Ugly Americans audiobook

Another non-fiction adventure from must-read author Ben Mezrich, this time following the adventures of the swashbuckling Ugly Americans as they pillage financial exchanges in the Far East. And once again he latched onto a story full of drama, greed and life and death consequences.The MIT blackjack books got me started with this author, but Ugly Americans and Rigged The True Story of an Ivy League Grad's Wild Adventures from Wall Street to Dubai were even more engrossing.From what I've read, a number of Mezrich's books are up for movies, so I offer this standard advice: if you are reading this and there is a movie version of Ugly Americans out, READ THE BOOK FIRST! 21 is proof positive that the big screen and those who supply it can not do justice to the writings of Ben Mezrich.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book, but I truly did. Yes, it had insights into much darkness, but it was a compelling, fast-paced, engaging story.

The following review has been copied from http://behnamriahi.tumblr.comUgly Americans, written by Ben Mezrich and published by Morrow, is a non-fiction excursion into the life of American expatriates buying up stock in Japan, told from the point-of-view of John Malcolm, former college football star gone stockbroker. When John first finds himself in Japan, after his Ivy League All-Star football team romps the Japanese players, he meets Dean Carney, a mysterious savant in the world of high-finance. It isn’t long before John graduates and he’s in need of a real job when Carney reaches out to him, inviting John to Osaka—only John doesn’t know what he’s getting into. The more money he makes on the Japanese stock market (the Nikkei), the more John is exposed to sex clubs and yakuza manipulation. Even after falling in love with a Tokyo mob daughter, John overcomes the market to win big, only to discover there’s more to his boss than even John can comprehend.This was a parting gift from an ex-co-worker—one whom I shared quite a bit in common with. Given that not many of our co-workers actually read books (fucking unbelievable), he and I shared a connection that grew as a result of this book and continues to grow to this day. At first, I was suspicious, as I am of all gifts, but have come see why he felt this book made a good fit for me, especially in regard to other books I’ve read this year in the vein of Americans writing about Japan. Only, the way the book affected me turned out far different than I think even my co-worker intended—as I combed though the pages, I began to uncover corruptions in my own work-place that left a poor taste in my mouth while at the same time, the book inspired me to step out of my comfort zone in an effort to make it big, some way, some how. I’ll let you know how that goes.I’m very wary about calling this nonfiction. Yes, this memoir was meticulously researched. Yes, we do often step out of John’s point-of-view to see as the author sees. Yes, it says nonfiction on the book jacket. However, all of these facts aside, this is a story handed to Mr. Mezrich second-hand. He wasn’t there to experience the details, but that shouldn’t make any difference right? Except these experiences cannot be double-checked—we have to take them at face value because every character in this book has a phony name. As it turns out, in order to protect the person representing John Malcolm and his business associates, every character in the book was given a pseudonym and reinvented physical characteristics, thus making this story no different than any other highly researched work of fiction. To call this nonfiction would be to say that On The Road or Slaughterhouse-Five are works of nonfiction, which just isn’t true—at least not for the most part. And while I am open to accepting what the book jacket tells me, I’ve read an awful lot of blurbs about the quality of various authors that just aren’t true. For instance, Hillias J. Martin of the New York Public Library, Twilight did not have the reader (me) dying to sink my teeth into it. Fuckin’ liars. Okay, okay, back to the book at hand. John Malcolm is reminiscent of numerous characters exploring the great, wide, Japan, including elements of our protagonists from Shogun or Hokkaido Highway Blues, that quirky, cynical point-of-view of a man open to discovery but hesitant about what he might find. However, he’s also got a little bit of American Psycho in him, though that might just be because of the luxury. Either way, Malcolm’s a memorable character—I remember his name better than I do the author’s! Ha ha. Seriously though, it doesn’t surprise me that the book is labeled as nonfiction in the sense that the character feels real, dynamic, and interesting. He’s flawed and he knows it, but he makes the most of his situation anyway—even when poised against an opposite, like Dean Carney. Opposites are often used in fiction to portray two moral extremes: good and evil. Sometimes, it isn’t about morality as much as just expanding on two extremes, like Nick and Jay in The Great Gatsby. The extremes represented by Malcom and Carney are a little more ambiguous however—Malcom is a kid from Jersey who can’t even afford his own suit while Carney is, well, we don’t know actually. He gives us glimpses into his past, but Carney’s a liar, so don’t cross your fingers that it’ll be true. What we do know is their priorities—Malcolm doesn’t fear the market, but he’s afraid of a butterfly knife and he seems entirely too aware of how much money he’s brokering, while Carney doesn’t have any sense of empathy apart from his love for the money that Malcolm makes for him. It boils down to one, succinct and ironic difference between the characters: their idea of the American dream. After all, they’re both American boys in business, and even though they happen to be in Japan, their dreams both differ greatly and as a result, the relationship between the characters creates the tension of the memoir.The overall plot of the novel is primarily focused on that conflict, but it’s broken up by intermissions from the author as he chronicles his immersion into Malcolm’s life, both to inform the audience and draw a sense of perspective between the point-of-view of a normal, everyday journalist against high-finance cowboy, once against playing the opposites for us. But our journalist is telling us Malcolm’s story and so he automatically empathizes with Malcolm, especially as he puts himself in harm’s way to understand the harm that Malcolm risked on himself. It adds depth to Malcolm’s character and keeps the audience subdued with a sense of reality as we wander modern Japan on Malcolm’s shoulder, making every setting feel like it’s fresh and every change feel drastic and necessarily dramatic.But what exactly is a hedge-fund and how does one wrangle it? Our journalist takes care of that too—he drops the necessary information as Malcolm learns it. Malcolm, after all, only puttered his way through Econ I before arriving in Osaka, so as he does anything, he’s pretty much learning about it himself, exploring the market as he explores Japan. The market, in itself, is a facet of Japan that’s untapped in prose but we get to explore it as John does his first time. The sense of newness going into that situation keeps the audience from being alienated and wondering what the fuck high-finance even means, instead maintaining monetary terms in plain, simple, and easy enough language for someone who doesn’t know shit about it, like Malcolm, to not only follow, but to grow expert in. Now I’m not saying I came out of this novel knowing how to work the stock market so I don’t even need a fucking job, but I sure as fuck know what a hedge-fund is now. Carney and Malcolm aren’t the only recurring characters though—we see a lot of names and faces, but the two most important ones are Akari and Sayo. Akari, a half-Japanese Ivy League grad, is Malcolm’s sempai (and that’s about all I remember from watching anime in high school) who becomes Malcolm’s best friend and Sayo is a yakuza princess that Malcolm starts dating. Because these two characters tend to get the most page space in Malcolm’s life apart from Carney, Mezrich paints for us how Malcolm didn’t move to Japan to simply make money, but to immerse himself in the culture, adding yet another layer to our not-so-tragic hero. Now, I’m not calling bullshit, but Akari only some-what seems like he’s actually fucking Japanese, but it doesn’t matter—it’s what he represents to the story as a whole, to further draw an opposite between Malcolm, open and friendly to the Japanese world, and Carney, who sees everyone (especially Japanese businessmen and women) as objects. Fiction or nonfiction, I loved the shit out of this book. Exciting, informative, and a little inspiring to boot. It’s funny—I was on the train heading home from work and a young banker, with his banker entourage in button-down shirts that cost more than my rent, asked me what I thought about it. He nodded and smiled when I said it was an accurate depiction of high-finance, not dumbed down for the layman, and then he zoned out of the conversation when I described it’s literary value. For all I know, that motherfucker could have been John Malcolm.

