The Buy Side: A Wall Street Trader's Tale of Spectacular Excess

I will let you in a little secret (though I think I admitted this in my review of Wolf of Wall Street already … I will read any book and see any movie that comes out regarding life on Wall Street. I can know ahead of time that it is going to be cartoonishly stupid, and they often are, and I will still read or see it. Some are quite serious in nature (see my lengthy list of reviews covering the financial crisis of 2008), and some are entertainment-driven (the Wolf of Wall Street is a case in point). Michael Lewis may be known to many of you for Moneyball and The Blind Side, but the book that made him famous, Liar’s Poker, literally began a genre of books describing the excesses of Wall Street behavior. I’m not sure that any book in the genre since Liar’s Poker have been quite as good, but many have tried with varying degrees of success. And I read all of them. Part of me thinks I read all of this stuff because it just fascinates me what people think about the financial advisory profession. I am a corner office managing director guy at a huge Wall Street firm, but I eat dinner with my wife and kids almost every single night. I’ve seen plenty of folks misbehave, but not any more than at an action sports trade show or a real estate office holiday party. It is the BUSINESS of Wall Street I love – the business of advising on capital. In case you haven’t heard me say it before, I LOVE free market capitalism, and there is no free market capitalism without capital markets. Therefore, I love the business of capital markets. And in the United States of America, we call that business “Wall Street”, so there you go. Anyway, now that my little secret fetish is out (regarding guilty pleasure movie watching and book reading), let me explain what I was expecting out of Turney Duff’s The Buy Side: A Wall Street Trader’s Tale of Spectacular Excess, and let me tell you what I got instead. I was expecting another infantile tale of some piker who, imagine this, liked drugs and sex – a lot. I was expecting a book claiming that every single person in a 50-mile vicinity of the Hudson River lives the same way. And I was expecting a book where a failed piker would blame Wall Street’s business immorality for his lack of success in the business. What I got, on the other hand, was very, very different. I am not sure I would call the book a mere story of a Wall Street burnout. First of all, the real-life narrative itself is quite rare. For a young man educated in Ohio, a state many Wall Street elites are unaware is a part of the union, to become a prominent buy side trader is rare enough. But for the path to that trading job to have been an admin assistant job on the retail side of the business is utterly unheard of. Mr. Duff describes his journey with skill and literary flair. By the time he ends up at Galleon Group, a massive hedge fund which has since blown up behind the insider trading convictions of its key personnel, I am already enjoying the book, and realizing it is not going to be at all what I expected. Duff gives readers a far more sensible and credible explanation of what he did for a living than many attempts at describing the business do. Unlike the pathetic scene in Wolf of Wall Street where Leonardo Dicaprio starts yelling to the FBI about “collateralized debt obligations” (before there was such a thing, and something he to this day would have absolutely no knowledge of or participation in whatsoever), Duff does not merely throw out finance-sounding vocabulary to tease the readers and get back to the stories of sex and drugs. Yes, there are a lot of stories about sex and drugs (more drugs than sex), but the book doesn’t insult its readers with disingenuous or vanilla descriptions of high finance. It is comprehensible but sharp, and that is a tough thing to do. The book does go into exhaustive detail of the demons which brought down Mr. Duff’s career as a trader. In fairness to the author, though, it simply does not read as a glamorization of that lifestyle. Jordan Belfort agonized his readers with an almost frat-boy like description of his shenanigans in the Wolf of Wall Street book (which he pretty much had to do because there weren’t ten pages of actual business material). Duff isn’t bragging. He’s confessing. And if you aren’t rooting for him throughout the final chapters of the book to find recovery, to find sobriety, and to find God, then you just aren’t human. The book really is an addiction tale more than a business thriller, but it is compelling, honest, and extremely inviting. I spent some time reading some interviews Duff gave after the book came out and he blew me away with his candor. There is no attempt to demonize all of Wall Street – quite the opposite. There is no juvenile story of how “Wall Street polluted me and made me do it”. He is a recovering addict who has been blessed with an extraordinary writing skill. I, for one, hope he’ll write again. This “genre” needs more writers like him. Michael Lewis worked in finance for about ten minutes and has spent twenty-five years getting rich from his moralizing, hypocritical tirades (though he is a remarkable writer, I confess). I do not know what the future holds for Turney Duff, but if he keeps his hands off a highball and on a keyboard, I am positive the best days of his life are still to come. Because life on Main Street and Wall Street both testify to the powerful adage: Don’t quit before the miracle happens.

