About This Book
"Rigged" is Ben Mezrich's 2007 nonfiction thriller about the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the launch of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange. It dramatizes the true story of John D'Agostino, a young Italian-American MBA from a working-class Brooklyn background who arrived on the NYMEX trading floor in the late 1990s — an environment then dominated by old-school floor traders — and ended up brokering the deal that opened American-style commodities trading to the Persian Gulf.
Written in the same narrative-nonfiction style as Mezrich's "Bringing Down the House" and "The Accidental Billionaires", Rigged reconstructs dialogue and scenes from extensive interviews with D'Agostino and other principals. The story follows D'Agostino from his arrival at NYMEX, through the political fight to launch electronic-screen trading, to a series of trips to Dubai that culminated in the 2007 launch of the DME and its dollar-denominated Oman Crude Oil Futures contract — a first for the region. Along the way the book sketches the culture of the open-outcry oil pit, the strain between traditional floor traders and the new screen-based market, and the personal cost of building a high-stakes international trading venue in less than three years.
From the author who brought you the massive New York Times bestseller "Bringing Down the House", Rigged is the startling, rags-to-riches story of an Italian-American kid from the streets of Brooklyn who claws his way into the wild, frenetic world of the oil exchange. Black Gold. Texas Tea. Everybody wants oil but only a rare few have truly made a killing mastering its intricacies. One of those lucky bastards is Johnny Castino (the pseudonym Mezrich uses for D'Agostino in the book), a ballsy Italian-American from Brooklyn with an ego and a keen intelligence to match his ambition. Rigged is his story: a startling rags-to-riches tale of an ordinary kid turned Harvard grad who found himself caught up in the ultimate high-stakes adventure filled with money, sex, exotic locales, life-threatening danger, and extraordinary international consequences. Moving from the streets of Brooklyn to Dubai, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Jakarta, Moscow, and Shanghai, Rigged reveals how the business is run and what happened when a man with solid gold cajones decided to flip a business — and an entire Exchange — on its head.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who wrote the book Rigged?
A: Rigged was written by Ben Mezrich, the bestselling American author of "Bringing Down the House" (about the MIT card-counting team, later filmed as "21") and "The Accidental Billionaires" (the basis for the film "The Social Network"). Rigged was published in 2007 by William Morrow.
Q: Is Rigged a true story?
A: Yes. Rigged is narrative nonfiction. The main character, given the pseudonym Johnny Castino in the book, is based on real NYMEX trader John D'Agostino. The events depicted — D'Agostino's career at the New York Mercantile Exchange and the launch of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange — actually happened. Mezrich's nonfiction technique reconstructs dialogue and interior scenes from interviews, a method he uses across his body of work.
Q: What is the Ben Mezrich Rigged book about?
A: Rigged tells how a young Brooklyn-born Harvard MBA broke into the NYMEX oil-trading floor, helped push the exchange into electronic trading against the resistance of legacy floor traders, and ultimately brokered the partnership that launched the Dubai Mercantile Exchange — the first U.S.-style commodities exchange in the Middle East — including the dollar-denominated Oman Crude Oil Futures contract.
Q: Was Rigged made into a movie?
A: A film adaptation was optioned by Summit Entertainment shortly after publication, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. As of publication of this listing the film has not been produced. Several of Mezrich's other books, including "Bringing Down the House" and "The Accidental Billionaires", have been successfully adapted.
Q: What other books has Ben Mezrich written?
A: Highlights include "Bringing Down the House" (2002), "Ugly Americans" (2004), "The Accidental Billionaires" (2009), "Bitcoin Billionaires" (2019), and "The Antisocial Network" (2021, on the GameStop short squeeze). See his author page on this site for the fuller list.
Written in the same narrative-nonfiction style as Mezrich's "Bringing Down the House" and "The Accidental Billionaires", Rigged reconstructs dialogue and scenes from extensive interviews with D'Agostino and other principals. The story follows D'Agostino from his arrival at NYMEX, through the political fight to launch electronic-screen trading, to a series of trips to Dubai that culminated in the 2007 launch of the DME and its dollar-denominated Oman Crude Oil Futures contract — a first for the region. Along the way the book sketches the culture of the open-outcry oil pit, the strain between traditional floor traders and the new screen-based market, and the personal cost of building a high-stakes international trading venue in less than three years.
From the author who brought you the massive New York Times bestseller "Bringing Down the House", Rigged is the startling, rags-to-riches story of an Italian-American kid from the streets of Brooklyn who claws his way into the wild, frenetic world of the oil exchange. Black Gold. Texas Tea. Everybody wants oil but only a rare few have truly made a killing mastering its intricacies. One of those lucky bastards is Johnny Castino (the pseudonym Mezrich uses for D'Agostino in the book), a ballsy Italian-American from Brooklyn with an ego and a keen intelligence to match his ambition. Rigged is his story: a startling rags-to-riches tale of an ordinary kid turned Harvard grad who found himself caught up in the ultimate high-stakes adventure filled with money, sex, exotic locales, life-threatening danger, and extraordinary international consequences. Moving from the streets of Brooklyn to Dubai, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Jakarta, Moscow, and Shanghai, Rigged reveals how the business is run and what happened when a man with solid gold cajones decided to flip a business — and an entire Exchange — on its head.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who wrote the book Rigged?
A: Rigged was written by Ben Mezrich, the bestselling American author of "Bringing Down the House" (about the MIT card-counting team, later filmed as "21") and "The Accidental Billionaires" (the basis for the film "The Social Network"). Rigged was published in 2007 by William Morrow.
Q: Is Rigged a true story?
A: Yes. Rigged is narrative nonfiction. The main character, given the pseudonym Johnny Castino in the book, is based on real NYMEX trader John D'Agostino. The events depicted — D'Agostino's career at the New York Mercantile Exchange and the launch of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange — actually happened. Mezrich's nonfiction technique reconstructs dialogue and interior scenes from interviews, a method he uses across his body of work.
Q: What is the Ben Mezrich Rigged book about?
A: Rigged tells how a young Brooklyn-born Harvard MBA broke into the NYMEX oil-trading floor, helped push the exchange into electronic trading against the resistance of legacy floor traders, and ultimately brokered the partnership that launched the Dubai Mercantile Exchange — the first U.S.-style commodities exchange in the Middle East — including the dollar-denominated Oman Crude Oil Futures contract.
Q: Was Rigged made into a movie?
A: A film adaptation was optioned by Summit Entertainment shortly after publication, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. As of publication of this listing the film has not been produced. Several of Mezrich's other books, including "Bringing Down the House" and "The Accidental Billionaires", have been successfully adapted.
Q: What other books has Ben Mezrich written?
A: Highlights include "Bringing Down the House" (2002), "Ugly Americans" (2004), "The Accidental Billionaires" (2009), "Bitcoin Billionaires" (2019), and "The Antisocial Network" (2021, on the GameStop short squeeze). See his author page on this site for the fuller list.
ISBN-13:
9780061809637
ISBN-10:
0061809632
ASIN:
0061809632
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