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266th out of 568 books
—
2,970 voters
The Financial Lives of the Poets
by
Jess Walter
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,...more
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,...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
September 22nd 2009
by Harper
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Warning: The first part of this review consists of my idle musings on a topic that occurred to me while reading this book. If you don’t give a damn about that and just want to get on with the review, skip down.
Ever notice how it seems like the same idea start showing up in a variety of tv shows, films, or books at roughly the same time? I’m not talking about the straight-up rip-offs that appear when something like The DaVinci Code hits it big or when trends like vampires or zombies become hot an...more
Ever notice how it seems like the same idea start showing up in a variety of tv shows, films, or books at roughly the same time? I’m not talking about the straight-up rip-offs that appear when something like The DaVinci Code hits it big or when trends like vampires or zombies become hot an...more
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Matt Prior is in trouble. He quit his job as a journalist to set himself up as a poet/financial advisor, with a website called “poetfolio.com”. This idea is not as successful as he'd hoped it would be and when we meet Matt, he is a week away from losing his house. Not only that, he hasn’t told his wife about this potential disaster because they’re not communicating very well right now and he thinks she’s carrying on an online flirtation with an old flame. He’s searching for a way to keep his hom...more
Good god what a piece of garbage. This very-poorly-/misleadingly-titled book is about a guy who starts a website called poetfolio.com, which features "financial lit," i.e. financial advice in the form of free verse. The narrator (first person, shockingly) does some work to defend the idea, while admitting that it "might" sound stupid, but it's unclear whether the author thinks the idea is ridiculous, which means the narrator is an absolute idiot, or if the author thinks there actually is somethi...more
Mar 18, 2013
oriana
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
the-new-new-new-new-thing,
read-2013
Yeahhhh, not a fan. I dunno, it's well written and well paced and well plotted, but it's kind of too much of those things, a little too slick and too pat and too gimmicky. It started out strong, but deflated pretty fast.
It's about a middle-class family in the throes of the mortgage crisis, about to lose their house. In a desperate last-ditch effort to get financially solvent again, Dad (view spoiler). The way this comes about is pretty weak, and t...more
It's about a middle-class family in the throes of the mortgage crisis, about to lose their house. In a desperate last-ditch effort to get financially solvent again, Dad (view spoiler). The way this comes about is pretty weak, and t...more
7 likes · like · see review
Heard good things about this book and since it was "if you like that one, you'll like this one" book recommendation from what was my favorite read of last year, Jonathan Tropper's "This Is Where I Leave You," I thought I'd give it a shot. I can see why the books were grouped together as Tropper's Judd Foxman is in a similar mid-life-ish crisis/downward spiral mode as Matt Prior, whose life is in disarray after his dream of a financial poetry website (poetfolio.com!) spectacularly crashes and bur...more
7 likes · like · see review
Jess Walter's two previous novels—The Zero and Citizen Vince—showed him to be one of the finest novelists at work today. It's a bit of a letdown, then, to say that The Financial Lives of the Poets (awful title, by the way; the folks at Harper, as usual, clearly asleep at the switch) is a step sideways at best. The novel, which relates the misadventures of a downward-spiraling burgher named Matt, is a likable enough affair, with a soupçon of topical angst, but has little of its predecessors' zip...more
2 likes · like · see review
Given that Beautiful Ruins, also by Jess Walter (2012) was one of my favorite reads last year, I have trawled through his other books looking for the same combination of romance, relationship angst, twisty plot and sharp characters with little luck. This book focused on a couple in the middle of a marriage and financial crisis. The main character, the husband, makes just about the stupidest decision I've ever seen a character make in a book and if it weren't for the quality of the writing, I wou...more
1 like · like · see review
Well I'm on a roll. Three losers in a row. The Broken Window, The Marriage Plot, and now The Financial Lives of Poets. Here's how Jess Walter sets it up: Matthew's a laid-off journalist in danger of losing home and wife. One night he goes out to a 7/11 for milk, falls in with some gangbangers, and decides to turn to dealing marijuana as a way to solve his finances. Oh, and he suspects his wife of having an affair with an old high-school sweetheart. Oh, and his demented father is living in the ho...more
...it's the only unforgivable thing, really..to feel sorry for yourself.
