Do you think finance novels inspirational? Your list and rating, please?

O

OddTrader

Q

FINANCE NOVELS

One of my hobbies is reading and, in particular, novels that are related to finance. I have a fairly large collection and have compiled this list of books with a finance angle. I should note that I define finance somewhat loosely, to also include closely related aspects of economics and business in general. The publication dates are, in most cases, for the copy I own, which is often a paperback. Hardback versions were often published a year or two earlier.

Let me add that an excellent reference book on the role of Wall Street in American literature is Wall Street in the American Novel by Wayne H. Westbrook (1980, New York University). Professor Westbrook has specialized in finance in literature. Another good source is Paul F. Jessup, “Financiers in Literature,” Financial Practice and Education 4 (1994), 73-75.

The following is an excellent link for financial fiction:

http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/bankfiction

Note: Roy Davies is the brother of author Linda Davies, who is listed below with her well-known financial novels.

Joe Kolman also has a list at this site.

You might also enjoy my site with information on finance movies and television series:

http://www.bus.lsu.edu/academics/finance/faculty/dchance/MiscProf/Finance_on_the_Screen.htm

The numbers besides certain novels below are my ratings on a scale of one to ten. If there is no rating, I have not read the book.


Regan Ashbaugh. A veteran Wall Streeter who retired to Maine to write financial novels that blend Wall Street with firefighting. If that doesn't get your curiosity up, I don't know what will.

Downtick (1998), 9.5*. A surprisingly great book that got little recognition.
In the Red (1999), 9.0* An excellent follow-up to his first book.

Po Bronson. Bronson is not a Wall Streeter but has some west coast financial experience.

Bombadiers (1995)

Dave Cornford

Cracks in the Ceiling (2012). Not specifically a novel but a collection of short stories.

David Cudlip.

Comprador (1984)

Linda Davies. The former British investment banker, Ms. Davis is the undisputed champion woman writer of financial fiction.

Nest of Vipers (1995), 7*
Wilderness of Mirrors (1996), 6.5*
Into the Fire (1999), 7.5*
Something Wild (2002)

Theodore Dreiser. A well-known American writer.

The Financiers (1912)

Frank Drury.

An Empty Sky (2010) http://www.frankdrury.com/

Bret Ellis

American Psycho (1991), 7*. This book is unquestionably one of the most difficult financial novels to read, mainly because it is sadistic and gruesome. It has only a modest financial aspect and is mostly about the seamy life of a bond trader. It is, nonetheless, fascinating.

Forrest Evers. Evers is a journalist with no apparent Wall Street connection, but he knows his stuff.

Takeover (1998), 9*

Paul Erdman. The former Swiss banker, who once spent time in a Swiss prison when his bank failed, he has turned international banking into a money-making literary industry. I would probably call Erdman the father of financial fiction.

The Silver Bears (1974)
The Last Days of America (1981)
The Billion Dollar Sure Thing (1982)
The Crash of 79 (1976), 7*
The Panic of 89 (1986)
The Swiss Account (1992), 7.5*
Zero Coupon (1993), 9.5*
The Set-Up (1997), 9.5*

F. Scott Fitzgerald. Of course, Fitzgerald was one of America’s most famous writers of the 20th century.

The Great Gatsby (1925), 5*. I include this book because it has appeared on other lists. Gatsby allegedly acquired his fortune as some kind of trader, but the book has little to do with finance. Frankly, I think it’s highly overrated as a work of literature, but what do I know?

Ken Follett. Follet is a highly successful author of many excellent books outside of the finance area. His financial novels, however, are not among his better work. Among his best works is one of my all-time favorite books, The Pillars of the Earth.

Paper Money (1977), 6.5*
A Dangerous Fortune (1994)

Stephen Frey. Former Wall Streeter with a string of hits, but judging from the trend in my ratings, his best work may have run its course.

The Takeover (1995), 7.5*
The Vulture Fund (1996), 8*
The Inner Sanctum (1997), 8.5*
The Legacy (1999), 8*
The Insider (1999), 6*
Trust Fund (2001), 4*
The Day Trader (2002), 6*
Silent Partner (2003), 9*
Shadow Account (2004), 6*
The Chairman (2005), 4*

John Kenneth Galbraith. He is undoubtedly one of America’s most famous economists. This book is his lone foray into fiction, but frankly I think all of his work is fiction. But this one is unambiguously fiction and quite good.

