Speaker of the Street, The Book
by Chris Doucet
It’s no trick to make a lot of money, if all you want to do is make a lot of money.
Mr. Bernstein, Citizen Kane
“Speaker” lays out in stark and detailed narrative the voracious world of the Stock Market in the 1920s. A bright young man from humble beginnings embarks on a wrenching journey from Law School to Army Pilot to Wall Street kingpin. Along the way he struggles with and against some of the iconic figures of the Roaring 20s – from major financiers to back alley jazz club strumpets; from war heroes to movie stars. His journey uncovers the clever plots, dirty deals and ever-prevalent shenanigans in the Market that persist to this day. In fact, the parallels between the years rolling up to 1929 and today are at once fascinating, concerning and downright frightening.
Lyrically written, The Book is at turns giddy and heartbreaking. It deftly presents complicated financial concepts in easy to understand ways without bogging down the narrative in academic-speak. Finally, the Book is meticulously historically grounded. The reader experiences the major characters’ personalities, the ambience of a speakeasy, down to what the fashion was at the time.
We meet real-life figures from the time: moguls, movie starlets, underworld kingpins, renowned musicians, war heroes, even famous service-providers: a famous shoe black and a classic waiter. The Book flows so beautifully, it feels as if the reader is watching a Netflix series with stunning characters, devious plot twists and a stunning finish where we see the true benefits and true costs connected with going all in with the Market. Doucet lays before us a world where the Gatsby meets the Economist.
“Speaker,” The Book, could serve as a primer on not only finance, but American life in the 1920s.