Wall Street Fever: Love Letters From A Stock Market Insider 1928-1929

Wall Street Fever, a true story of the 1929 stock market crash as narrated by Leo who, in 1928, is a sharp-eyed telegraph operator working in the wire room of a large brokerage house on Wall Street. With more ambition than cash, Leo watches as quick fortunes rise and fall with every click of the ticker tape machine. He writes it all down from his one-room flat on 110th Street overlooking Central Park in letters to Lilly, the woman who holds his heart. Leo's 83 letters, written between September 1928 and February 1930, chatter with confidence, gossip and the kind of inside dope that could make even a small-fry trader feel like a big shooter on Wall Street. Then, October 1929 arrives and optimism vanishes faster than a margin call. In Leo's own words, we experience the stock market's "fevered rally" and its "severe smash" as they unfold in real time. These letters also reveal the small details that make up daily life in the city. In addition to stock tips and market panics, Leo spins stories of Harlem nights on 125th Street, Broadway movies, and New York City street life. Earnest one moment, romantic the next, and slyly funny in between, Leo is a man chasing wealth while realizing the real treasure is the woman waiting for his next letter. At the height of the 1920s, when ambition collided with uncertainty, Leo's letters spoke with the candid truth of the moment. In these pages, history, no longer distant, is meaningful and unforgettable.