A Tenured Professor (1990), 8.5*

Michael Goodwin.

When Vultures Dance (2009)

James Grippando

Need You Now (2012)

Arthur Hailey. Hailey was a very popular writer in the 70s, who picked out an industry at a time and wrote a novel around it.

The Moneychangers (1975)

Henrik Ibsen. Of course, Ibsen was a famous Norwegian writer; I include this classic because it has a banker it it.

A Doll’s House (1879)

Kate Jennings. New on the scene, Ms. Jennings was a Wall Street speechwriter but from reading this book, it’s apparent she had some issues with Wall Street.

Moral Hazard (2002), 6*

Marshall Jevons. This is the pen name of two academic economists, William Breit and Ken Elzinga. The books are based around fictional economist Henry Spearman who solves murders using economic reasoning. These books are just plain loads of fun and very educational.

Murder at the Margin (1988), 6*
The Fatal Equilibrium (1990), 9*
A Deadly Indifference (1995), 8.5*
 
Paul Kilduff

Square Mile (1999), 7.5*

Joe Kolman. A newcomer to this group, Joe was formerly editor of the excellent trade publication Derivatives Strategy. He appears set to embark on a new career as a financial novelist.

Naked Option (2007). 6.5*. A derivatives slant with some mild erotica. But don't let either scare you off.

Emma Lathen. This is the pen name of Martha Hennisart, a lawyer, and the late Mary Jane Latsis, an economist. Their long list of financial novels are light and moderately entertaining, but in all honesty, their more like Ellery Queen or Nero Wolfe novels, in a business setting. Many are centered around John Putnam Thatcher, an investment banker who solves murders.

A Shark Out of Water (1997)
Brewing Up a Storm (1996)
Right on the Money (1993), 5*
East is East (1991), 5*
Double, Double, Oil and Trouble (1990)
Something in the Air (1989)
Ashes to Ashes (1988)
Green Grow the Dollars (1982)
Going for the Gold (1981)
By Hook or Crook (1975)
Sweet and Low (1975)
Murder Without Icing (1972)
The Longer the Tread (1971)
Pick up Sticks (1970)
When in Greece (1969)
Murder to Go (1969)
Come to Dust (1968)
A Stitch in Time (1968)
Murder Against the Grain (1967)
Murder Makes the Wheels Go ‘Round (1966)
Death Shall Overcome (1966)
Accounting for Murder (1964)
A Place for Murder (1963)
Banking on Death (1961)

David Liss. Both of these are financial mysteries set in 18th century England.

A Conspiracy of Paper (2000), 3*. This is a very well-written book that seems to really capture the era. The story is a murder mystery entwined with the notorious South Sea Bubble. But I give it only three stars, because frankly, I just found it laborious to read. I really wish I had liked this book. I read 100 pages and gave up on it. Upon a friend's recommendation, I started it all over again a couple of years later. I made it to the finish. That's about all I can say. Even though the book is not excessively long, it was like running a marathon.

The Coffee Trader (2003)

Brad Meltzer. Meltzer has had several successful books, but I didn't much care for the one listed below. However, I can certainly see that some might like it.

The Millionaires (2002), 5*

Katherine Neville. A former bank computer expert, Neville absorbed enough in her experience to put together an interesting story. But I prefer her book The Eight, which is not financial. She tends to specialize in novels with two themes, each occurring centuries apart, running side by side, and then linked at the end. I used to live near Neville and once had her speak to my class.

A Calculated Risk (1992), 8*

Frank Norris. Frank Norris was a little-known American writer who set out to write a trilogy on the wheat industry. Sounds boring? Not so fast. The Pit is an outstanding piece of literature. For those fascinated with the Chicago futures markets, it’s your book. And it’s a great love story too. Unfortunately, Norris died young and didn’t finish the third book.

The Pit: A Story of Chicago (1902), 8*
The Octopus (1901)

James Patterson. Yes, this is the the James Patterson of Alex Cross and Along Came a Spider (and others) fame. One of America’s most famous contemporary writers; Black Friday is not up to his normal quality, but not a bad book.

Black Friday (1986), 7*

Allison Pearson. A woman's take on Wall Street life.

I Don’t Know How She Does It: The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother (2003)

Christopher Reich. Drawing on his experience in the Swiss banking industry, Reich’s first novel was excellent. I wasn’t as impressed with the second..

