Other targets in the lawsuit are Lewis' publisher W.W. Norton & Company and prominent hedge fund manager Steven Eisman of FrontPoint Partners LLC in Connecticut, one of the sources for Lewis' book. Wing Chau and his firm Harding Advisory LLC believe Lewis made "false and defamatory" statements in the book "and want to redress that wrong," according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday and made public on Monday.

Lewis and the publisher W.W. Norton & Company said they had not yet been served with the complaint. "Suits like this one are an unfortunate fact of life in our industry, particularly when a book is as successful as this one has been," W.W. Norton chairman and president Drake McFeely said in an email. "We stand by Mr. Lewis and his book The Big Short, and, assuming that Mr. Chau's suit has been filed, we expect that it will be dismissed." Eisman said he had not received any notice of being sued and could not comment.