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Flash Boys
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
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Flash Boys
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Editor reviews
Summary
Michael Lewis, the Master of the Big Story, is back with Flash Boys.
If you thought Wall Street was about alpha males standing in trading pits hollering at each other, think again. That world is dead.
Now, the world's money is traded by computer code, inside black boxes in heavily guarded buildings. Even the experts entrusted with your cash don't know what's happening to it. And the very few who do aren't about to tell - because they're making a killing.
This is a market that's rigged, out of control and out of sight; a market in which the chief need is for speed; and in which traders would sell their grandmothers for a microsecond. Blink, and you'll miss it.
In Flash Boys, Michael Lewis tells the explosive story of how one group of ingenious oddballs and misfits set out to expose what was going on. It's the story of what it's like to declare war on some of the richest and most powerful people in the world. It's about taking on an entire system. And it's about the madness that has taken hold of the financial markets today.
You won't believe it until you've read it.
Michael Lewis was born in New Orleans and educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. He has written several books including the New York Times bestsellers Liar's Poker, widely considered the book that defined Wall Street during the 1980s, Boomerang and The Big Short, 'probably the single best piece of financial journalism ever written' (Reuters). Lewis is contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and also writes for Vanity Fair and Portfolio magazine.
Critic reviews
”Probably the best current writer in America” (Tom Wolfe)
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What listeners say about Flash Boys
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Simon
- 13-06-14
A rare insight into greed and incompetance
Would you listen to Flash Boys again? Why?
This book is a real horror story of how our financial systems are managed (or rather, mismanaged). Very illuminating and very well read.
What other book might you compare Flash Boys to, and why?
The Big Short by Michael Lewis is of a similar vein but relating to the mortgage industry rather than stocks and shares. Also very well read.
Any additional comments?
I thought the profanity was excessive but other than that, a very, very enjoyable book.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miles
- 19-08-14
Complexity simplified!
Michael Lewis has an amazing ability to take very complex and boring subject and turn it into an engrossing story with twists, intrigue and interesting characters.
Like in The Big Short and Boomerang he exposes the 'mafia' who control our money and in doing so, at our expense, make themselves mind-bogglingly wealthy. You will be amazed, disgusted and angry in equal measure by the time you get to the end.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fred
- 05-10-20
Incredible
Great story, wonderfully told and narrated. Destroying everything we were taught about efficient markets. This is a must-read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 08-09-18
brilliantly written
I love Michael Lewis books. He has a way of explaining the most complex intricate subjects in such a way that the average person on the street can understand them. This book is no exception. It is entertaining and educational throughout every chapter. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alan Timothy
- 10-01-23
Very interesting book
Great true story well told, I never knew this was happening and that honest people exist
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Simon
- 23-03-16
The Thieves of Time
This is an excellent book. It ought to be required reading. What goes on within the murky world of high finance is one of the genuine scandals of our time. The surreal world of the markets that now dominate our very lives is a genuinely depressing place. This is a book with a seemingly fairly dry subject but it explains in patient detail the appalling behaviour that is rife within and around our most respected financial institutions. Bankers have almost become a pantomime villain in recent years but this book outlines how market de-regulation and the automation of the stock markets has allowed people to literally steal billions from our economies in the most cynical and yes fraudulent of ways.
A lot of the subject matter does concern the mechanics of how unscrupulous people used technology and other tactics to subvert the markets. It follows a small number of people who try to make a difference. The explanations while sometimes detailed give a lot of clarity and explained to me for the first time just how important a microsecond really can be. A blink of an eye and you miss it!
Dylan Baker strikes an excellent tone throughout being able to carry the descriptive parts as well as the character driven sections.
This is a fascinating book, it's a book that will likely make you angry, but it's one you'll be glad that you read all the same.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Wras
- 14-02-15
How to rob your client in a microsecond
The rise of the machines or how to rob your client in a microsecond; another chapter of Wall Street amoral procedures and shenanigans. It seems to me that this people with the most privileged in our societies are the most greedy and morally corrupt. The one percenters are never satisfied with any number they achieve, because nothing has any real value to them, but out of this culture of greed a few men took a technological stand to create a neutral market and even plain of trade, instead of the usual and against all odds made a go of something that in Wall Street appears Quixotical, to make profit by selling a product at a fair price, not a manipulated price.
Incredibly interesting and worrisome book, that reads like a thriller but is probably a horrible truth.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Ro
- 17-12-14
Excellent, a must listen!
Where does Flash Boys rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It's definitely in the top 5 audiobooks I've ever listened to. Probably near the top spot. You don't need to be tech savvy or know much anything about the stock market to listen to this. Michael Lewis has simplified two complex topics into terms for the layman as well as seamlessly telling an enthralling story.
I would recommend this audiobook for almost anybody
Who was your favorite character and why?
Ronan the Irish guy was my favorite character (partly because my name is Ronan and I'm Irish) but the book definitely captures the character's personality.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes definitely; I would have listened to this all in one sitting had my ears not gotten sore from my earbuds.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ron
- 16-06-15
Fascinating, Illuminating Investigation
A clearly told documentary of the way markets develop - with unintended consequences in the case of those regulating - from the inside. A few twists and turns on the way with almost a Wild West theme which keeps you on edge - and rooting for the "good guys" right to the end.
A must for anyone interested in how our economy can go bad!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pig Latin
- 19-03-16
perceptive account of a some shady dealings.<br /><br />
Technology does not always benefit the system where clever people can so easily subvert for their own gain.
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