At first glance, Michael Lewis‘s biography subjects don’t appear to have a lot in common, with his most popular books focused on people in tech, finance, or sports. However, they all share a crucial trait: they are people who have found something others can’t see. It might be a broken system, a hidden gap to exploit, or a fatal flaw in conventional wisdom. Lewis finds these unique individuals who have decoded a broken system, and he uses their stories to decode it for the rest of us. In this post, we look back at Michael Lewis’s best books and rank them based on their Goodreads ratings.
Michael Lewis’s 10 Most Popular Books Ranked in Order According to Goodreads
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.33 / 5
Published in 2021
Michael Lewis’s The Premonition is a taut thriller about the rogue scientists and public health officials who foresaw the COVID-19 threat but were thwarted by a dysfunctional and ignorant government system, fighting to save us from ourselves.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.30 / 5
Published in 2010
In The Big Short, Michael Lewis follows the misfit investors who foresaw the 2008 housing collapse. They bet against the market, exposing the greed and corruption that built a doomed financial house of cards. A thrilling, character-driven exposé.
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.27 / 5
Published in 2003
In Moneyball, Lewis tells how Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane used data and analytics to challenge baseball’s old guard. By valuing undervalued players, he built a winning team on a shoestring budget, revolutionizing the sport forever.
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.17 / 5
Published in 2006
The Blind Side tells the remarkable story of Michael Oher, a homeless teen who becomes an NFL star. It intertwines his personal journey with the strategic evolution of football that made his protection a priceless commodity.
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.15 / 5
Published in 1989
Michael Lewis’s memoir recounts his wild years as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers during the 1980s. It’s a hilarious and shocking first hand account of the unchecked greed, rampant arrogance, and absurdity that defined Wall Street’s culture in that decadent era.
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.14 / 5
Published in 2014
In Flash Boys, Michael Lewis exposes how high-frequency traders rigged the U.S. stock market using speed and complex algorithms. He follows a band of Wall Street outsiders who uncover the fraud and risk everything to try and fight back against the system.
The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 4.09 / 5
Published in 2018
Michael Lewis reveals how the 2016 presidential transition jeopardized vital but unseen government functions. He argues that the greatest threat isn’t the obvious dangers, but the “fifth risk”, what we don’t know we don’t know, as unprepared appointees took the reins.
Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 3.90 / 5
Published in 2011
In Boomerang, Lewis tours the global financial crisis’s wreckage, from Iceland to Greece. He reveals how cheap credit exposed national character flaws, creating a hilarious yet terrifying tale of universal economic folly and its inevitable, painful reckoning.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 3.99 / 5
Published in 2016
The Undoing Project explores the profound partnership of psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. Their groundbreaking work revealed the systematic biases in human judgment, founding behavioral economics and changing how we understand the mind’s decision-making flaws.
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis
Goodreads Rating: 3.83 / 5
Published in 2023
Lewis’s biography of Sam Bankman-Fried, the enigmatic crypto titan whose FTX empire promised revolutionary change. The book captures his chaotic rise and catastrophic fall, a dizzying tale of ambition, rule-breaking, and a multi-billion-dollar collapse.
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