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  • The Buy Side

  • A Wall Street Trader's Tale of Spectacular Excess
  • By: Turney Duff
  • Narrated by: Turney Duff
  • Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (298 ratings)
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The Buy Side cover art

The Buy Side

By: Turney Duff
Narrated by: Turney Duff
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Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A former Galleon Group trader portrays an after-hours Wall Street culture where drugs and sex are rampant and billions in trading commissions flow to those who dangle the most enticements. 

A remarkable writing debut, filled with indelible moments, The Buy Side shows as no book ever has the rewards—and dizzying temptations—of making a living on the Street. Growing up in the 1980’s Turney Duff was your average kid from Kennebunk, Maine, eager to expand his horizons. After trying – and failing – to land a job as a journalist, he secured a trainee position at Morgan Stanley and got his first feel for the pecking order that exists in the trading pits.  

Those on the “buy side,” the traders who make large bets on whether a stock will rise or fall, are the “alphas” and those on the “sell side,” the brokers who handle their business, are eager to please. How eager to please was brought home stunningly to Turney in 1999 when he arrived at the Galleon Group, a colossal hedge-fund management firm run by secretive founder Raj Rajaratnam.  

Finally in a position to trade on his own, Turney was encouraged to socialize with the sell side and siphon from his new broker friends as much information as possible. Soon he was not just vacuuming up valuable tips but also being lured into a variety of hedonistic pursuits.  

Naïve enough to believe he could keep up the lifestyle without paying a price, he managed to keep an eye on his buy-and-sell charts and, meanwhile, pondered the strange goings on at Galleon, where tens of millions were being made each week in sometimes mysterious ways.  

At his next positions, at Argus Partners and J.L. Berkowitz, Turney climbed to even higher heights – and, as it turned out, plummeted to even lower depths – as, by day, he solidified his reputation one of the Street’s most powerful healthcare traders, and by night, he blazed a path through the city’s nightclubs, showing off his social genius and voraciously inhaling any drug that would fill the void he felt inside. A mesmerizingly immersive journey through Wall Street’s first millennial decade, and a poignant self portrait by a young man who surely would have destroyed himself were it not for his decision to walk away from a seven-figure annual income, The Buy Side is one of the best coming-of-age-on-the-Street books ever written.

©2013 Turney Duff (P)2013 Random House

Critic reviews

“This is why I keep my money safe and sound under the mattress. You could get high just reading this book. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Wall Street traders." (James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls)

“Bracing…calls to mind books like Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, and especially Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis…As spectacle [the book] easily trumps both…Mr. Duff proves a fine wordsmith: his prose is smooth, lean and rhythmic…An entertaining and cautionary tale, well worth your time.” (Bryan Burrough, The New York Times)

“Turney Duff is a natural storyteller, and his tale of how a naive kid from Maine traded in L.L. Bean for Armani and got sucked into the seamy side of Wall Street is almost impossible to put down. The book is by turns hilarious, harrowing, maddening, and illuminating. After this debut, the smart money will be on Duff.” (Bethany McLean, New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Guys in the Room and All the Devils Are Here)

What listeners say about The Buy Side

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Fantastic book!

Absolutely brilliant insight into the life of this man. Couldn’t wait to get in my
Car and listen to it!

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gripping fast paced adventure of wall street

gripping fast paced adventure of wall street.
great story into the crazy world of the city traders

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  • 21-05-15

Great insight

Really enjoyed the journey and delivery. Entertaining all the way through, would recommend to anyone interested in the industry

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Fascinating

Thoroughly interesting and insightful account of the rampant excess that was prevalent among some circles in Wall Street. A truly fascinating depiction of Turney’s life and career on the street, which highlighted how far one may go with soft-skills.

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Highly entertaining and believable

What made the experience of listening to The Buy Side the most enjoyable?

This guys saw real excesses from up close and personal. If you thought the Wolf of Wall Street was good. This is much more believable from my stand-point. Whilst I do not think the life of Mr. Duff is often experienced on Wall Street, it is a genuine account. One that readers can relate to as it depicts exceptional (and often hilarious) excesses but from the perspective of someone who had the perspective of appreciating how high in the stratosphere he was. The story reads like one devours a candy bar. Hard to press pause - you'll be done in no time. One of my top 3 favorite in 2014. No doubt.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Excesses and exes

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Better than expected

It's an enjoyable listen. If you like books about trading and some of the madness that goes with it, then you'll like it. Well read. Go for it

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great in sight to the dark side of wall street

loved it. bares all about the dark side to to sucess stories of wall street.

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Keep listening

Almost turned off at the start but so pleased I didn’t. Totally absorbing tale of highs lows then back again.

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Raw Wall Street told from a victim's point of view

What did you like most about The Buy Side?

I really enjoyed Turney's openness and honesty. His rise and fall leaves one gutted for him and you are left only wondering how many others go through this journey everyday.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt excited to read the cut and thrust of Wall Street trading and brashness of the players. I felt a huge sense of waste when he descended into the hopelessness of drug use.

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Amazing

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. Felt like I was on the journey with Turney and it was a very engaging audio-book.

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