Diary of a Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager

by Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager, Keith Gessen, n+1 (With)

Overview

“Diary of a Very Bad Year is a rarity: a book on modern finance that’s both extraordinarily thoughtful and enormously entertaining.”

— James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds

 

“A great read. . . . HFM offers a brilliant financial professional’s view of the economic situation in real time, from September 2007, when problems in financial markets began to surface, until late summer 2009.”

— Booklist

 

“n+1 is the rightful heir to Partisan Review and the New York Review of Books. It is rigorous, curious and provocative.”

— Malcolm Gladwell

 

A profoundly candid and captivating account of the economic crisis and subprime mortgage collapse, from an anonymous hedge fund manager, as told to the editors of New York literary magazine n+1.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061965302
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/22/2010
Pages:	260
Sales rank:	236,174
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

n+1 is a twice-yearly print journal of politics, literature, and culture. Founded in 2004, it has been praised by the New York Times, TLS, Boston Globe, and Le Revue Des Deux Mondes, and reviled by the New Criterion and Gawker. In 2006 it won the Utne Independent Press Award for Best Writing. An anthology of its most significant essays was published in 2008 by Suhrkamp, in German.

What People are Saying About This

James Surowiecki

“Diary of a Very Bad Year is a rarity: a book on modern finance that’s both extraordinarily thoughtful and enormously entertaining.”

Ezra Klein

“My favorite book written about the financial crisis. . . . Highly recommended.”

Malcolm Gladwell

"n+1 is the rightful heir to Partisan Review and the New York Review of Books. It is rigorous, curious and provocative."

Dwight Garner

“Thoughtful, funny and unpretentious. . . . An unexpected treat that belongs on the shelf once labeled belles-lettres. . . . It is plenty enjoyable to watch HFM’s mind unfurl.”

David Backus

“A wonderful book. Diary of a Very Bad Year is a fascinating commentary on the crisis and a great read.”

Editorial Reviews

Expanding on a 2007 interview in the literary magazine n+1, editor and interviewer Gessen draws together two years' worth of interviews with a despairing anonymous hedge fund manager. HFM, as Gessen calls him, didn't go to business school or major in economics, but has been working successfully in hedge funds for over a decade. With some context provided by Gessen, HFM schools readers in the stories behind the death of Bear Stearns, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the plunging dollar, the bailouts, the Madoff scandal, and, finally, the upswing. Though it's interesting to have a personal take on the tumultuous past two years—and HFM ends the interviews when the stress finally drives him to take a semisabbatical—the decision to tell this story in an interview format is tricky and ultimately unsuccessful; the choppy transcription format distances readers from the ideas at hand, and the points lose their punch. Fans of the original article will find this expansion compelling, but other readers curious about the factors behind the crash will do better elsewhere. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Eminently readable. . . . Always engaging. . . . Although it is not fiction, Diary of a Very Bad Year is, in its own way, an attempt to bridge the gulf between the literary and financial worlds.

Financial Times

Diary of a Very Bad Year does something few of the books written about the crisis have accomplished: It delivers an insider perspective on the events in real time, rather than dwelling on conclusions reached after the fact.

BusinessWeek

HFM does a good job of teaching the reader how mortgage-backed paper, money-market funds, and credit-default swaps work, while offering up juicier tidbits about the ethics and legalities of his sector.

Time Out New York

A short, illuminating set of interviews with one savvy, articulate Wall Streeter. . . . A penetrating, educational and at times harrowing play-by-play.

Time magazine

n+1 (in the person of Keith Gessen) lends an outsider’s ear to the brilliant disquisitions of a guy caught in the middle of it all. . . . Excellent reading. . . . Compelling.

The Millions

A highly readable refresher on the financial crisis. . . . Amazingly—and largely because of the anonymity he’s granted—the nameless hedgie gives straight answers. . . . While HFM comes off as a bro you don’t want to mess with, the book is packed with plenty of humor.

The Wall Street Journal

Diary of a Very Bad Year takes the first steps toward putting a human face on the funds.

Newsweek

A great read. . . . HFM offers a brilliant financial professional’s view of the economic situation in real time, from September 2007, when problems in financial markets began to surface, until late summer 2009.

Booklist

My favorite book written about the financial crisis. . . . Highly recommended.

Ezra Klein

Diary of a Very Bad Year is a rarity: a book on modern finance that’s both extraordinarily thoughtful and enormously entertaining.

James Surowiecki

A wonderful book. Diary of a Very Bad Year is a fascinating commentary on the crisis and a great read.

David Backus

Thoughtful, funny and unpretentious. . . . An unexpected treat that belongs on the shelf once labeled belles-lettres. . . . It is plenty enjoyable to watch HFM’s mind unfurl.

Dwight Garner

"A short, illuminating set of interviews with one savvy, articulate Wall Streeter. . . . A penetrating, educational and at times harrowing play-by-play."

Time Magazine