Numbered Account (1998), 9*
The First Billion (2002), 6*
The Devil’s Banker (2003)

Stephen Rhodes. Rhodes is proof that you don’t have to be an ex-investment banker to write a good Wall Street novel.

The Velocity of Money (1997), 8.5*

Michael Ridpath. The British former investment banker turns out solid work.

The Marketmaker (1999), 8.5*
Trading Reality (1997), 7*
Free to Trade (1995), 7*

Ernesto Robles. A former economist and investment banker.

The Malthusian Catastrophe (2009). This is a very good book that tells the story of a recent MBA who fails to get a job on Wall Street and goes to work with at an herbal supplement company that develops a drug that is alleged to provide immortality. The story has a great deal to say about the old but always-fascinating theme of the dangers of tampering with life. I like the fact that there are short chapters, as I tend to read for a few minutes and then put the book down. I ended up reading this one pretty quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it. The author may be hard pressed to come up with a second offering this good but I hope he will try. [By way of full disclosure, the author brought this book to my attention and sent me a copy. I probably would not have been aware of it otherwise, but I am really glad I read it.]

Russell Roberts. Roberts is an academic economist of some note and an economists commentator.

The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance (2001), 8*. Die hard free marketers and libertarians: this is your book. Liberals: don’t read it or you’ll change your views. A really good story of economics and love, if you can imagine connecting those two themes.

Michael Thomas. Thomas is another former investment banker. His books are solid but not quite at the top.

Baker’s Dozen (1996)
Black Money (1994), 7*
Hanover Place (1990), 6*
The Robespinner Conspiracy (1987)
Hard Money (1986)
Someone Else’s Money (1982)
Green Monday (1981)

Tom Wolfe. One of America’s most famous but least prolific writers, famous for his pastel suits and The Right Stuff.

The Bonfire of the Vanities (1988), 9*. A contemporary classic but skip the movie. Willis, Hanks, and Griffin (and Morgan Freeman before he was a star) aren’t enough to save this dud.

Emile Zola. One of France's most famous writers.

L'Argent (1841). I haven't read this one but have heard that it is about money and finance.

UQ

http://www.bus.lsu.edu/academics/finance/faculty/dchance/MiscProf/FinanceNovels.htm
 
OddTrader said:
John Kenneth Galbraith. He is undoubtedly one of America’s most famous economists. This book is his lone foray into fiction, but frankly I think all of his work is fiction. But this one is unambiguously fiction and quite good.

A Tenured Professor (1990), 8.5*
More...

Q https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith

Galbraith was a long-time Harvard faculty member and stayed with Harvard University for half a century as a professor of economics.[4] He was a prolific author and wrote four dozen books, including several novels, and published more than a thousand articles and essays on various subjects. Among his most famous works was a popular trilogy on economics, American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958), and The New Industrial State (1967).

...

In addition to his books, he wrote hundreds of essays and a number of novels. Among his novels, A Tenured Professor achieved particular critical acclaim. An interesting fact, Galbraith wrote book reviews, e.g., of The Report from Iron Mountain on the Possibility and Desirability of Peace, a 1967 political satire, under the pen name of Herschel McLandress, a name of a fictional Scottish mentor featured in the Tenured Professor.[40][citation needed] He also used the pseudonym, Mark Épernay, when he published The McLandress Dimension in 1963.[41]

...

Financial bubbles

In A Short History of Financial Euphoria (1994), he traces speculative bubbles through several centuries, and argues that they are inherent in the free market system because of "mass psychology" and the "vested interest in error that accompanies speculative euphoria." Also, financial memory is "notoriously short": what currently seems to be a "new financial instrument" is inevitably nothing of the sort. Galbraith cautions: "The world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version." Crucial to his analysis is the assertion that the common factor in boom-and-bust is the creation of debt to finance speculation, which "becomes dangerously out of scale in relation to the underlying means of payment." The financial crisis of 2008, which took many economists by surprise, seemed to confirm many of Galbraith's theses.
UQ
 
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I really was inspired by Po Bronson's the first 20 million is always the hardest.

These are not fiction or finance but changed my life in finance and are very powerful in learning the right way to think about the markets and world.

