Street Freak

August 8, 2011
This revealing, personal memoir of a volatile period in the dual lives of a big-time trader and the fallen American giant Lehman Brothers is depicted in the fueled words of Dillian, a major figure at the company. Dillian, the son of a Coast Guard aviator and a teacher, rose through the ranks of Lehman’s highly competitive traders, trying to beat the roller-coaster market by gambling on debt. As Lehman’s head trader, he exposes the chief reason why one of the most profitable Wall Street investment firms collapsed in a storm of scandal and disgrace: “Traders trade everything, not just stocks or bonds. They like to assess probabilities and they’ll bet on the outcome of just about anything.” He writes in a style that veers from gonzo lucidity to precise trader chatter: he believes only insane people who do insane things make money. Dillian draws parallels between his own bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders and the problems he witnessed within the Lehman Brothers. In the end, Dillian offers a candid look at the demise of a corporate behemoth.

August 1, 2011

A firsthand account of the high-speed, merciless world of the modern-day trader.

In Dillian's debut memoir, the author recounts his time as a Lehman Brothers' associate in the firm's final years. His experiences betting big with other people's money--as well as the psychological toll he incurred as a result--provides a scathing critique of selfish, scrambling men so driven to earn a buck that they lose all sight of the world beyond the tickers. Dillian's portrait of the mid-level Wall Street employee confirms all of the industry's clich�s--that the stock market is, in fact, run by "men and boys," many of whom understand little more than a single mantra: "Make money, good. Lose money, bad." This simplistic approach causes Dillian to view Wall Street as a land of squandered talent, in which money-grubbing citizenry sacrificed their potential to play the numbers. "And here we all were," Dillian recounted," with our Ivy League educations and our social class and our pedigrees and our friends, and we were all in one big room on a daily basis pissing into the wind." Yet as a nontraditional student from the University of San Francisco, Dillian hardly fit the mold of the rich, Northeastern prep-schooler, and his outsider status served as a great attribute, offering him a clearer view of an industry both morally and economically bankrupt. However, the author often fails to bring readers fully into his colorful milieu.

A dramatic rendering of the financial crisis in which readers are often left on the outside of an insider's world.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2011

Writing in a kind of gonzo journalism style, Dillian recounts his years as an exchange-traded funds (ETF) trader at Lehman Brothers, beginning just before 9/11 and ending with the firm's implosion in September 2008. While his book adds nothing to the literature of excess that documents the testosterone-driven, juvenile, and frequently grotesque corporate culture of Wall Street, two angles serve to differentiate this from similar titles. One is the author's detailed descriptions of his work; the multimillion-dollar fluctuations in his profit and loss statements offer readers vicarious thrills, and the intricacies of big-league trading will fascinate financial voyeurs. The other is Dillian's personal story, interwoven through his chronicle of victories on the trading floor, of his downward spiral into alcoholism and mental illness. He is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and spends a short time in a psychiatric ward before returning to work. VERDICT Dillian's book will appeal the most to hard-core trading junkies or those who seek a comprehensive view of the post-9/11, pre-crisis Wall Street.--Steve Wilson, Dayton Metro Lib., OH

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