I read /Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions/, by Ben Mezrich: https://www.curledup.com/uglyamer.htmThis book is the Liar's Poker of Asia, more specifically Osaka and Tokyo (mostly), with a little bit of Singapore and Hong Kong.Highly recommended.

Excellent excellentI have a few of Ben mezrich books and love the complex stories. This one blew my mind. Strong recommend.

engaging

The Ugly Americans is the story of John Malcolm, an Ivy League graduate who, when a football career does not pan out, decides to work in the finance industry. He begins his career as a Kidder Peabody trader working out of their Osaka, Japan office, but through an accounting glitch, which is not all his fault, he loses the job. After this point, however, he begins making deals in the stock market that define his career and earn him the moniker of the "young American gunslinger".I really enjoyed this book because it was sort of an unconventional adventure. I say unconventional because it does not really involve any sort of gunfight, or explosive car chase. Malcolm's adventure comes from the suspense that comes every deal that may make or break his career. It is interesting to think that one person could make the money that he did and the fact that he did inspires me to do the same.I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoyed the film 21 or the Ugly Billionaires. Both of the following titles are by this books author, Ben Mezrich.

This is a typical Ben Mezrich book exploring the underside of the financial industry from different sordid stories. This one is focused on the Asian markets and some of the American traders that get involved. The interesting part is the cultural dynamics in place in Tokyo and Osaka. The impact of Japanese organized crime on the business workings adds another wrinkle. A bit moralistic towards the end, but a good read.

An exciting and fast paced book based off of a true story involving American Cowboy Traders pioneering arbitrage trading on Japan's Nikkei 225. John Malcolm is an Ivy League grad who takes a job trading for one of the top traders in Japan. Along the way Malcolm learns many valuable lessons on his quest for insurmountable riches. This is an R rated book, reader beware.

I typically do not like nonfiction books, but Ben Mezrich gave Malcolm's past new life in this memoir. I felt immersed in the story and interested in even mundane developments in the book, like hte standing of the Nikkei 225. I would highly recommend this book to peers, especially those interested in or working in finance.

Ben at his best A “Gumbo” of Asian culture, derivatives trading and the psychology of greed. I was so gripped I was surprised that end of the book came so soon - there had to be more.

Book dives deep into the life of hedge fund investors in Japan, sort of a behind the scenes for traders working with the Nikkei 225.

Full of dark jokes and funny stories. I found amazingly similar to my experience as a financial trader in South East Asia. Thanks Ben Mezrich, you're up there with Michael Lewis and Anne Jacobsen.

Great read on my favorite type of non fiction drama- chronicles of Wall Street.

I have my own story from that period but this one is much better

I like Ben Mezrich books, but sometimes they read like fiction or amplified half truths. They still make compelling reads, like this book about American traders in Japan. A good book.