The GoGo Years, John Brooks
The GoGo Years, John Brooks
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

The Go-Go Years
The Drama and Crashing Finale of Wall Street's Bullish 60s

Author: John Brooks, Michael Lewis

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 12 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/09/2014


Synopsis

"The Go-Go Years is not to be read in the usual manner of Wall Street classics. You do not read this book to see our present situation reenacted in the past, with only the names changed. You read it because it is a wonderful description of the way things were in a different time and place."
—From the Foreword by Michael Lewis

The Go-Go Years is the harrowing and humorous story of the growth stocks of the 1960s and how their meteoric rise caused a multitude of small investors to thrive until the devastating market crashes in the 1970s. It was a time when greed drove the market and fast money was being made and lost as the "go-go" stocks surged and plunged. Included are the stories of such high-profile personalities as H. Ross Perot who lost $450 million in one day, Saul Steinberg's attempt to take over Chemical Bank, and the fall of America's "Last Gatsby," Eddie Gilbert.

Praise for The Go-Go Years
"Those for whom the stock market is mostly a spectator sport will relish the book's verve, color, and memorable one-liners."
—New York Review of Books

"Please don't take The Go-Go Years too much for granted: as effortlessly as it seems to fly, it is nonetheless an unusually complex and thoughtful work of social history."
—New York Times

"Brooks's great contribution is his synthesis of all the elements that made the 1960s the most volatile in Wall Street history . and making so much material easily digestible for the uninitiated."
—Publishers Weekly

"Brooks ... is about the only writer around who combines a thorough knowledge of finance with the ability to perceive behind the dance of numbers 'high, pure, moral melodrama on the themes of possession, domination, and belonging.'"
—Time

About The Author

John Brooks (1920–1993) was an award-winning writer best known for his contributions to the New Yorker as a financial journalist. He was also the author of ten nonfiction books on business and finance, a number of which were critically acclaimed works examining Wall Street and the corporate world. His books Once in Golconda, The Go-Go Years, and Business Adventures have endured as classics. Although he is remembered primarily for his writings on financial topics, Brooks published three novels and wrote book reviews for Harper’s Magazine and the New York Times Book Review.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Vitalijus on October 02, 2016

This book was written in early 70ies and while having better parts, feels inadequate in our days. In financial history books I personally expect to read stories that are backed with plenty of facts, revealing exact cause/effect relationships (as being written in hindsight) and be entertaining, at lea......more

Goodreads review by Brad on May 22, 2015

The Go-Go Years is a must read/listen for my financial friends. The historical aspects are in play today as they were then. On Warren Buffett's recommended reading list given out at this year's Berkshire Annual meeting I found it riveting, detailed, and useful. I highly recommend it!......more

Goodreads review by Evan on December 04, 2020

I liked this much better than Business Adventures. In this book, the writing was fun and clever. I had to share quotes because the metaphors and analogies were hilarious. In my opinion, the sixties seem to rhyme with where we are now (history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme). The SEC was lax becau......more

Goodreads review by Joel on January 04, 2018

YOUTH HAD TAKEN OVER ON WALL STREET IN THE LATE 60'S WITH 65% <35 YEARS OLD. BELIEVED THEY COULD UNDERSTAND THE NEWER COMPANIES BETTER. Gerald Tsia Jr of Fidelity was one of the first fund managers of the go-go era. When he bought something everyone followed. Tsai left Fidelity to set up Manhattan Fun......more

Goodreads review by Paulo on December 27, 2022

What stood out to me in The Go-Go Years was the sheer diversity of 1960s Wall Street—from minimum-wage employees exchanging racial slurs in the back-office “cage” to prissy regulators to brash moneymen to presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, the variety is bewildering. The author contends that Wal......more