Must-Read: Josh Brown: Reaction: Jesse Livermore–Boy Plunger

Must-Read: Josh Brown: Reaction: Jesse Livermore–Boy Plunger:

Reminiscences… may no longer be the quintessential book… Tom Rubython’s exhaustively researched Boy Plunger…

…a broader, more salient look at the greatest and most tragic trader of all time… the young dirt farmer’s childhood, his early exploits in the bucket shops of Boston, his wild nights in Palm Beach, the leisure-filled days in Great Neck, Long Island and his halcyon days on Wall Street. We see Jesse the connoisseur of fine yachts and seducer of beautiful showgirls, Jesse the scoundrel and market manipulator, Jesse the patriotic plunger who helps JP Morgan save the country…. We’re along for the ride as our antihero scrapes and schemes his way to legitimacy and operates at the highest levels of the game. We bear witness to the many incredible boom-and-bust cycles of the Livermore story, from rags to riches and back again too many times to count.

In 1929, after making more money during the week of the Great Crash than any speculator before or since, Jesse Livermore’s fortune is estimated at greater than $100 million. Within just a few years, he has lost it all and is millions of dollars in the hole. How can one man be so brilliant and determined to outsmart the world, and then treat himself and his accomplishments with such reckless disregard? Reminiscences only scratches the surface on this aspect of the story. This new book takes us deeper…. The summer isn’t over yet. If you’ve got other books in your queue, I’m going to strongly suggest you push them back a bit and get to Boy Plunger now…

Tom Rubython: Jesse Livermore–Boy Plunger: The Man Who Sold America Short in 1929