Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions

From back cover: "John Malcolm first went to Japan to play football. He returned to ride the crest of the wave of financial raiding, trading and speculating that earned Nick Leeson a spell in gaol and Malcolm his reputation as an ultimate gunslinger in the Wild East, prepared to take on any level of risk in making mind-boggling sums of money - $7 million in his first month, just for starters. He and his friends were hedge-fund cowboys, living life on the adrenalin-, sex- and drugs-fuelled edge - kids running billion-dollar portfolios, trading information in the back rooms of high-class 'soap houses' (brothels) and at VIP tables in nightclubs across the Far East."

I purchased "Ugly Americans" on my way to New York from Los Angeles and was finished by the time we landed. The book keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. It is a fast paced story about hedge fund traders and their activities in the Asian markets. Unfortunately, the book is not very technical and, therefore, written for the average reader. If you a financially savy individual the book may be too rudimentary from a financial perspective. Regardelss it is a very entertaining book. Sven Klein, Santa Barbara, CA

I work in FX trading and I loved this book, unlike the previous reviewer. I also though Mezrich did a good job at giving a cursory explaination of the hedge fund industry and trading. Is it perfect? No, but hey, there are many books written on the industry, this is a story about a person within the industry. Also, they don't give Athletic scholarships to people at Ivies, but they do give academic scholarships to grossly underqualified individuals. It happens, maybe not that often, but it does. Also, Michael Lerch (Malcom) lives in Hawaii. So Bermuda obviously being a cover for the real location... Overall, great book, fun read, but not overly technical.

Not sure how much of the book is fiction and how much real, but it does make a fun and exciting reading. I counldnt put it down and was behind on rest of my assignments becuase I had to finish this book. Reads like a very exciting and fun fiction . If you like life in investment banking and finance and are not too stuck on every technical detail then you will be entertained by this story.

To be honest, I didn't know if the subject matter of this book would hold my interest. I knew nothing about hedge funds and am not a financier. But I was a big fan of Mezrich's last book, Bringing Down the House, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I'm glad I did: this is even better than BDTH. It's got a sympathetic main character and I found his story fascinating. I also learned a lot about hedge funds, and about Japanese culture. This book has the cinematic quality of a thriller novel--but it's all true! I'm sure someone will make a movie of this, and I can't wait to see it when they do. I highly recommend this book to anyone.