Customer Reviews

Dear Money

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Martha McPhee is the real deal. Her novel is engrossing, intelligent, playful, and timely. And it would be a shame if it did not get the high readership it deserves.

In this Pygmalion tale of novelist turned bond trader, India Palmer is -- well, very much like the author herself. She's a critically acclaimed writer of four books and has just completed her fifth. She and her husband -- a gifted but not-so-rich sculptor -- are close friends with a wealthy couple who live luxuriously in NYC's tony Tribeca area. In India's attempt to "keep up with the Joneses", she discovers that "one goes broke in a thousand small ways: birthday presents, house presents; ballet classes; lessons in general; theater subscriptions...dinners out..."

When a friend of her affluent friends -- a rakish financier -- propositions her with the promise that in eighteen months, he'll make her a world-class bond trader, she jumps. She realizes that she cannot "make her way in a banker's world on a writer's budget" and so she turns her back on the world of serious art and embraces the adrenalin-pumping world of the trade.

Ms. McPhee writes: "I had wanted to see if it was possible to change the course of my life. In a way, I had wanted to confirm, be erased, be reborn to live the American dream..." The transformation is fascinating and if the book focused on just THAT, it would have needed little more.

But the author goes further. Dear Money provides fascinating inside glimpses on how the publishing "instant celebrity" culture ensures that an "It Writer" -- a total newbee -- can rise to the top faster than an author with a solid track record. It reveals a fascinating analogy between traders and publishers: "Take a bunch of aspiring writers earning nothing (subprime mortgages), pool them, put them in a nifty package with bells and whistles, offer it up for trade and make money...loads and loads of it."

Can writers or traders afford to compromise? What would compromise "feel" like? Ms. McPhee writes, "To leave now, to scale back, to compromise would be to live within a shadow of regret, of second-guessing, of exile." This timely American story of our culture on the brink kept me reading way into the night and in a strange way, cheering for India Palmer. Read it and enjoy!

Can a literary novelist become a successful bond trader? Maybe she can, if all she truly cares about is money.

I found the character of India to be awfully dull- she is a somewhat successful ( if not financially successful) literary novelist who, though claiming to want the life of an artist, barely takes a look back when she abandons her writing career in order to allow herself to be the pawn in a bet. Her most defining characteristic is jealousy of anyone wealthier than her. But then money is the only thing that really has meaning in this book- success that does not equal wealth is unimportant to every single character.

It got tiresome reading about character after character motivated only by money ( and the power and real estate that come with it). All emotions come from money or lack of it , all friendships are predicated on money, India's home and parenting life revolve around what material possessions can be provided rather than emotional security...even India's husband's art is created with precious metals and jewels. Money money money. There are no convincing personal relationships in this novel- maybe that could have been rectified by portraying India's children and husband as more than drains on her bank account, or including just one friendship that is not affected by jealousy over money.

Or is she just that shallow? The novel is obsessive about money as India herself is- nothing else matters.

This is a very symmetrically plotted book- one person goes up, another must go down. If one banker becomes a writer, a writer becomes a banker. If one author has a successful book, another's must fail. It's very tidy,and becomes predictable. There is some very good writing in this book , though on too many occasions the story grinds to a halt so the reader can be lectured on some element of finance that could have been worked in more organically.

Despite the often good writing, the emphasis on money at the expense of all else made this seem a much longer novel than it is.

India Palmer is a mildly successful writer married to another artist living in New York City in the early 2000s. They have two children and are barely getting by financially--they have to keep up with the Joneses, who in this instance are her banking friends, the Chapmans. The Chapmans introduce her to Win, a bond trader who offers her a job at his firm. He secretly bets with a colleague that he can transform India into a successful bond trader. India is competitive, competitive in everything. She is jealous of, and competitive with, the Chapmans, of her daughters classmates parents, of other authors. She is completely caught up in the expensive New York City whirlwind and as a writer, is completely clueless about the work-a-day world. It takes her a while to realize that schmoozing and being liked are important parts of any job and not just the publishing world. She is proud when she figures out some very basic office politics. So, she's a bit of an annoying and unsympathetic protagonist. Ms. McPhee clearly did some research on the mortgage bond market and some of the roots of the financial crisis, but the financial explications in the novel are a bit dry (they are, however, mostly brief). McPhee writes beautifully. Her writing can be piercing, lasering in clearly on the day-to-day material matters of contemporary New York. My main problem with the novel is India herself. She's not really a likeable character. She's not unlikeable, but after she reveals herself for the materialistic shallow person that she is, it was hard to care about whether or not she succeeded as a bond trader.

