A couple days ago, I got to hear best selling author Michael Lewis give a keynote on the origins of his book, Moneyball, as well his next book he is working on that will cover the collapse of our financial system. It was extremely insightful, but I have to admit I was really taken with how much in common I have Mr. Lewis from a personal interests stand point and am considering reading all of his books after seeing him speak. That’s a huge accomplishment as I usually read 1 book a year.
Lewis on economy
Lewis has published almost a dozen books yet is widely known for only a handful of them. Some of his more popular books are: Moneyball– Best selling book about how A’s General Manager developed a new quantitative system to beat the unfair economics that exist in baseball. As you know, I love the A’s and am proud of their history over the last decade. This book has changed how talent is evaluated in baseball and was the first book of his I read. The Blindside- Evolution of a Game – Lewis interweaves the story of a top offensive tackle prospects recruitment to colleage as well as how the blind side tackle has evolved to one of the most important positions in football. I love football, and I write for a college football recruiting site. Lewis is almost tempting me here to become a crazed fan here.
The New New Thing- This book is about Silicon Valley start ups from the first bubble. At this point Lewis has written a book about my favorite baseball team, the inter workings of college recruiting (something I moon light in covering), as well as one covering my career passion in technology start ups. He’s going a little of his way to get my attention at this point, but hey I can’t ignore his overtures forever. His next book sounds awesome, as I would love to read just who I can point a finger at for this horrid economy. His break through book, Liar’s Poker sounds pretty cool as well. With a handful of books almost penned specifically to meet my areas of interest as well as a great keynote at Open source conference, I have to say Lewis is now a hero and closing in on a possible man crush. I’ll keep you posted if anything develops on that front.
