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Tom Bernard
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Wall and Mean: A Novel Hardcover – May 17, 2007

by Tom Bernard (Author)
3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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"Captures the tone and feel of Wall Street better than anything I've ever read. A snapshot of the trader's soul."―Michael Lewis

Wholesome Pennsylvania kid and Wall Street phenom George Wilhelm is poised to become one of the most successful young bond traders in the business. A gambler at heart, George has turned his old poker skills into big profits on the Emerging Markets desk. Now those same skills have got him trying to out-trade the sports bookies in Vegas, and George's hard-won security is in jeopardy as he racks up a ruinous gambling debt.

When the Brooklyn mafia sends two hitmen to collect, things turn ugly in a hurry: these boys have clearly never heard of a fair fight. George must scramble to keep his pursuers away from the bank and his family, while risking everthing on an all-or-nothing trade. Set in the glitter and grime of New York City during the bond-market boom of 1993, Wall and Mean is a fast-paced and surprising debut from a veteran of The Street.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    May 17, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    6.4 x 1 x 9.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393064824
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393064827
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

George Wilhelm gets his kicks from sex, bond trading and gambling in this promising debut, which mixes those volatile elements with Tarantino-style violence. In 1993, George, a rookie Wall Street trader, is trying to make his mark in the cutthroat emerging markets funds. If the financial jargon Bernard uses is arcane, the frenetic pace and high-stakes maneuvers still emerge clearly. When paper success (low salary but prospects for high bonuses) goes to George's head, he ups his bets on sporting events to levels that leave him facing financial disaster. Suddenly, he's in over his head with a pair of sadistic debt collectors, who get their best ideas from movies like Reservoir Dogs. George is forced to concoct a scheme that will keep his bosses from learning about his problems and earn enough money to get him out of the jam. Bernard, himself a former bond trader, keeps upping the ante as his hero's choices get more and more desperate. George's transformation from brash risk-taking gambler and lover of the high life to gritty survivor is well done, but the rather saccharine ending isn't terribly convincing. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

In his twenty-eight years on Wall Street, Tom Bernard ran numerous trading businesses for Salomon Brothers, Kidder Peabody, and Lehman Brothers. He lives in Aspen, Colorado, with his wife, Sallie, and three sons.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (May 17, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393064824
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393064827
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.13 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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Tom Bernard

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Customer reviews

3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Larry Jenkins
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
I just read this book for a second time, I enjoyed it so much. Plenty of action and suspense. It merges the fast paced world of Wall Street trading with the lower class action of gambling and mob enforcers. I highly recommend it.
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Alan Ross
2.0 out of 5 stars Reads like the fine print in illiquid toxic debt
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2007
Verified Purchase
Like the Nici bond scheme, so central to the plot, there is little redeeming value to "Wall and Mean." The book suffers from a number literary flaws such as cartoonish characters, desultory dialog, and plodding plot. The twists and turns the author, Tom Bernard, presents are at best illogical, and at worst (to turn a title) just 'woeful and mean'.
What is successful in this book are the scenes involving stale trading floor antics, overstated trader debaucheries, and recycled Wall Street anecdotes. It is always fun to recall Wall Street excesses brought to literary light in "Liars Poker" and the rest of the Street tell-alls. Read those books instead.
This book breaks no new ground and if not for its one redeeming value, I would have demanded a refund. The author's proceeds are given to autism research, which is quite a worthy cause. But I cannot recommend the book for that reason alone, rather you should donate the entire cost of the book to autism research and cut out the middle-man.
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Luan Gaines
3.0 out of 5 stars "This is Wall Street, not Sesame Street. You snooze, you lose!"
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2007
George Wilhelm lives in a rarified world where his intellect is celebrated, the newest young phenomenon on the Emerging Markets desk at City Trust Bank in New York, one of a select few. George's singular vice is gambling, but then he has always had the touch... until he doesn't. Then Wall Street meets the mean streets and Wilhelm learns the hard way that bookies don't wait for payday to collect their money. Reeling from a wakeup call delivered by two thugs who have purchased his contract, George is introduced to the sudden brutality of the criminal underbelly that lurks below the surface of big money; and thugs they are, two lowlifes whose massive biceps belie any patience or tolerance when their money is at stake.

While struggling to pay the weekly vig, George comes up with an elaborate scheme to raise the sum he needs to get out from under the threat of bodily harm, taking on a partner to accomplish the sophisticated plan that is inspired by the intricacies of trading in which he excels. One step ahead of the violence that awaits his failure, George juggles work, romance and an increasing panic, mixing with men of questionable repute from Miami to the Bahamas, desperate to escape his compromising circumstances and go back to a normal life. Although George's plan will make more sense to anyone familiar with the vagaries of stocks and hedge funds, clearly the risk is significant, both personally, in his career and potentially, his life.

A former stock broker, the author molds his tale around a young man's hubris and his unfortunate susceptibility to the vice of gambling. George skates to the limit and back over one harrowing long weekend, learning quickly the duplicity of greed. Although the author attempts a bit of American Psycho gallows humor at the end, the whole is uneven, the brutality of George's choices an uncomfortable match with his levity. One is never sure if Wilhelm is a genius or a fool; he is, however, unlikable, as are the rest of the characters, either too self-centered or stereotypical to leave a lasting impression. (A caveat: you can't ignore Bernard's generosity; proceeds from the sale of Wall and Mean go to Autism Speaks and Safe Minds.) Luan Gaines/2007.
5 people found this helpful
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Dr. Malcolm Blueberry
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it.
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2007
Verified Purchase
Bernard's intimate knowledge of wall street provides a realistic framework for this fast paced thriller. The story is engaging and enjoyable, so much so, that I read the book in one sitting.
One person found this helpful
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zg
5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2009
Wall and Mean is a first-rate thriller, a fascinating ride through high finance to the lowest depths of the New York underworld. The protaganist George Wilhelm is a classically tragic figure, brought high and low by the same trait: addiction to risk. As Wilhelm falls deeper and deeper into troubles of his own making, the reader is nevertheless drawn to him, almost complicit in the decisions he makes. It's a trip you don't want to miss. Tom Bernard's Wall and Mean is a rare treat: a true page turner.
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Terrance Cunningham
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2007
Tom Bernard does a great job with this novel, especially considering it is his first.
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Top reviews from other countries

saucey sue
3.0 out of 5 stars Not everyone's cup of tea.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2014
Verified Purchase
This book came highly recommended but disappointed on reading, perhaps because unless one has a knowledge of the stock exchange, it falls flat getting very in depth about trading. However because the novel is short, one can persevere and be pleasantly surprised by the ending. How could one complain when it cost all of one cent! Not everyone's cup of tea!
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