Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Go-Go Years

By: John Brooks, Michael Lewis - foreword
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.50

Buy for $22.50

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

"The Go-Go Years is not to be read in the usual manner of Wall Street classics. You do not read this book to see our present situation reenacted in the past, with only the names changed. You read it because it is a wonderful description of the way things were in a different time and place."
—From the Foreword by Michael Lewis

The Go-Go Years is the harrowing and humorous story of the growth stocks of the 1960s and how their meteoric rise caused a multitude of small investors to thrive until the devastating market crashes in the 1970s. It was a time when greed drove the market and fast money was being made and lost as the "go-go" stocks surged and plunged. Included are the stories of such high-profile personalities as H. Ross Perot, who lost $450 million in one day; Saul Steinberg's attempt to take over Chemical Bank; and the fall of America's "Last Gatsby", Eddie Gilbert.

©1999 John Brooks (P)2014 Random House Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Those for whom the stock market is mostly a spectator sport will relish the book's verve, color, and memorable one-liners." ( New York Review of Books)
"Please don't take The Go-Go Years too much for granted: As effortlessly as it seems to fly, it is nonetheless an unusually complex and thoughtful work of social history." ( New York Times)
"Brooks' great contribution is his synthesis of all the elements that made the 1960s the most volatile in Wall Street history. And making so much material easily digestible for the uninitiated." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Go-Go Years

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    30
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a critical period and good summary

interesting view for wall Street of the 60's, understanding it explains a lot of subsequent events (changing world). I would love to read a similar book about the highs of globalization in the 90's and the tech bubble and subsequent events, until the decline of it after the financial crisis. Not mentioning the 90's biggest names like Soros etc..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Colorful, illuminating, puckish

This ride through 60s Wall Street moves well, though unevenly here and there. Everywhere are telling details and anecdotes (matching cultural tidbits I remember, though I was a kid) in tales of every kind of operator from wiser financiers to high-fliers. There are countless wise observations of the fascinations and failings of markets, that are still meaningful today. In the foreword, Michael Lewis seems to damn it with faint praise, but I might speculate there's a little envy here, for the work of such an animated storyteller. As I listened to this, I also read "The Money Game" by (the pseudonymous) 'Adam Smith,' a similarly wry-and-sprightly-yet-wise look into many matching stories and aspects of 1960s markets and their denizens. I enjoyed mentally comparing this account of the mild downturn of 1970 (ending the "go-go years") with our Great Recession: quite amusing was the author's lamenting unemployment at a whopping 6-plus percent, and such awful privations for the middle class as replacement of steak meals on airliners with sandwiches, and cloth napkins with paper ones! Oh, the horror! I see many Americans in that time period as spoiled brats squandering their historic world supremacy and opportunities, veering into zany and infantile frivolities, and there is ample evidence of that here. But knowing the rest of the story, the way the 1970s did unfold into some serious macro-problems, casts a sobering light back onto this. I see more books by John Brooks recently released here, and I look forward enthusiastically to hearing them. This author can convey a lot of useful and meaningful content in an engaging and listenable, non-technical form.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read for everyone interested in the history of the financial markets in the US

Brooks is just a fantastic writer, period. He has an elegant and intelligent style and the ability to bring complex concepts and events close to the everyday reader who is perhaps not well prepared in the subject. It was a pure joy to listen to the book. Heller is a great narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Wtf did I just listen too.

Narrative bounced around and seemed to make no sense. Never really got anywhere just seeming anecdotes of yesteryear. Snooze

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I thought media bias this bad

Was a more recent creation. Some of the stories were interesting but the deeper into the book the I went the reliance on near socialist ideals to make a connection between 1929 and 1970 became to arduous to endure and removed all possible enjoyment. I was hoping for interesting historical accounts of the decade, yes it was a politically charged time with sweeping social change, but when your story is only interesting or relevant if the reader shares an very slanted narrow view your an op-

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Book about nothing

After listening to the book I can honestly say that I gained no new information mainly due to the fact that the book is a combination of anecdotes and stories that seem to have no point.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!