Again we have a trouble in suburbia theme. This one freaked me out a little more than some of the others. While it was indeed witty and quippy and full of recognizable characters and situations something about how topical this book was stressed me out.
Financial Lives is the story of a recently laid off man who at one time thought it would be a good idea (in theory, anyway) to start a website combining his two loves: finance and poetry. A sad shocker: there's little room for creativity in an economic crisis. It's a testament to Walters' writing that the constant state of stress the main character feels can be channeled through the reader (totally sad that the character's weed-induced relaxation can not also be channeled).
I realize how weird this may sound, but something about this novel reminded me of the way I felt when I saw Cinderella Man. We studied the great depression in high school and I understood all the facts- but something about the way that movie was done was the first time it really hit me how awful the depression actually was for the average person. While everyone has felt the economic crisis in their own way there's something about being inside the head of someone who's about to lose the house they live in with their family that makes me "get it" in a way I didn't before.
B-
*TIME Magazine Top 10 Books of the Year
*NPR Best Books of 2009
*Washington Post Best Books of 2009
*NPR Best Books of 2009
*Washington Post Best Books of 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment