Customer Reviews

The Financial Lives of the Poets

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jess Walter writes here in the tradition of James Thurber, E. B. White, and Peter DeVries. This is one of the very best books of 2009, at once a mid-life crisis novel, a work of social and political criticism, and a comic romp.

The prose is constantly engaging, witty throughout, sparkling here and there with gems of insight, fresh and delightful turns of phrase, irony within irony. The story is built around the economic downturn and the ensuing consequences that rain down on individual families, a parable for our time. There are several surprising twists in the plot. Don't read reviews that will give them away, but wait to discover them in the book.

The picture on the face of the dustjacket is of a man in free-fall toward the dark land below against the sunset-orange of the October sky. Fittingly the narrative takes place in October, traditionally the month of market crashes and Halloween. It is much more attractive than the Amazon picture suggests, a treat to behold, easy to open and easy to read.

When the awards are passed out for best novels of the year, this one should be on the short list.

I couldn't put down Jess Walter's latest novel. What a voice! And the way he describes exactly what is going on in the world economy and how we average men have to deal with it is not only scathing, but simple and real. He should be writing Obama's speeches! I just loved reading about Matt's adventures as he tries to save his family from ruin, but just kept driving himself deeper into the well. I honestly didn't know how it would end, and when it did, I was floored. I was wondering what happens now? But Mr. Walters completed the journey just the way it should end--with humor poignancy and again, realism. We may fall flat on our faces, but we get up and start all over again. Isn't that how it should be??

Funny, lyrical, inspiring, it reads
Like the best literary fiction should.
The plot is sort of like "Weeds,"
But good.

In all honesty, the title of this book, the cover too... this would have been a book that I more than likely would have passed on if I had seen it in the book store. I am here now writing this review telling you not to do that! When Matt Prior loses his job he finds himself wallowing in reruns of The Rockford Files and becoming more paranoid about his wife's on line flirtations.... when Matt winds up with an opportunity to sell drugs to help out his financial woes, at this point only days away from losing his home and pulling his kids out of a private school... he jumps into a humorous look at what people will do at the breaking point.

I would say in today's world of economic uncertainties this book is surely a timely fictitious story of riches to rags... to living with the knowledge that it is possible to take a deep breath and live within our means... even if our means isn't what we had hoped and dreamed. There are more important things than money, big homes, and two cars.... and Matt Prior takes the long way around to finding this out.

Matt Prior's life has broken down. He's been living the American dream, but like many people who never thought it could happen to him, he's been caught up in the financial meltdown. He's unemployed, deeply in debt, on the verge of foreclosure, caring for his dementia-ridden father, and cluelessly struggling to save his troubled marriage.

I've read all of Jess Walter's books, and I think they are all terrific in their own way. Financial Lives of the Poets is his warmest, funniest, and most poignant novel. It's a scathing (but all too true) satire of life in modern day America. Despite the incredible wit and humor, Walter never goes over the top, but remains rooted in a reality with which we can all identify. Shockingly, in channeling Matt's poetic voice, Walter reveals himself to be a talented poet in his own right.

This is the best novel I've read in 2009, and plan to read it again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale which is so very contemporary. After finishing and musing on the book, I realized I had laughed my way through a story about exactly what is happening to people today. This man's life moves from having it all to loosing it all. He made some very bad choices, but the current economy, over which he had no control, also conspired against him. Deft satire--it doesn't keep hitting you over the head.
Very good read.

A few years before the novel opens, Matthew Prior quit his day job as a financial reporter in order to set up a web site offering financial advice in verse. Alas, poetfolio.com was not a success and returning to the newspaper business wasn't an option either. The economy has tanked, and here's middle-aged Matt with no job, no real job prospects and about to lose the family home.
Yes, the American dream has turned into a nightmare for Matt, and he doesn't just have financial problems. He shares his home with his senile father, his wife Lisa who has a failed entrepreneurial venture of her own, and might be having an affair, and their two sons.

This novel is the story of Matt's quest to save his marriage, his dreams and possibly his sanity. A trip to the local 7-eleven to buy milk gives Matt a brainstorm which rapidly turns into a headache. Fiscal panic can lead to some poor life choices.

On one level, as a satire of middle-class aspirational living, this novel is funny. On another level, it was irritating: I found that I didn't care for Matt Prior for most of the novel and found it hard to accept that he could compound poor decision-making with even worse decision-making. However, I think that the story works because so many of us can relate to at least part of the world Matt Prior inhabits.

`The edge is so close to where we live.'

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This book has it all--humor, suspense, and fantastic characters. It's one of the first books in a long while that I really did not want to put down for any reason.

The book follows Matt Prior, a guy in his mid-forties who had it made. He was a business reporter married to a really cool woman who is his best friend, with a house and 2 kids and all the accoutrements. Then things changed when he decided to chuck his job in order to start a website based on a dubious premise. Matt's life begins to unravel right along with the country's economy. Will he be able to save his house and his family? This book does not offer up trite and bow-tied answers to this question.

This story is a biting commentary on the recent economic collapse, and of our national obsession with material acquisition. It had the potential to be intensely depressing, so close to home does it hit. However, Jess Walter has the humor and compassion to keep you smiling--amazingly-- even as things get ever more dire. I absolutely loved the characters in this book, and the writing was outstanding. This one is a strong recommend, especially for fans of darker humor.

Wandering through the aftermath of the housing bubble, the protagonist of Jess Walter's very funny book offers us wry and achingly honest commentary on everything from the death of newspapers to the transportation choices of drug dealers. For example, he confides in us that he is little disturbed that his pot dealer drives a Nissan Maxima - the same car he himself drives.

Our narrator knows of what he speaks - he's an out of work newspaper reporter, on the verge of losing his house and his wife, (she's taken to hours of solo Facebook-ing with handsome old classmates,) when he suddenly finds himself getting high with some burnouts at the local mini-mart. Next thing we know, he is off and running on a scheme that he hopes will set everything right.

The author, Jess Walters, is a very sly satirist. As the hero acerbically dispenses his hilarious wisdom throughout the story, we become his ally even as we marvel at his naivete. More important though, Walters makes one heckuva statement on our ability to deceive ourselves over and over and over again.

The plot is a bit derivative of some mainstream popular culture right now, and Walters does flinch - he veers into sentimentality now and then, especially as the book moves to its close. But its a really good novel that taps into the way we live right now better than most movies, books or television seem to be doing.

The Financial Lives of Poets is so funny it's almost painful. It's the story of our financial collapse- especially the housing market. It's about a loving family and the struggles within that family.

It's about the newspaper industry and one man's love for it. It's about the slow death of the newspaper as first TV and then the Internet take over readership and advertising.

It's about smoking pot- if you can believe it. It's about dementia.

It's about life after 911 and life within a 711.

It's a roller coaster ride of fun and the plunge into satirical thought. A truly delightful and insightful book.