<Tr> <Th> Preceded by </Th> <Td> Home Game </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Followed by </Th> <Td> Boomerang </Td> </Tr> <P> The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is a non-fiction book by Michael Lewis about the build - up of the United States housing bubble during the 2000s . The book was released on March 15, 2010, by W.W. Norton & Company . It spent 28 weeks on The New York Times best - seller list . </P> <P> The Big Short describes several of the main players in the creation of the credit default swap market that sought to bet against the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) bubble and thus ended up profiting from the financial crisis of 2007--08 . The book also highlights the eccentric nature of the type of person who bets against the market or goes against the grain . </P>

Who is the big short based off of