This book started slow for me. After a few pages and early chapters, I though "this is a bit of a sensationalist, toilet reading, the like of what Ben Mezrich would write". And yet, not before long the book completely absorbed me and I could not put it down till I finished it. Turney Duff has real talent in telling stories and captivating the reader, with very vivid depiction of his adventures and misadventures. Brutally honest in so many ways, and yet lacking in others (details, for example, as other reviewers have mentioned). It reminded me of Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker, though Lewis ' writing is a bit more refined. Overall, the book is truly sad. The guy made so much money and he blew it. After he seemed to settle down, found a girl he fell in love with, he blew a chance to be close to her and his daughter. Although he eventually seemed to pull himself sober, and says he is happier now - I can't stop feeling bad for the guy, and am overwhelmed by how sad his story is. I give the book 4 stars, because his style at times is uncomfortably colloquial and conversational. Also, some of the jumps from story to story feel a bit abrupt. Nonetheless, a memorable book - one that's going to stay with me for a while. This is one of those books that should help wise men differentiate from smart men: learn from other people's experiences, not just from your own. Going to work in a high profile, highly competitive and flashy place like Wall Street? Read this book.

The book has been out less than 48 hours, this is a Verified Purchase, and I'm writing a review -- that gives you an idea of how immensely readable this book is. Full Disclosure: Having just written a Wall Street memoir of my own, and having spent roughly the same 15 years on the Street as Turney, I am very familiar with the world he writes about, having been present at some of the book's scenes, and even had a tangential acquaintance with the author at the time. While some may claim that makes this review somewhat biased, it's also true that that familiarity creates a very high "rings true" bar for me as a reader. Turney soars over that bar. One of the things a reader has to worry about in any memoir is determining the reliability of the narrator. This is the first Wall Street memoir I have ever read where I didn't feel the author had at least in some way enhanced his own image either via overstatement or omission. Turney Duff was as affable an individual as he describes in the book. If he learned that you, a colleague of one of his brokers, discovered a new burger joint on the lower East Side, he'd get you on the phone and talk about the finer points of burgers with you, offering to take you to his favorite joint by the end of the call. (This actually happened.) Describing his skill as a trader, Turney claims that he shunned technical analysis, lacked fundamental knowledge of the companies he traded and had no taste for macro economic data, yet made money for his employers by expertly reading the people he interacted with everyday. That claim is convincingly backed up by his descriptions of different people in the book. It is incredible how spot on he is in his descriptions of individuals I know from that era. But don't take my word for it, instead consider this: At two different points in the book, he subtly eviscerates both the character and trading skill of a trading desk colleague. And yet, on the day of The Buy Side's publication, that very person tweeted out support for the book. That, I thought, tells you all you need to know about how accurate the accounts in the book are. As a writer, Turney's gift is his pacing of the story. There is no real suspense to his story, he doesn't resort (like some recent authors - ahem) to cheap footnotes and asides in an attempt to entertain the reader and yet the story soars along. There are a lot of great storytellers in bars and as evidenced by the early-1993 scenes in the book, Turney has been able to count himself among those ranks for years. What's exceedingly rare is the person who can translate that skill to the written page as well. Turney Duff is in very select company on that count. My only suggestions for more detail centered on two issues: 1) David Slaine, is the wire-wearer who brought down Raj Rajaratnam and Galleon. (It's heavily implied in the book he tried to coax 2008/2009-era info out of Turney as well.) Early in the book, Turney vividly describes Slaine's early 2000s exile from Galleon. How did he get back inside the firm and how much does Turney, given his keen observational skills, feel the humiliating exit a decade earlier shaped Slaine's motives? 2) Turney describes himself as advancing his career by overcoming a lack of traditional ability with superior social skills. I'd like to know if the sell side individuals who supplied him with drugs and hookers were doing the same thing. There's definitely a delineation between top-tier, bulge bracket firms (maybe a half-dozen firms) and the other three to four dozen lesser-tier firms who covered Turney. Was the hooker/drug culture more prevalent at firms, and the individuals who represented them, that had nothing else to offer? Given Turney's credibility, there's no one better to answer that question. The Buy Side is a great book, and if we're all lucky, coming someday to a theater near you.

I've seen a few cokeheads walk off the floor for the last time, so the details of this story ring true. Also I've know a few non-Wall St cokeheads. It all rings true. The only problem with cokehead epics is that they may be moderately exciting for other cokeheads (and not in a good way). But they are deadly dull for non-cokeheads. After you've read the descriptions of two dive bars and two crash pads, the remaining 50 descriptions begin to lose interest. I was most interested in the specific mechanics of his trading, and the way he messed with other traders using orders withdrawn at the last minute. It is all an information game, and people that figure out the flow of information will have an edge, if they are at the steeering wheel of a vehicle with a lot of leverage, which he happened to be for a while. One other reader commented that its all in the hands of computers now and the skills and relationships that he describes no longer matter. False. There are many financial markets besides thestock exchanges, with limited liquidity and opaque structure. The human side of the business hasn't changed. So as a business text, I highly recommend the non-cokehead passages in the book. Cokeheads won't read the book. For non-cokeheads who dont worry too much about cokeheads, it should be a moderately entertaining read. For people who care deeply about cokeheads, it would be a good cautionary read. This guy neglected has family over and over. Their best defensive move at the time would have been to walk away until he sorted himself out. According to the book, they pretty much did that, so bravo. Also it seems like he did sort himself out and regain some of his family life, so bravo. Final postscript: He was a good execution trader but no financial planner. Anybody could tell you that the taxes on a $2MM house in Long Island would consume more than his base paycheck. His wife, while pouting about his drug habit, appeared to be clueless about the cost of their lifestyle and the bills they were racking up. So to that extent she was also buying into the situation, perhaps without realizing it. So he was not completely alone in his addiction, and that is something that should be understood. In the book he paints her as a helpless wounded angel, with no self knowledge and making no real choices other than to finally leave him. The smaller choices along the way about why to stay do not show in the book.

