Pip Pip Pierpont
Australian History Collectibles & Antiquarian Business Biography Humorous Non-Fiction Financial History Investment & Securities True Crime / Corporate Popular Economics
First-edition copies of Trevor Sykes’ Pip Pip Pierpont (Special Edition Information Australia, 1985) have become one of the scarcest, most sought-after paperbacks in Australian financial humour. Bound in the distinctive yellow-and-black livery that screams 1980s business news, this vintage paperback is the earliest and only printing of Sykes’ razor-sharp chronicle of the rise and spectacular bust of “Australia’s favourite share-market clown,” Pierpont. Because no hardback was ever produced, true first-issue paperbacks—complete with the original illustrated cartoon endpapers—are the sole collectible form of the book, making every clean, unmarked copy a prize for antiquarian finance shelves.
Sykes, long-time national business columnist, blends meticulous research with knock-about Aussie humour to chart how Pierpont sold blue-sky dreams to an entire generation of investors. The narrative races from Adelaide boiler rooms to Sydney stockbrokers and back to the suburban kitchens where mums and dads staked their life savings on “can’t-miss” floats. Along the way readers get a crash course in Australian market history—mineral booms, corporate cowboys, and regulatory loopholes—delivered in the kind of rollicking, self-deprecating voice that makes high finance accessible (and laugh-out-loud funny) to young adults and seasoned investors alike.
Beyond the laughs, the book is a time-capsule of 1980s Australia: colour photos of champagne-sprayed list-day parties, newspaper clippings, and Sykes’ own satirical sketches that caricature the key players. For collectors, the illustrated plates remain bright and intact in this copy; pages are crisp, free of foxing, handwriting, or dog-ears, while only light cover scuffing and sun-fading to the rear keep it from perfection. Whether you’re hunting rare Antipodeana, building a finance library, or simply want a ripping true story that explains how market manias happen, a 1985 first-edition Pip Pip Pierpont is the smartest money you’ll ever spend on a paperback.
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