Again, Jess Walter takes you into the recognizable world of crumbling America.
Disconnected, dismissed, desperate and oddly loyal, and able to believe the rise of fortunes against all reality. Moment after moment after moment in the life of an unrealistic man, a reporter, who casually tosses his career away to follow his inner calling towards poetry- financial poetry. And it takes so long for it to dawn on him what actions h...more
Again, Jess Walter takes you into the recognizable world of crumbling America.
Disconnected, dismissed, desperate and oddly loyal, and able to believe the rise of fortunes against all reality. Moment after moment after moment in the life of an unrealistic man, a reporter, who casually tosses his career away to follow his inner calling towards poetry- financial poetry. And it takes so long for it to dawn on him what actions h...more
I liked it. I didn't care for it. I identified with the character. I didn't. Jess Walter's style is unique, and different from one book to another. It's consistent from one to another. See a pattern here? He makes you really care, and then you go "WAIT a minute!" I Literally AM about to be in a similar financial situation as the main character here, but I doubt I'd go 'on a 3 am adventure' like him with the same results. The story starts to soar, then,....(I know, REALITY,.. Well, yeah, but not...more
I read this because I wanted to read another book. Now that I think about it that may not be the best reason to read something. I wanted to read Beautiful Ruins also by Jess Walter, but there were no copies available at any local store and for some reason I was unwilling to purchase the kindle version...sometimes I just don't understand myself.
Anyway I got Financial lives at less than half price so I bought it hoping I was on the first stage of discovering a new favorite author.
Long story short,...more
Anyway I got Financial lives at less than half price so I bought it hoping I was on the first stage of discovering a new favorite author.
Long story short,...more
1 like · like · see review
Contemporary comment on post-crisis America: financial journalist goes bust quitting a dying newspaper to start a website for financial-themed poetry. His suburban idyll of family life is put in jeopardy by precarious finances, poor job prospects and scary local schools. Bad choices made under the influence of good weed.
The poetry is OK, the prose perceptive:
So I make one phone call, and just like that, we’re eating pizza at 6:30. What is this world? You tap seven abstract figures onto a piece...more
The poetry is OK, the prose perceptive:
So I make one phone call, and just like that, we’re eating pizza at 6:30. What is this world? You tap seven abstract figures onto a piece...more
It took me a few false starts to get through this one, mostly because I found the narrator SO annoying. When I finally finished it, I wished I had just given up. Matt Prior (the narrator) remained unforgivably grating for the entire novel. His whining, his stupid decisions brought on by his whining, his oh-poor-me diatribes followed by ironic awareness of his oh-poor-me diatribes - I hated him. I also hated the portrayal of women in this book. Matt's wife Lisa plays out every "bad wife" stereoty...more
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The first reason to read this book is because it's funny and you'll enjoy it. The author captures the dysfunctional actions and cadences of speech and thought across generations and genders.
