I first encountered Ben Mezrich when I read his book "Bringing Down the House" about a team of MIT blackjack card counters. The book was weak, but I put this down to the fact that the author was a fiction writer and this was his first work of journalism. Unfortunately, Mr. Mezrich's feel for journalism has not improved since then. In fact, I think that it's safe to say that journalism or even a good term paper is beyond Mr. Mezrich.
One of the most staggering weaknesses of "Rigged" is that Mr. Mezrich seems to know nothing about modern markets and computer driven trading. What passes for his journalism seems to be nothing more than interviews with a few people, which he then embellishes to the point where I would not believe anything I read in his books. Mezrich does very little research and does not interview the range of people that would add any depth to his books. He is, in effect, writing a "non-fiction" novel.
The best part of Mezrich's books is his description of the New York Merc. floor traders. Mezrich seems to understand on some level that these "Meatheads" are vestiges of a rapidly fading trading era. Apparently Mezrich has never visited any of the equally huge trading floors run by large companies that trade even larger volumns via computer. There he would have seen huge networks of computer systems and staffed by highly intelligent traders. Mezrich does not even seem to have any idea that something like computer model driven trading exists.
Computer driven trading is what drives markets now. The topic of the book is the construction of an oil trading center in Daubi. Along with technology, Mezrich seems to have missed any issues involving the political and economic forces in the Middle East and Asia which might drive the creation of this exchange. The book has all the feel of a work that has been hacked out in a few months.
If Mezrich wrote like the young Hunter S. Thompson all this might be forgivable. Unfortunately Mizrich is only an adequate writer. One virtue of his books is that their very simplicity makes them a quick read.
I am happy to say that I have gotten both of Mezrich's books I've read from the library. Unless your idea of excellent writing is Clive Cussler, I'd save my money.
