Michael Lewis will be arriving at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on Oct. 10 to discuss the future of America in a panel led by students and professors alike. Lewis is the author of 16 books on various topics not limited to economics and politics. His works include famous titles such as “The Big Short,” “Money Ball” and “The Blind Side,” bestsellers of which have been adapted to the big screen and have starred celebrity giants such as Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell.
Lewis will be participating in a forum titled “An Unscripted Evening with Michael Lewis: Trends Impacting America’s Future Direction.” The event will be a part of the Open VISIONS Forum series at the Quick Center is a sold out event.
The forum will include The Mirror’s own Editor-in-Chief Alicia Phaneuf ‘19 and News Editor Claire Monahan ‘20, along with Michael Bodie ‘19. The Fairfield University Student Association President Danielle Rice ‘19 will be introducing Lewis and the forum will be moderated by Philip Eliasoph, Ph.D., professor of visual & performing arts and founder and director of the Open VISIONS Forum.
The latest book written by Lewis, “The Fifth Risk”, discusses the implications of control of the United States government being given to those who do not understand how it works. He focuses on governmental agencies across America that are struggling to stay afloat due to, according to the book’s description, “attacks from its own leaders.”
Eliasoph commented about Mr. Lewis’ visit to the University on Wednesday night in an email to The Mirror.
“It won’t matter if you are a Dolan School of business major or a humanities student, Lewis’s educational/career trajectory promises to reveal many hard ‘life lessons.’ After graduating from Princeton as an art history major [his senior thesis was about Greco-Roman influences on the Renaissance sculptures of Donatello] — he then shifted focus and took another degree at the London School of Economics. In his late twenties he became a high-stakes bond trader at Solomon Brothers, which was then translated into his first best seller, ‘Liar’s Poker,’” stated Eliasoph. “This semi-autobiographical peek inside the Wall Street world and established his street cred as one of America’s most gifted journalists of our Money/Greed culture. Taking an outside view, he explores MLB in ‘Moneyball’ – considered the most important inside look at pro baseball. ‘Flash Boys’ is a deep dive into high-frequency trading and its devastating impact from “‘Wall Street to Main Street.’ In summation, Lewis has become a prophet of our age – standing on the ‘outside looking in’ and exposing our virtues and vices with humor, wit and a turbo-charged writing voice. I am telling all of my students – be there and listen carefully!”
The student panelists are also excited to be in the presence of the successful journalist and author.
“The plethora of topics Michael Lewis has written about in great detail is nearly unfathomable. After already immersed himself within the Oakland Athletics baseball organization, he has now taken on the federal government,” said Bodie. “I am eager to learn about the challenges and triumphs he encountered writing a novel from within some of our administrative agencies. Being a millennial during a time with such immense change within the US government has been eye opening and I can’t wait to discuss with Lewis the mindset of the trump administration.”
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