Michael Lewis’s Winning Streak
It seems that Michael Lewis is everywhere. His new book, coming next week, Boomerang; Travels in the New Third World, (Norton, 10/3; S&S Audio), on the global financial crisis, gets strong praise today from Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times; “Michael Lewis possesses the rare storyteller’s ability to make virtually any subject both lucid and compelling.”
The movie based on his book about the Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, Moneyball, is number 2 at the box office, right after another surprise success, the 3-D rerelease of the 17-year-old Lion King (get ready; now Star Wars, Top Gun and Titanic are all slated for 3-D rereleases).
Last year, the film of Lewis’s The Blind Side, (Norton, 2006) was also a success. Sensing a winner, Hollywood is now giving Lewis the opportunity to write the script for the long-dormant adaptation of his first book, the best-selling Liar’s Poker (Norton, 1989) about his time working as a bond trader at Salomon Brothers.
Also in development is an adaptation of Lewis’s best seller on the U.S. fiscal crisis, The Big Short (Norton, 2010), with Brad Pitt’s company producing.
Moneyball, the movie is quite different from the book. Entertainment Weekly urges “Love the movie? Read the book” and the L.A. Times offers a guide to how the film differs from real life.