But of course behind the humor (as is the case more often than not) looms the sad reality of life here and now, America in the 2000's, where citizens have bought into and been indoctrinated by consumer culture. Our lives are based on things, things we've gotten and lost, things we desire, things by which we j...more
But of course behind the humor (as is the case more often than not) looms the sad reality of life here and now, America in the 2000's, where citizens have bought into and been indoctrinated by consumer culture. Our lives are based on things, things we've gotten and lost, things we desire, things by which we j...more
After the first couple of chapters I thought I knew what I was in for (and was onboard) -- a well-executed, but fairly standard, dark-humored, mildly-delusional-early-21st-century-guy's-life-in-freefall story along the lines of David Gates or Donald Antrim, but less incisive and less boundary-pushing. You know, the sort of book where complaining about a hard-to-swallow plot element is beside the point, because a linear/credible narrative thread is less important to the novel than the external re...more
The Financial Lives Of The Poets is the latest novel by Spokane author Jess Walter. His last novel was a sort of mystery that was concerned with post 9/11 America. It still hasn’t faded from American consciousness nor from characters in Walter’s latest novel, however, there are bigger fish to fry, namely the economic depression and housing bubble collapse. Most of the blurbs on the back of the book by noted authors talk about how funny it is. And, indeed, there are some comedic moments, but ther...more
This is the first time I've read anything by Jess Walter, and I really got a kick out of his self-deprecating, clever wit and ironic style. The main character's tragedy is played out like a comedy, and Walter captured the desperate financial times we now face. Our unemployed hero, Matt, heads out to a 7-11 one night to buy milk, but he makes one wrong turn in the throes of desperation. One wrong turn leads to another, and before he realizes what's happened, he is a fledgling, hapless drug-dealer...more
Richard Russo, one of my favorite writers, was asked a while back to name some recent books he’d enjoyed. He rattled off a few titles then ended his list with “anything by Jess Walter.” I can see why. Walter is funny, writes as though it’s an easy thing to do, reveals what we recognize as true human nature, and creates characters who aren’t perfect, but you find yourself pulling for anyway. In other words, he’s a lot like Russo. This particular one may not reach the same heights as Citizen Vince...more
2 likes · like · see review
Meet Matt Prior. He's losing his job, his wife, and his house. And he's about to lose his mind- until, at the last moment, he discovers a way he might just possibly manage to save it all...and have a pretty [word deleted] great time doing it.
While I may not have loved the plot or subject of this novel, I was fascinated by the writing. This book follows Matt as he tries to make money by becoming a drug dealer who knows nothing about the streets. Of course he gets caught immediately making matte...more
While I may not have loved the plot or subject of this novel, I was fascinated by the writing. This book follows Matt as he tries to make money by becoming a drug dealer who knows nothing about the streets. Of course he gets caught immediately making matte...more
I picked up this book because it had a glowing endorsement on the cover from several institutions I respect. Also, I had about 2 minutes to select a book and it was both brightly colored and on the display shelf at the library.
The book opens with our hero, Matthew Prior, near rock bottom. He's lost all his money in the financial meltdown. Also, he's pretty close to losing his house, and his wife. Things do not look good. And there's nothing like constantly impending disaster to keep you on the...more
The book opens with our hero, Matthew Prior, near rock bottom. He's lost all his money in the financial meltdown. Also, he's pretty close to losing his house, and his wife. Things do not look good. And there's nothing like constantly impending disaster to keep you on the...more
This is going to take some linguistic acrobatics. I'm going to spend the next 500 or so words trying to convince you that a story about bad choices, despair, near-financial ruin, and a failing marriage is one of the funniest, most charming, and downright best books you'll read in a long, long time.
Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets is fantastic — an authentic and timely story, featuring cameos from the mortgage crisis, the slow death of newspapers, and the increasingly intense cultu...more
Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets is fantastic — an authentic and timely story, featuring cameos from the mortgage crisis, the slow death of newspapers, and the increasingly intense cultu...more
7 likes · like · see review
Mid-life crises come in many shapes and sizes, tailor-made for the individual, and not always of the sexual variety. Matt Prior is astonished to discover his wife is the one straying from the marital bed when he catches her “sexting” a high-school flame — while cozily PJd and covered up in said bed. His own crisis is no less surprising, of course. Having mortgaged his family well past the eyeballs, he left his increasingly insecure job at a dying newspaper to begin his own web-service: dishing f...more
The Financial Lives of the Poets is Jess Walter's fifth novel.