Dear Money is, quite simply, delightful. Although the "out of the clear blue sky" encounter sets the stage for the novel's action, it only come to fruition in the second half of the book. Without the first half, the story of India Palmer, the heroine would be incomplete and unfulfilling.

India Palmer is a novelist, a writer of literary novels (for this read poor selling). She is married to a sculptor who, though talented, hasn't yet made his mark. Two artists married to each other with two kids, living a life far above their means in Manhattan. India does the financial juggling, the robbing Peter to pay Paul, and feels increasing pressure because of it. When here newly published novel doesn't do well, she ends up taking up Win John's offer from the clear blue sky encounter to become a mortgage bond trader.

All this is in the heady days of 2004 & 2005, when the mortgage market rode high. The fall that we know is coming adds spice to her change. But that alone isn't enough to make the book so lovely. What drives the plot, I think, is the change in India. By becoming a trader she finds herself, achieves her dreams, and discovers what's really important to her. I love this because I think it speaks to the important notion that any work can be a vocation and that any kind of life can be an artistic one.

There are lots and lots of artists in this book: people we would think of as artists, people who leave "regular jobs" to become artists, people whose art is making a beautiful home, and, yes, people whose art is knowing when the market for a bond will turn. You end up loving them all. And, like India, you end up observing the world with a keen eye for the tapestry of life.

McPhee is a gifted writer with an observant eye. Her characters and settings really come to life. I can see the house in Maine, the apartment in New York, the publisher's office, and the trading floor. Even better she is able to explain clearly the arcane world of mortgages, mortgage bonds, and that market in words a regular person would understand.

It's a delightful book, one you'll enjoy.

This is a rich stew of a story, a character-driven, prose-rich and savory marinade that simmers slowly, tastefully, and, in the end, leaves you full and satisfied. It is the story of two people (and their spouses) that do a bit of a role reversal in order to acquire their personal definition of fortune.

India Palmer, a critically acclaimed, award-winning, but cash-poor novelist, struggles to balance the budget and keep up with "The Joneses." Her husband, Theodor, a sculptor, is content with their bohemian lifestyle, (which is not too shabby, more like chic shabby.) They have a rent-controlled apartment in New York and two beautiful daughters. But India wants, she desires, she hails--money. She craves the material pleasures and lifestyle that her investment-banker friend, Will Chapman, and his wife, Emma, already possess. Interestingly, Will wants to walk away from his Wall Street job and write novels.

Every summer, Theo and India visit with the Chapmans in Pond Point, Maine, where Will and Emma rent a house for the summer, a house they are poised to buy. It is old, damp, drafty, but it has charm, a turret, and a million-dollar view. When their cravenly wealthy, securities-trader friend, Win, swoops down to visit in his canary yellow plane, the die is cast for India. Win makes an offer to mentor India on Wall Street and turn her into a brilliant bond trader.

McPhee develops her story and characters gradually, fully, and with a page-turning brio. She utilizes some conventions in her broad strokes but she shakes it up and out of the box enough to leave her own thumbprint. Her narrative crackles with colorful imagery and megawatt metaphors, and she strikes a supple balance between the inner and outer lives of her characters. Her exploration of the human desire for transformation and the tug of war between art and commerce is acerbically keen. The final scene is ironically triumphant and sublime.

Once you get past the title that only makes sense when it is explained towards the end of the book--it is a British expression meaning money that is hard to get--in the expensive sense--and that this is not a letter to the heroine's money, as the cover art might suggest, you are in for a very interesting, for the most part readable journey into modern literary fiction. Tenses shift to the future conditional--"He would..." -and take you aback if you are paying attention, and there is a lot of self-referential slyness, like wondering how much this novel is autobiographical--our heroine is a tall, pretty blonde, just like our author, and she has written several critically acclaimed literary novels that sold in less than best-selling quantities--when a fan in the book asks our heroine, India, just that. Late in the book, a publisher suggests India write a book that seems a lot like the one we are reading...

The names are clever--India's husband is an artist who works in gold and precious metals, named Theodor--Theo d'Or? A first-time novelist who hits it big is Lily Starr, and so on. There are plenty of glancing references to designers and places that will be well-known to Sex and the City fans--much of the book feels like a female version of one of Woody Allen's New York movies....which can be a problem if the reader is not so big on New York--upscale Manhattan in particular--the jokes may pass you right by.

It's still a fine read--skim over the financial minutiae and you can easily follow the story--I used to represent some of the Masters of the Universe, so much of the finance-speak is passingly familiar to me, but you won't need to know much--just know that this takes place after 9/11 and before the mortgage crash of 2008 and you'll be fine.

Our critically-but-not-financially-successful novelist heroine, as the book jacket tells us, takes a job as a bond trader to make money, given this unlikely opportunity because a friend of a friend (named "Win," get it?) makes a bet with his boss that he can Pygmalion her into a success. Be warned that this does not happen until about halfway through the book. Just read and enjoy and be patient. It will reward you.

I was incredibly interested in the premise of this story. Can a published, but not financially successful. author become a mega-wealthy bond trader and would she even want to? Exploring the world of India Palmer, a novel writer in NYC while trying to socialize with the wealthy Wall Street crowd, is a journey that is both fascinating and repulsive. The "need" to have things in this peer group - private schools and private lessons for the kids, housekeepers, gifts that measure up, nannies, a second home in Maine, etc. are comfortably paid for on the after tax income of $45,000 by one of her closest friends but not so easy to have on the uneven income of two artists. When India is given the challenge of leaving all the bill-juggling behind and becoming a bond trader on Wall Street, we find out if the call of money is stronger than the desire to not sellout and to remain true to her writing.

While I thought this might be a fish-out-of-water story, it is so much more than that. The inner struggles of a published, critically acclaimed author who has failed to be a commercial success are explored. The pressure of a woman trying to live a life above her means while not letting the truth out to anyone is portrayed incredibly realistically; part of the time you want to shake her out of her crazy thinking and the rest of the time you can sympathize with the predicament in which she found herself. The wealthy friends who are the yardstick of financial success India measures herself against are going through their own twists and turns in their lives which provide a wonderful contrasting/interwoven story line.

Well written, fantastic character development, intriguing story - a winner on all fronts. I'll be seeking out Martha McPhee's other books from this point forward.

With her usual insight and beautiful language, Martha McPhee has created a terrific literary novel that is also an engrossing page turner. I couldn't put it down and stayed up way too late to find out what happens to India Palmer, a mid-list writer who abandons her literary career to become a bond trader. I loved McPhee's accessible descriptions of the complex world of mortgage-backed securities. More than that, though, I loved the way this book explores envy and the soul-warping pursuit of money and things. Smarter and more insightful than your typical beach book, the compelling characters and engrossing story make it a terrific read for any season.

I wanted to like this book. Loved the premise. But I wasn't far into the book before I felt like I was choking on all of the detailed descriptions about EVERYTHING! It is so wordy and puffed up with self importance. The story drags mercilessly because of all of the extraneous detail. It felt like someone trying to win some type of writing award, although I have to say, because of this it seemed somewhat autobiographical. So maybe that's the point and I just didn't get it. I just didn't enjoy it at all.

Martha McPhee gets a lot right here, especially things money can buy, like clothes and fine spirits and real estate, and the lust they inspire. But I just wasn't sympathetic to her protagonist, the Manhattan novelist-turned-bond trader India Palmer. Early on, she's careless with those who do her good turns and consumed with envy of anyone else's success. Maybe it's intentional; perhaps people like India are the only ones sufficiently driven to succeed in the high risk, high stakes atmosphere of bond trading. Certainly, she is at her best on the day she executes the deal of a lifetime. It was one of my favorite passages.

But while McPhee paints a portrait of two families who covet each other's material and psychic assets in the not-so-long-ago past, there's something missing here. India's (and the author's) sympathies seem to lie with the wrong people, as though she's shadowed by her urologist father who disparaged literary and artistic careers. There's a marvelous little bit toward the end when India is with her daughters in Central Park where they rent radio-driven miniature boats, and the younger one says she'd rather sail them in Luxembourg Gardens. This is something she's picked up from a classmate, and her older sister accuses her of being spoiled, because, after all, those gardens are in Paris. India says not a word, although she's annoyed by the squabbling, but it's clear that these girls, whose private school tuition was once a struggle, are in another world now.

Win, the trader who launched India's career on a bet, and Will, an investment banker turned novelist, try to warn her that the bull market can't last forever, but she isn't interested. She's hooked, sure she can weather whatever comes, and you know which daughter is likely to handle it better.