A review by proffy
The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
3.0
Matt's life is swirling down the toilet - no job, no prospects, a senile father, a possibly-cheating wife, a house about to be reclaimed, and two kids in private school. When he randomly meets up with some stoners at a 7/11, Matt's life takes an unexpected turn, and he makes some unusual decisions. But really, could things get any worse?
Everybody, their mother, and their dog seem to have nothing but gushy goodness to say about this book. Hailed as an artfully written novel full of laugh out loud moments and biting satire, The Financial Lives of the Poets is regarded by many - bloggers and "professional" critics alike - as one of the year's best novels. Eh...okay. Now I did enjoy the book. I thought it was a unique read with some very relevant points about American culture and ideology, but I wasn't blown away by it as everyone else seems to be.
So now that most of you want to stone me for not falling in passionate, suicide-inducing love with this book, let me go back to why I do like it. Originality and humor. Pontificating on the financial crisis and the cultural climate which allowed the crisis to occur through this particular plot is both unique and hilarious. And while I had a great deal of trouble falling in with the extremely bad decisions being made, the characters did feel like real people, the details of them nicely coalescing into unified and believable wholes. Just not wholes I would like. At all.
Everybody, their mother, and their dog seem to have nothing but gushy goodness to say about this book. Hailed as an artfully written novel full of laugh out loud moments and biting satire, The Financial Lives of the Poets is regarded by many - bloggers and "professional" critics alike - as one of the year's best novels. Eh...okay. Now I did enjoy the book. I thought it was a unique read with some very relevant points about American culture and ideology, but I wasn't blown away by it as everyone else seems to be.
So now that most of you want to stone me for not falling in passionate, suicide-inducing love with this book, let me go back to why I do like it. Originality and humor. Pontificating on the financial crisis and the cultural climate which allowed the crisis to occur through this particular plot is both unique and hilarious. And while I had a great deal of trouble falling in with the extremely bad decisions being made, the characters did feel like real people, the details of them nicely coalescing into unified and believable wholes. Just not wholes I would like. At all.