Paul reviewed Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
Weaker than other Lewis books
3 stars
I've read most of Lewis' other books, but this one is probably the weakest - certainly not on a par with The Big Short or Liar's Poker. This might be because the book feels like it was rushed out to take advantage of the media storm around the collapse of FTX, we still don't know the full details of what actually happened, and there are probably things which can't be published due to the ongoing legal process.
It also feels like Lewis isn't quite as comfortable with the subject matter - he doesn't really give a clear explanation of what cryptocurrencies are and how they work, so the casual reader might end up wondering what's going on. He also seems overly sympathetic towards SBF, who gets more than a fair hearing and is portrayed as someone bumbling around, completely unaware of what's going on and his impact on other people …
I've read most of Lewis' other books, but this one is probably the weakest - certainly not on a par with The Big Short or Liar's Poker. This might be because the book feels like it was rushed out to take advantage of the media storm around the collapse of FTX, we still don't know the full details of what actually happened, and there are probably things which can't be published due to the ongoing legal process.
It also feels like Lewis isn't quite as comfortable with the subject matter - he doesn't really give a clear explanation of what cryptocurrencies are and how they work, so the casual reader might end up wondering what's going on. He also seems overly sympathetic towards SBF, who gets more than a fair hearing and is portrayed as someone bumbling around, completely unaware of what's going on and his impact on other people (did we really need the emails about his on/off relationship with another employee?).
I couldn't help comparing this with The Smartest Guys in the Room (Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind), about the collapse of Enron, which is another story of people thinking they are cleverer than everyone else and ending in a massive bankruptcy when everything unravelled. Unfortunately, Going Infinite isn't as detailed or probing, and thus gets (and only just) 3/5.