I find myself of mixed mind about this book. No doubt, there were excesses of all types during the go go years on Wall Street. If the book itself was gripping, in some respects, I found myself many times wanting to release my own grip and drop author Turney Duff into a dumpster to rot, taking both him and the reader out of our respective misery. One the one hand, I read it straight through in one sitting. It was compelling, engaging and provided a sense of "you were there," much as a slow-mo mental replay of a horrible automobile accident might provide one with graphic memories some years later. When one considers the excesses described in the book, it's also easy to become worn out by the repetitive nature and sameness of the drug and booze-induced vignettes shared by Duff as we join him in retroactively living his debauched life. On the other hand, it's difficult to separate one's reaction to the book itself from the crassly self-indulgent lifestyle lived by Duff during his Wall Street days, and an undeniable resemblance to the ostensibly fictional portrayals of similar characters (or lack of character) in a number of movies released in recent years. "The Buy Side" is not news, or even particularly newsworthy. The book also begs the reader to reflect upon how incredibly detailed the author's recollections seem to be, some years later, regarding the many incidents he portrays while ostensibly so coked up and drunk that he probably couldn't, at the time, tell a coke spoon from a fork, or a bottle of booze from a baby bottle. On numerous occasions, in spite of such specificity about his anecdotally-peppered, substance-abused life, we find him also pleading that he simply cannot remember important details about this trade or that meeting, and it causes this reader, at least, to question the author's veracity and seemingly selective ability to recall this or that, all in the name of crafting a good story that, like so many other scams in his life, can earn him a much needed buck. Not to be left unmentioned, therefore, is the the author's clear attempt to cash in on his misfortune by providing us with yet another recitation of what we probably already know and have known for some time: that the ranks of traders and their ilk seem to be disproportionately (or disproportionally noticeably) populated by a bunch of self-indulgent, on-the-edge-living and immature individuals who couldn't succeed in a more stable, nine-to-five world. It certainly makes me wonder a little less - no, a lot less - how combining such a collection of emotional deviants with the nation's financial system produced the biggest meltdown in our nation's history. If Duff comes anywhere close to typifying the world he spent so many years in, why should we be surprised? The only thing that might be a little bit surprising is that he apparently didn't need to have a dissolved septum surgically repaired after jamming a key into his nose for so many years, or did he simply forget to tell us about it?

Wonderful storytelling, not a dull moment. Turney does a great job, and I recommend this as an exciting read to friends

A page turner about a former hedge funder—a buy side guy— from the perspective of a clean and sober writer who indulged in all the pre-2008 excesses we know about from movies dating back to Wall Street. There’s no shortage of Wall Street memoirs about traders who , like Prometheus, fly too close to the sun, only to crash and burn. Sometimes it’s a simple Bud Fox story (insider trading); other times, drugs and booze precipitate the fall, which may or may not include ethical or legal misconduct. What distinguishes Turney Duff’s account of his addiction and decade on the Street is, above all, his thoroughgoing likability. Even at his lowest low post-rehab #1—when he spends days on end alone in a hotel room, snorting ungodly quantities of coke while watching porn and neglecting his paternal duties—it’s impossible not to like (and root) for the affable Mr. Duff. His bottom —faking a mugging —is sad, rather than contemptible. Being liked is not just important to our wayward protagonist; it’s his raison d’être. The book’s villain, his one-time boss, is universally hated, which is as unimaginable to him as it is abhorrent: “I’d sooner quit,” Mr Duff states matter-of-factly. The book traces his ascent from pre-trading desk employee to hedge funder specializing in healthcare stocks. It explains , for the layperson, the difference between the buy and sell sides, particularly as these sectors of the industry shape Wall Street culture and determine the character of industry relationships. 50 pages into The Buy Side, my paperback went missing on the Northfork (even further out than the gigantic home Duff buys two hours from the city, a commute that would turn a teetotaler into a coke fiend and degenerate drunk!), so I listened to most of The Buy Side. A first, for me. I discovered Mr Duff on Instagram, where he speaks at a New York clip, so was initially taken aback by the slow, deliberate pace of his speech, which works well to counteract the vertiginous unraveling of his life. We get a brief glimpse of Mr Duff’s austere (and oh so gentile!) upbringing in Maine early on. It’s not until he’s made it and renting a $9000/month TriBeCa triplex with longtime roommates (sweet in itself) and his parents visit , that we understand his warmth as a reaction to a family that rarely hugged or said “I love you.” One detail in an elevator functions synecdochically to explain Mr Duff’s personality and behavior. The birth of his daughter , Lola, is one of the book’s highlights. Even in the throes of addiction, ,we never doubt the depth, power, and scope of his love for her. When he lets down his lovely partner and the mother of his child, we are once again more sad than angry because she’s terrific and they’re great together. The second rehab takes and Mr Duff, a consultant on Billions several years after The Buy Side makes the NYT bestseller list, becoming what he always wanted to be as a journalism major in college: a writer. For a New Yorker, even one who like me moved to the city after 2008 (though I was there weekends in 1992-93), the book is a love letter to Manhattan in the 1990s and the early 2000s, peppered with references to bygone restaurants and clubs known only by name.

