The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade that Transformed Wall Street

While The Accidental Investment Banker isn't quite as funny, entertaining, or thrilling (although it still is all three) as some other finance classics such as Monkey Business or Liar's Poker, it is a FAR more informative, detailed, thoughtful, and insightful expose on both the specific bubble of the late 1990s and investment banking culture/psyche in general. If you're familiar with the Epicurean Dealmaker blog the quality of details, explanations, and insights are on par to that anonymous blogger's writings. This is a must read for anyone interested in a more in-depth look at investment banking culture although it is a tougher and less purely entertaining read than many similar books.

As an I-Banker at a regional firm I always enjoy reading books such as this. This is a mixed bag. Knee starts the book discussing his internship in London, what a "rookie" does, what he did well, what he did not do well, and why he didn't want to do this forever. But, after an MBA and a short career with an airline, he's back at it again, and with success. He "accidentally" fell into a role and used his wit to carve out a successful niche. This is where this book is at its best and an excellent, fast read. Unfortunately, it's not quite a full book and Knee feels the need to regurgitate a past history of Goldman Sachs, the excellent firm for which he works. This is where the book slows down and is totally out of character with the title. Given I had just read "Goldman Sachs: Culture of Success" written by Lisa Endlish to whom he refers liberally, this was really of no interest to me. Finally, we're back to his career change to Morgan Stanley in New York and now have a new problem, the total collapse of deals where bankers earn their money. This is quite interesting also. As I-bankers will attest, the business becomes ruthless with inter-fighting as everyone grabs for the few crumbs of income, people must be let go and mansions and egos must be protected. Overall, I love the book and I'd rather he had shortened the book and stayed on subject instead of spending 30% of time on a history lesson before jumping back to his career. So, be forewarned, it's good with a twist.

If you have spent some time on, near or around the securities industry (Wall Street), you'll enjoy this book. It presents a lot of good info and perspectives on the investment banking business as practiced by the biggest such firms. Lots of good vignettes about key people. Very well written and readable. But, unless you have the indicated background or at least a passionate interest in the "Street," you may well find the Knee book too esoteric for you.

I did enjoy this book, though perhaps I was expecting a little too much in the way of entertainment factor. There is a very extensive history of Goldman Sachs - to the point that it almost seems the book is focused more on the firm than on telling the story of the author. The book does serve as a good primer for those that don't really know what investment banking is, and want to get a sense of what Wall Street is like. It does not however, quite live up to the quote on the cover - "a ringside seat to the madcap and often egomaniacal world of wall street's masters of the universe". This is a good book, but you should also checkout "Monkey Business", "Bank", and "Liar's Poker" for a more light-hearted, but still informational look at investment banking.

I liked how detailed the author was about important issues the industry had. He shared his own story with real people and real events. I read the book in 3 days, couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Inside view of an outsider on investment banking industry. Author raised a question that perhaps IB insiders may not care at all about the very existence of the industry. Good read.

Always a nice walk down the memory lane of the mid 90's-early 2000's stock market. This is a well written account of the background "actors" in one of the craziest times in stock market history. The author does a great job of making history come alive and filling in the blanks of why the market did what it did. I had a hard time getting into the book in the beginning, but the last two-thirds is great and it's a fast read. Worth your time if you are interested in the wild history of the stock market.

Loved this insider look at the machinations of investment banking houses, which help steer major economic activity. Bankers: They’re just like us!