Techgnosis by erik davis

The fourth turning


Are you Dr. Chance, Odd?

surf
 
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zdreg said:
the embezzler by louis auchincloss
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Q http://eamonnlynskey.com/2009/11/19/a-world-of-profit-by-louis-auchincloss/

‘A World of Profit’, by Louis Auchincloss

I read a set of short stories by Louis Auchincloss some years ago under the title ‘The Partners’ (publ.1974) and I cannot remember the details of any of them. However, an impression stayed with me of how he described very well the inner workings of ‘the business mind’ and also caught the atmosphere of office life really well. I am qualified to recognise this aspect in his writings because I spent many years behind office desks in various offices under various ‘clerical’ guises.
This quality of getting a grip on the machinations of business entrepreneurial activity also forms part of the appeal of this book, ‘A World of Profit’ (1968). Jay Livingstone is a man on the ‘up’ and thinks mainly in terms of amassing wealth and eventually belonging to the ‘old family’ class of New York. Everything else comes a poor second, even his jewish name which he takes good care to change to something more ‘acceptable’. It is a fairly accurate portrait. Making friends with the members of that class and insinuating himself into its social structure is the best route for this ‘social climbing’ and is only rendered a little unpalatable to him by the fact that Jay, deep down, despises these ‘rich kids’. He also stands out among them as the one with by far the most business acumen. These are indeed the recurring traits of the social interloper and Auchincloss delineates them well.
It’s a good novel of its kind. But I’m not sure it will appeal to many ‘modern’ readers. I say ‘modern’ because there are aspects of Auchincloss’s world which by now, I think, are somewhat out of date– for example, the influence of the ‘old’ New York families and their many ways of keeping their lifestyle exclusive of men like Jay. I put ‘modern’ in inverts because I’ve learned by now that there are other, more subtle ways of exclusion which have replaced the rather overt ones to be found in this novel. Nevertheless, it’s an old-fashioned read, something like the English novelist CP Snow, but without his depth of character and feel for extended family narrative. I don’t think Auchincloss’s novel holds up very well today, forty years after its publication.
UQ
 
OddTrader said:
Marshall Jevons. This is the pen name of two academic economists, William Breit and Ken Elzinga. The books are based around fictional economist Henry Spearman who solves murders using economic reasoning. These books are just plain loads of fun and very educational.

Murder at the Margin (1988), 6*
The Fatal Equilibrium (1990), 9*
A Deadly Indifference (1995), 8.5*
More...

Q https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Jevons

Marshall Jevons is a fictitious crime writer invented and used by William L. Breit and Kenneth G. Elzinga, professors of economics at Trinity University, San Antonio and the University of Virginia, respectively.

It was Breit's notion to write a mystery novel in which an amateur detective uses economic theory to solve crimes. Elzinga was enthusiastic about his colleague's idea and not only encouraged him to proceed but also decided to take an active role in writing the book. Over the next twenty years, on top of their academic schedules, Breit and Elzinga co-authored three mystery books featuring Harvard economist-sleuth Henry Spearman. The first Henry Spearman Mystery, Murder at the Margin, came out in 1978, and was followed by The Fatal Equilibrium (1985), A Deadly Indifference (1995) and The Mystery of the Invisible Hand (2014).

When, in 1978, after a three-year collaboration, the two economists' first foray into crime fiction was eventually published by Thomas Horton and Daughters, there was no indication on the book cover as to the true identity of the authors. Rather, Elzinga had concocted a fanciful biography of Marshall Jevons which read:

Marshall Jevons is the President of UtilMax, Inc., an international consulting firm headquartered in New York City. A former Rhodes Scholar, he holds advanced degrees in economics, biochemistry, and oceanography. Mr. Jevons is an Olympic medal holder in kayaking whose hobbies now include rocketry and the futures market in cocoa beans. He is a native of Virginia but prefers to call 'home' the Queen Elizabeth 2. This is Marshall Jevons' first novel.

However, in subsequent editions of the book, Breit and Elzinga's authorship was recognized. Murder at the Margin has since been used as supplementary reading in many introductory courses in economics. In commercial terms the novel was a success, and MIT Press approached the authors to suggest they write another Henry Spearman Mystery which they would publish. Thus, in 1985, The Fatal Equilibrium became the first mystery novel to be published by a university press. One year later, a mass market paperback was issued, prompting Marshall Jevons to comment that “there are few pleasures more satisfying than seeing one's own paperback in a book rack at an airport newsstand”.

The name Marshall Jevons derives from the surnames of two 19th century English economists, Alfred Marshall and William Stanley Jevons.

A blog about economics called "The Bayesian Heresy" has also adopted the pseudonym.
UQ
 
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