Selling shares short will never be a respectable occupation, but it is a reality of the markets. Indeed, market neutral strategies, which combine long and short positions, are becoming increasingly popular with institutional investors. While there are various books on short selling that don't quite pass the "snicker test", this edited collection is a notable, and most welcome exception.

Contributing authors come from both academia and the Street. Opening chapters focus on the practicalities of shorting: borrowing shares, effecting short exposures with futures or options, and shorting indexes with exchange-traded funds. Next, the book turns to academic studies of short selling. These include extensions of the CAPM as well as empirical studies of short-selling activities. Three chapters present practitioners' accounts of how to sell short in practice. Another chapter looks at short selling globally. The book closes with a discussion of some apparent market abnormalities and how these relate to short selling.