The Financial Lives of the Poets

Book Description

Critics

• The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter: review

  This novel, like the economic recession it describes, comes to Britain from the United States. Unlike the recession, it comes decorated with praise – specifically, with those two dubious words: 'zeitgeist novel’. Jess Walter’s book is obviously const ... (read full critics)

  telegraph.co.uk published on Mon, 15 Nov 2010

• THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS by Jess Walter

  Review by Danielle Bullen and Judi Clark (DEC 30, 2009) In The Financial Lives of the Poets, author Jess Walter has created an everyman character with a twist. Forty-six year old newspaper reporter Matt Prior has been laid off from his job. With his ... (read full critics)

  mostlyfiction published on Thu, 30 Sep 2010

1 Review

• 

  Publishers Weekly Starred Review

  National Book Award–finalist Walter does for the nation’s bleak financial landscape what he did for 9/11 in The Zero: whip-smart satire with heart. Matt Prior quits his job as a business reporter to start Poetfolio.com, a Web site featuring poetry about finance, or “money-lit.” Unsurprisingly, it ta ... (continue)

  National Book Award–finalist Walter does for the nation’s bleak financial landscape what he did for 9/11 in The Zero: whip-smart satire with heart. Matt Prior quits his job as a business reporter to start Poetfolio.com, a Web site featuring poetry about finance, or “money-lit.” Unsurprisingly, it tanks, and Matt returns to the newspaper, only to be laid off with a meager severance package. Now not only are the Priors in danger of losing their house, but Matt is convinced that his wife, Lisa, is having an affair with an old boyfriend she rediscovered during her lengthy nightly Facebook sessions. With two sons in overpriced Catholic school and his increasingly senile father to support, Matt’s bank accounts dwindle amid his financial planner’s dire predictions (diagnosis: “fiscal Ebola”). When an appealing but illegal moneymaking opportunity presents itself, Matt jumps at the chance. The decision to include snippets of Matt’s poetry in the novel was a risky one, but Walter pulls it off, never resorting to pretension or overused metaphors for life’s meltdowns.

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Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 304 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0141049138
• ISBN-13: 9780141049137
• Publisher: Penguin
• Pub date: Aug 26, 2010
• Also available as: Others and eBook

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