Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a courtroom drama.

SOURCES:Michael Lewis • , author.

RESOURCES:Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, • by Michael Lewis (2023). • " Column: In Michael Lewis, Sam Bankman-Fried Found His Last and Most Willing Victim • ," by Michael Hiltzik ( Los Angeles Times, • 2023). • " Even Michael Lewis Can’t Make a Hero Out of Sam Bankman-Fried • ," by Jennifer Szalai ( The New York Times, • 2023). • " Michael Lewis Goes Close on Sam Bankman-Fried — Maybe Too Close • ," by James Ledbetter ( The Washington Post, • 2023). • " What You Won’t Learn From Michael Lewis’ Book on FTX Could Fill Another Book • ," by Julia M. Klein ( Los Angeles Times, • 2023). • " Michael Lewis’s Big Contrarian Bet • ," by Gideon Lewis-Kraus ( The New Yorker, • 2023). • " He-Said, They-Said • ," by John Lanchester ( London Review of Books, • 2023). • " Downfall of the Crypto King • ," by Jesse Armstrong ( The Times Literary Supplement, • 2023). • " FTX Debtors vs. Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried • ," in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (2023). Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses: Eighth Edition • , by Richard C. Pilger (2017). • " Pay Candidates to Drop Out? That Should Be Legal • ," by Stephen L. Carter ( Bloomberg, • 2016). • " The History of the Term 'Effective Altruism • ,'" by William MacAskill ( Effective Altruism Forum, • 2014).

EXTRAS: • " Is This 'The Worst Job in Corporate America' — or Maybe the Best? • " by Freakonomics Radio • (2023). • " A Million-Year View on Morality • ," by People I (Mostly) Admire • (2022). • “ Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with 'Moneyball'? • ” by Freakonomics Radio • (2022).