Book · 2010
The Big Short
by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis turns the 2008 mortgage meltdown into a story about a handful of oddballs who saw the crash coming and bet everything on it.
What does Reddit think of The Big Short?
The data is thin but the quotes are revealing. The top comment (↑131) uses Lewis as an authority on high-frequency trading, citing his research on HFT market share from years before Flash Boys — a sign readers treat him as a credible source on market mechanics, not just a storyteller. A second comment (↑11) points directly at the Burry chapter and its reference to Joel Greenblatt's You Can Be a Stock Market Genius, which Burry reportedly called essential reading despite the terrible title. That's the chain r/investing cares about: Lewis as a node in a reading graph, not as a standalone text. Nobody in the sample debates the book's accuracy or politics. With only 3 unique commenters and zero engagement outside that one sub, this is a book with a specific audience.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · mortgage-backed securities and the 2008 financial crisis
- · contrarian investing and short selling
- · Wall Street incentive structures
- · high-frequency trading and market mechanics
- · personality-driven financial narrative
Common praise
- + The Burry chapter sends readers directly to Greenblatt's You Can Be a Stock Market Genius, functioning as a reading-list entry point.
- + r/investing cites Lewis on HFT market share years after publication, treating the book's research as still usable data.
- + The narrative makes credit default swaps legible to readers who have never touched a derivatives desk.
Common criticism
- − No commenters in the sample engage with the book's argument on its own terms — it appears mainly as a citation rather than a conversation starter.
Who it's for
You already know who shorted the housing market and you want the granular story of how they did it. Or you're starting from zero on structured finance and need a character-driven entry point before tackling drier material. r/investing readers use it as a gateway to Greenblatt and as a reference on market structure, so if you're building a reading list around either, it belongs early. Not the book to hand someone who wants a policy argument about 2008 rather than a thriller about the handful of people who saw it coming.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for The Big Short?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Worked in the MTG business pre 2008. There was a lot of these types of loans that were written. I could tell so many stories about no income verification loans, no doc, no or super loose underwriting and the sub prime deals. Thats how we had a financial crisis in 08. Basically if you had a pulse…
“Yea 50% seems low. I remember the author of The Big Short (Michael Lewis?) said ~10 yrs ago HFT represents 40%. No way it's now only 50%. I'd say probably 75 by now. It's madness!
“I saw that Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, spent several months with FTX’s former CEO this year and will be writing a book about that. It should be an exciting read.
“The big short by Michael Lewis
“Joel Greenblatt - 'You Can Be a Stock Market Genius' This is directly referenced in Michael Lewis's chapter on Burry in The Big Short. I think Burry is quoted as saying he 'hated the title but loved the book.'
“Dot.con: How America Lost Its Mind and Money in the Internet Era is probably my favorite. Michael Lewis (author of The Big Short) does have a book about it, but it's not that great.
Convinced? Pick up The Big Short
What else does r/financialindependence read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
The Big Short — frequently asked
What does Reddit actually say about The Big Short?+
Not much, statistically. The comments that do appear treat Lewis as a credible source on market mechanics — the ↑131 comment cites his HFT research — rather than debating the book's narrative. A thin sample, but a consistent one.
Is The Big Short worth reading if I've already seen the film?+
Depends on what you want. The r/investing comments point at the Burry chapter's reading recommendations and Lewis's HFT data as the things that don't survive the adaptation. If you read it to follow the Greenblatt thread or to understand the market-share numbers Lewis cites, the book does something the film doesn't.
Should I read The Big Short before or after You Can Be a Stock Market Genius?+
The r/investing data suggests after, or at least alongside. A ↑11 comment notes that Burry is quoted in The Big Short calling Greenblatt's book essential despite its title, which means Lewis functions partly as an advertisement for Greenblatt. Starting with Greenblatt and using Lewis to contextualize him is a reasonable order.
Which subreddit discusses The Big Short the most?+
Only r/investing appears in the data, with all 3 mentions. No crossover into r/books, r/personalfinance, or finance-adjacent subs showed up across the 7-year window tracked here.