TAG: Romance, Thriller
Rating: 3 / 5 worms
Posted by: Memyself
This not so well known book is the debut book of journalist turned writer Amit Verma, who used to work for a Mumbai tabloid now WSJ, Guardian and Observer. This guy is also known for his famous blog India Uncut.
The book reveals a story of a journalist of the Crime beat section in a tabloid, who one day receives a routine call from a boring Inspector to cover a significant arrest. The arrest is in the areas where police has been informed that people of Chhota Shakeel gang are hiding. The journalist, along with his photographer, accompanies them to the place for the arrest, where gunshots would be the last resort as assured by the Inspector. Then he hears a scream, which he thinks of a female, and gets poised to shoot. A little commotion follows. After 2 minutes constables come out followed by their inspector whispering something which he was not able to understand then but now remembers clearly as “Thank God! He was a Muslim“.Inspector informs him that Mohammad Iqbal, a Chhota Shakel gang member has been killed in an encounter after he tried to fire back. Then, the journalist was told to leave.
After around 6 days, his boss calls him up tells him that they are going to start a new section for which he needs to cover a new story. He is told to meet a lady from a NGO, who was accomapanied by a frail looking girl. She reveals a shocking connection of the encounter and this girl. The floor slips from under journalist's feet. So, did the cops screw up?
What follows is how the protagonist uncovers this story and how a relationship emerges between the cynic journalist and the girl. A recommended read if you find fiction boring. A short book with much of a content.
Liar's Poker
Labels: Fiction, NonFiction
book review
TAG: Autobiography, Investment Banking
Rating: 3.5 / 5 worms
Curtesy: My BF
This a semi-autobiographical book written by former Salomon brothers’ gives an excellent insight into Investment banking.
The book attempts a post-mortem of Salomon Brothers’ disastrous fall in 1980’s through a keen eye of Michael Lewis, then LSE pass out. The name suggests the powerful game of bluffing, where fear and greed are the main, and I think, only drivers of the game, yet interestingly, the expertise of these two is the pre-requisitive for Trading. The book describes how in early 80’s, US Legislative barons took steps to change the basis of interest rates from fixed to floating, opening a completely new era of Bonds trading. The book details on how n whys of Salomon brothers lead the game initially, following which, dollar eyed Wall Street bankers realised the loop holes in the ordinance and tried to outweigh each other. It describes the bank from the Sales perspective, where these are the main people facing and handling the client’s needs and expletives.
In the book much stress has been on the built up part rather than the crash, which is just confined to 11 pages. This may be partly because author left Salomon seven months before the crash and partly due to the fact that he was present in the upside, both mentally and physically. All in all, I enjoyed reading this book with comic element in it because it explained how banks make money out of Bond Trading, although margins have thinned on these now. Having read his columns on WSJ and Wilmott, the book familiarized with Mike’s novel skills and confirmed his opinion that the source of the falls and/or rises remain US Fed - be it Salomon, LTCM or Lehman.
Rating: 3.5 / 5 worms
Curtesy: My BF
This a semi-autobiographical book written by former Salomon brothers’ gives an excellent insight into Investment banking.
The book attempts a post-mortem of Salomon Brothers’ disastrous fall in 1980’s through a keen eye of Michael Lewis, then LSE pass out. The name suggests the powerful game of bluffing, where fear and greed are the main, and I think, only drivers of the game, yet interestingly, the expertise of these two is the pre-requisitive for Trading. The book describes how in early 80’s, US Legislative barons took steps to change the basis of interest rates from fixed to floating, opening a completely new era of Bonds trading. The book details on how n whys of Salomon brothers lead the game initially, following which, dollar eyed Wall Street bankers realised the loop holes in the ordinance and tried to outweigh each other. It describes the bank from the Sales perspective, where these are the main people facing and handling the client’s needs and expletives.
In the book much stress has been on the built up part rather than the crash, which is just confined to 11 pages. This may be partly because author left Salomon seven months before the crash and partly due to the fact that he was present in the upside, both mentally and physically. All in all, I enjoyed reading this book with comic element in it because it explained how banks make money out of Bond Trading, although margins have thinned on these now. Having read his columns on WSJ and Wilmott, the book familiarized with Mike’s novel skills and confirmed his opinion that the source of the falls and/or rises remain US Fed - be it Salomon, LTCM or Lehman.
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