• I saw the author of the book, The Big Short, on Bloomberg TV last week and, overhearing the program, my wife and son were so intrigued they came in and watched the interview. (I ended up ordering the author’s first book, Liar’s Poker.)

  • Yesterday, a client mentioned that she was reading the book, The Big Short.

  • Today, it was curious that my sister-in-law stayed in the car for 10 minutes after running an errand. Why? She wanted to hear the end of a radio interview with Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short.

All this makes me think that; 1) I have to go back and order Michael Lewis’ new book, The Big Short, and 2) that this book could take off and shape the public’s view of what happened in the real estate boom and bust… and what the government should do about it.

In the case of the 1906 bestseller The Jungle, the public fixated on a small part of the book, just one chapter actually, the chapter on the unsanitary meatpacking conditions in Chicago. That chapter led directly to the passage of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the creation of the predecessor to the Food and Drug Administration.

I think, from my admittedly tiny sample, that Michael Lewis has captured the imagination of America and his book will help shape the public’s attitude toward financial industry regulation.

I gotta read The Big Short.

(By the way, Michael Lewis also wrote the book behind the hit movie The Blind Side. Wow!)

UPDATE – Check out the link to the Bloomberg interview with Michael Lewis in the first comment below.