At first I celebrated this book as a well written first-hand account into the ups and downs around the last 20 years on Wall Street. Turney Duff spins a fantastic tale of both his professional and personal life. I really connected with his spiral downward around his relationship with his fiancé and daughter. Surprisingly his story does not seem to me that it would burn bridges as all the players detailed are vetted out as we would expect them, brash and off-the-rails within the confines of Wall Street. I was hoping for more insight into his relationship with his family. It's clear it's a bit distant, but I wanted to hear their story too. What they thought good, bad or clueless Turney was destroying in his public and private facing lives. To me that is the end-story here. How are you accepted when the music stops? Does he have a way to right his wrongs or continue to wrong his rights? As I closed this book it struck a bit of an anger chord in me. Why the heck have we let Wall Street and these personality types get away with this year after year. It's crazy, in just about every other facet of life we would turn these guys out and not think twice about it. From Turneys story here to Jordan Belfort or movies Wall Street and Boiler Room have we not seen enough of these shenanigans? These companies detailed and their financial cronies are not in the game for the consumer and never will be. Turneys image on Chapter 28 was an eye opener and speaks mountains about who these firms are in the game for - not the little guy! I would recommend this book as a great salacious read of a guy from Maine and more amazingly a non-Ivy league Grad "made it" to the heights of Wall Street and fell flat on his face in the puddles of Manhattan. It is interesting as Turney looks on from across the river, on the outside what is next?

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found the author's writing style extremely engaging. You can tell the author has a way with words and it's evident that his first love is writing. This book is a fascinating character assessment of a fresh out-of-the-box graduate with a small town background who is thrust into the intense, cut throat world of Wall Street, where it's not just what you know, but who you know. This book provides a warts-and-all account of life on "The Buy Side" - the immense personal wealth, the nightlife, the debauchery, the shallow relationships and the copious drug abuse. At first I felt envious of Turney's lifestyle but as the book progressed, the excess became nauseating and the initial glamour faded away altogether. It was unsettling to follow the journey of this inexperienced graduate as he slowly morphs into a high-flying, sleep-deprived, cocaine-fuelled wreck. I always thought it would be amazing to work in The City or on Wall Street, now I'm not too sure. I took a lot from this book that can be applied to my own life and career although I have no previous experience of finance or trading. The final third of the book deals with Turney finally accepting that life on Wall Street did not bring him the fulfilment and vitality he craved. He realised that bold decisions needed to be made in order to preserve what matters to him most. Without giving too much away, the ending of this book is incredible in many respects, but above all uplifting. I think we can all learn a lot from Turney's journey and I would strongly recommend this book to anyone.

Great story about what could happen when someone rise to fast. I recommend this book also if you don’t now anything about Wall Street.

Initially I found the book quite entertaining and easy to read - especially to someone who likes the industry. As it goes on, you develope some kind of emotional bonds towards the author that eventually makes you want to hug him - not because you feel sorry for him, but because you end up thinking of him as an incredible good, valuable person. Regarding the book itself, it is very well structured mixing technical stuff with an engaging way of writing.

Yea sure, it goes a little too much into the drugs and girls. But it is a hard to put down book that is recommended. Especially if you are somewhat in the industry. I know buy side people and there is an aura of superiority and 'yea, we made it'. And if you are in the club, it is a more macho type club where a certain 'coolness' is welcomed. No need to be overtly show-offy like sell side people. And for all the little kids that came after the Bust, you have no idea how much wilder, freer and unlimiting in mindset and money the industry was pre-2008. The arrogance was there, and this book captures it well.

Very funny & informative about finance .