Reminiscences of a Stock Operator is a novel about real-life events that is veraciously fictionalized. Written by American author Edwin Lefèvre in 1923, just years before the Great Depression of 1929, it is one of the most widely read and highly recommended investment books. Inspired by the life of stock trader Jesse Livermore who made and lost fortunes many times over in his career, the book is told in the first person account. Over the decades since its publication, a good deal of market investors in the capital market has been referencing the book as a major source on stock trading.
Fortune, the prestigious American multinational business magazine, has listed it among "The Smartest Books We Know" about business. In the concluding chapter of the book after delving deeply the journey of Livermore, Edwin Lefèvre, however, writes,” The experience of years as a stock operator has convinced me that no man can consistently and continuously beat the stock market though he may make money in individual stocks on certain occasions.”
