That sense of being an intruder in outlaw territory lends an intriguing mood to Derman's My Life As a Quant, a literate and entertaining memoir. -Business Week
engaging --(CFO Europe, October 2005)
Not only a delightful memoir, but one full of information, both about people and their enterprise. I never thought that I would be interested in quantitative financial analysis, but reading this book has been a fascinating education. -Jeremy Bernstein, author of Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma
This wonderful autobiography takes place in that special time when scientists discovered Wall Street and Wall Street discovered them. It is elegantly written by a gifted observer who was a pioneering member of the new profession of financial engineering, with an evident affection both for finance as a science and for the scientists who practice it. Derman's portrait of how the academics brought their new financial science to the world of business and forever changed it and, especially, his descriptions of the late and extraordinary genius Fischer Black who became his mentor, reveal a surprising humanity where it might be least expected. Who should read this book? Anyone with a serious interest in finance and everyone who simply wants to enjoy a good read.-Stephen Ross, Franco Modigliani Professor of Finance and Economics, Sloan School, MIT
Chapter 1: Elective Affinities.
Chapter 2: Dog Years.
Chapter 3: A Sort of Life.
Chapter 4: A Sentimental Education.
Chapter 5: The Mandarins.
Chapter 6: Knowledge of the Higher Worlds.
Chapter 7: In the Penal Colony.
Chapter 8: Stop-Time.
Chapter 9: Transformer.
Chapter 10: Easy Travel to Other Planets.
Chapter 11: Force of Circumstance.
Chapter 12: A Severed Head.
Chapter 13: Civilization and Its Discontents.
Chapter 14: Laugher in the Dark.
Chapter 15: The Snows of Yesteryear.
Chapter 16: The Great Pretender.
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.
Index.