Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt

Michael Lewis is an author who specializes in popular nonfiction about financial markets and catastrophes. Lewis received an economics degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He worked for the Salomon Brothers firm, a giant in the Wall Street of the 1980s and 1990s when Tom Wolfe’s novel Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) and Oliver Stone’s film Wall Street (1987) popularized the image of investors and stock traders as the drivers of a new global economy. Lewis pivoted into a career of writing on financial markets, beginning with the 1989 book Liar’s Poker that describes his own life as a bond salesman through a scathing portrayal of Wall Street culture. After several years writing for magazines including The New Republic and Vanity Fair, he became a household name with the publication of his book Moneyball in 2003. The story of Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane’s attempt to build a baseball roster based on statistical analysis was a pop culture smash, later becoming an Oscar-nominated film with big name actors like Brad Pitt. Lewis then turned to football, with his 2006 book The Blind Side that charted the emerging culture of the left offensive tackle play through the life story of Mississippi player Michael Oher.