The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
Short Summary:
Meet Matt Prior. He’s about to lose his job, his wife, his house, maybe his mind. Unless . . .
In the winning and utterly original novels Citizen Vince and The Zero, Jess Walter (“a ridiculously talented writer”—New York Times) painted an America all his own: a land of real, flawed, and deeply human characters coping with the anxieties of their times. Now, in his warmest, funniest, and best novel yet, Walter offers a story as real as our own lives: a tale of overstretched accounts, misbegotten schemes, and domestic dreams deferred.
My Review:
Don’t you love it when you find yourself really enjoying a book that you know you normally would not like?
THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS is that book for me. There are so many things about the book that should make up the recipe for being a book on Lydia’s did-not-enjoy list. Instead I found myself enjoying the story immensely (although, admittedly, I did have some pretty nasty dreams because it was a little too real and bleak).
Jess Walter does a fantastic job of mixing comedy (straight up laugh out loud lines as well as a self-deprecating main character) with real life topics such as the economy and financial crisis. The first chapter had me laughing out loud to the point where I was wiping away tears by the end of it.
So what all did this book have that would make me not want to pick it up?
- Poetry
- Financial misery
- An extraordinary amount of swear words
- Drug use
Those four things normally add up to me tossing the book away in disgust and moving on. Instead I found myself wrapped up in the story and feeling the narrators pain. It was all so.. real.
Very solid book, very entertaining and I’m loving that it took me way out of my comfort zone and reminded me to keep an open mind about things. You never know when something might surprise you.
About the Author
Jess Walter is the author of five novels and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages and his essays, short fiction, criticism and journalism have been widely published, in Details, Playboy, Newsweek, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe among many others.
His books:
–THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS, 2009.
–THE ZERO, a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award, the 2007 PEN Center Literary Award and the 2007 LA Times Book Prize and winner of the 2007 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award.
–CITIZEN VINCE, winner of the 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel and a finalist for the ITW Thriller of the Year award.
–LAND OF THE BLIND (2003)
–OVER TUMBLED GRAVES, a 2001 New York Times notable book
–EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW (rereleased as RUBY RIDGE), a finalist for the PEN USA literary nonfiction award in 1996.
Walter also writes screenplays and was the co-author of Christopher Darden’s 1996 bestseller In Contempt. He lives with his wife Anne and children, Brooklyn, Ava and Alec in his childhood home of Spokane, Washington.
To learn more please visit Jess Walter’s website.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
