In this episode, we feature a conversation with Michael Lewis from the 2023 Portland Book Festival.
Lewis is one of the most accomplished and celebrated writers of nonfiction at work today. He is the author of 17 books of nonfiction including Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, the Big Short and Flashboys. All his books are about unconventional people doing extraordinary things, usually behind the scenes.
We’re excited to say that we will welcome Lewis back to Portland on October 29 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall to talk about his new book, Blockers, about the courageous civil servants, everyday Americans, who have stood up to the worst impulses of the Trump administration.
For now, we’re going back to 2023, when Lewis joined us to talk about his book, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon. It’s a book about Sam Bankman Fried and the eventual collapse of this crypto currency hedge fund, Alameda Research, and the exchange he also founded, called FTX. When we sat down to talk, Bankman Fried had just been found guilty of seven Federal charges, all finance related, and was awaiting sentencing. It was a trial that many consider the biggest and most important in the world of finance in decades, and was one that was watched closely all across the world. Lewis had unrestricted access to Bankman Fried, spending over year reporting as Bankman Fried amassed one of the largest fortunes in the world and then lost everything as his businesses collapsed. The result of that reporting in Going Infinite paints a picture of a Bankman Fired that is very different than how he was portrayed in the press and by government prosecutors. Lewis offers a perspective on Bankman Fried and many of his closest colleagues that is rooted in understanding their deeper motives, how they were shaped as a generation, and how and why they made the mistakes they made. His conclusion is both startling and important to reckon with for its consequences for our society, regardless of whether you followed the case closely or not.
Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, The Fifth Risk, and Giong Infinite. His most recent book is Blockers. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.
For over fifteen years, Andrew Proctor has led Literary Arts, growing it into the largest literary center in the United States, opening a new headquarters in Portland in 2024 after a $23 million dollar capital campaign. Previously, he worked in New York in the publishing industry and in the human rights sector, and also in London for the cultural affairs office of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He has served in a variety of national and local boards and councils and currently sits on the board of the Central East Side Industrial Council and is a member of Mayor Wilson’s Central City Roundtable in Portland.
