anon 4:20 , Jul 23, 2007 4:38PM
perhaps the sarcasm was too sublte....anyway, my real picks would be Liar's Poker, Den of Thieves, and Buffett: Making of an american capitalist
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 4:45PM
obv the unfinished sykes novel
Posted by Gordon Gekko , Jul 23, 2007 4:48PM
Equities in Dallas!!
Posted by jake , Jul 23, 2007 4:49PM
CFAI readings
Posted by anon , Jul 23, 2007 4:52PM
* Options, Futures and Other Derivatives by John Hull
* Principals of Corporate Finance by Brealey and Myers
* Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went by John Kenneth Galbraith
That's my 2 yuans...
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 5:05PM
smartest guys in the room
Posted by NotNasser , Jul 23, 2007 5:14PM
Where Are The Customers' Yachts by Fred Schwed Jr. (1940).
The Myth of the Robber Barons, Burton Folsom (1993).
Payback, Daniel Fischel (1996).
Posted by Bond investor , Jul 23, 2007 5:21PM
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, Peter Bernstein. Actually an entertaining read, and covers risk control and risk taking since Renaissance times -- dice games, Casanova, etc., to modern day.
Posted by arbman , Jul 23, 2007 5:44PM
couldn't do this kind of list without Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
Posted by arbman , Jul 23, 2007 5:45PM
also, to stay in the old books theme, "Adam Smith"'s The Money Game
Posted by jt , Jul 23, 2007 5:49PM
Should probably put Random Walk Down Wall Street on there
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 5:54PM
american psycho- in case your md asks you to cook up some brains for the next client meeting
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 6:15PM
Moneyball
Posted by MSM Hack , Jul 23, 2007 6:17PM
Little light on the literary.
To amend:
1. Bonfire of Vanities - Tom Wolfe
2. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott F.
3. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit - Sloan Wilson
Read 'em and weep. We're not doing anything new, just the same shit adjusted for inflation.
Posted by M. Milken , Jul 23, 2007 6:50PM
DEN OF THIEVES.
Posted by BSD , Jul 23, 2007 6:53PM
Fuck Wolfe, but word to F-Scott & Gatsby - the original models & bottles gangsta.
Posted by joe , Jul 23, 2007 7:10PM
Fooled by Randomness
When Genius Failed
Den of Thieves
Monkey Business
Liar's Poker
Predator's Ball
Barbarians at the Gate
Smartest Guys in the Room
Buffett: Making of an American Capitalist
Intelligent Investor
Common Stocks Uncommon Profits
Posted by , Jul 23, 2007 7:10PM
bess levin's diary from jr. high
Posted by hedge funds are fun and useful! , Jul 23, 2007 7:32PM
Barton Biggs' Hedge Hogging is my fav
Posted by Lauren Cerand , Jul 23, 2007 7:57PM
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee (www.minjinlee.com)!
Posted by Joe , Jul 23, 2007 9:10PM
Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance
Arguably non-canonical, but quite good.
Posted by sigger , Jul 23, 2007 9:54PM
The Vulture Investors by Hilary Rosenberg.
Hands down, best narrative on distressed.
Posted by anon , Jul 23, 2007 10:11PM
Sun Tzu's Art of War
Posted by guy , Jul 23, 2007 10:35PM
Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault
Posted by nothus ingratus , Jul 24, 2007 12:10AM
vendetta burroughs
financier reichs
money bazaar krieger
the chairman bird
towers of debt foster
Posted by David Merkel , Jul 24, 2007 1:11AM
My incomplete list can be found here.
Posted by , Jul 24, 2007 2:21AM
I second Where Are the Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed, Jr.
Posted by Ben_H , Jul 24, 2007 7:34AM
Can't leave off Po Bronson's "The Bombardiers"!
Posted by GG , Jul 24, 2007 8:36AM
The Art of War by Sun Tzu...to hone those killer instincts
Posted by PBateman , Jul 24, 2007 8:38AM
Intelligent Investor - Graham
Security Analysis - Graham
The Art of Short Selling - Kathryn Staley
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius - Greenblatt
Buffett - Roger Lowenstein
Posted by Friendly Corner MD , Jul 24, 2007 9:03AM
Forget the barbarians and just about every other book. The are self indulgent author masturbation.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator-Lefevre:
-everything you need to know about the "stock" market was written long long ago.
Bible of Option Strategies-Cohen
-Learn it, love it, live it. Even if you do not trade options you have to understand the mechanics here to understand that one guy on the floor that makes 100M+ for the bank.
Patton (the movie): the definitive cautionary tale of an superstar in a political environment.
Posted by Anon , Jul 25, 2007 10:42PM
September 11 Wall Street Sonnets and Other New York City Poems
by Eugene Schlanger, The Wall Street Poet
www.September11WallStreetSonnets.com
Posted by Hibault , Sep 09, 2007 5:56AM
I second the motion for "September 11 Wall Street Sonnets and Other New York City Poems", Eugene Schlanger, The Wall Street Poet
www.underbahn.net/wallstreetpoet