Matt Prior is only six days away from losing his house; his financial journalism website business (written in the form of poetry) was a total bust as well as his wife Lisa's ebay business. When Matt visits the local 7/11 to pick up milk for breakfast, he befriends two unlikely characters and smokes marijuana with them. Suddenly, Matt is inspired to find new ways to generate income for his family.
The Financial Lives of the Poets is one...more
Matt Prior is only six days away from losing his house; his financial journalism website business (written in the form of poetry) was a total bust as well as his wife Lisa's ebay business. When Matt visits the local 7/11 to pick up milk for breakfast, he befriends two unlikely characters and smokes marijuana with them. Suddenly, Matt is inspired to find new ways to generate income for his family.
The Financial Lives of the Poets is one...more
Here’s a book I never would have chosen for myself in a million years, but which actually turned out to be better than I thought it would. The Financial Lives of Poets follows one week in the life of a middle-aged guy named Matt Prior. Matt lives somewhere in America with his wife, two young sons and senile father. Matt used to be a newspaper business writer, but he took a buy-out so he could start a website which would deliver financial advice through poetry. It’s no surprise that it flopped. A...more
Recession lit, but funny and mostly engaging. Too bad this didn't come out before the TV show "Weeds" and "Breaking Bad" because now the plot about a middle class guy trying to keep his house through selling drugs seems tame and derivative.
And if marijuana had been legalized last fall in California, it would seem quaint and dated, too. But never mind all that. The narrator is someone I can relate to, having been in journalism, having been downsized, and having made some bad decisions... though...more
And if marijuana had been legalized last fall in California, it would seem quaint and dated, too. But never mind all that. The narrator is someone I can relate to, having been in journalism, having been downsized, and having made some bad decisions... though...more
In these days of the Great Repression, readers seek escapism: fantasy, romance and sparkling vampires. Jess Walter's book, by contrast, is an unblinking look at the reality of many Americans. The protagonist, Matt Prior, is about to lose his house and possibly his emotionally estranged wife. Matt is a poor communicator when it comes to his family, so he bears these burdens alone. Obsessed with such thoughts, he goes to the convenience store to buy milk and walks right into a youth-filled world o...more
This book is a smart and funny tragedy that many readers will relate to. Set in today's sputtering economy this book is a first person account of what happens when a jobless reporter is driven to desperate measures. So well written I feel like he's sitting at a bar talking to me as I read. Sometimes, I give a polite nod to the pages, as I would to a long-winded story teller.
The protagonist, Matt Prior, is doing everything possible to keep his house from being foreclosed. He's a likable, funny ch...more
The protagonist, Matt Prior, is doing everything possible to keep his house from being foreclosed. He's a likable, funny ch...more
Walter, Jess. THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS. (2009). ***. One of my friends recommended this book to me and and I must have looked like a person in the throes of dementia, since I hadn’t heard of the book or the author. Come to find out that the author won an Edgar for one of his previous books, “Citizen Vince,” and was a finalist for the National Book Award for “The Zero.” I’m just not keeping up! Judging from this novel, Walter is a very good writer who manages to tell his story with both h...more
Nov 30, 2010
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-audio-books,
2010-mysteries
The Financial Lives of the Poets, by Jess Walter, B. Narrated by Jess Walter, produced by Harper Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
This is a funny and endearing book in some ways, but not enough of a mystery for me. Jess Walter is an extremely talented narrator of this book. He knew just how to demonstrate Matt Prior’s voice in this book. Matt is a journalist who wrote a column about finances and did well at investing for himself for a long time-even through the tech crash. But then he got arro...more
This is a funny and endearing book in some ways, but not enough of a mystery for me. Jess Walter is an extremely talented narrator of this book. He knew just how to demonstrate Matt Prior’s voice in this book. Matt is a journalist who wrote a column about finances and did well at investing for himself for a long time-even through the tech crash. But then he got arro...more
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/...
Laughing on the Way to Bankruptcy: Jess Walter’s “Financial Lives of the Poets”
A laid-off newspaper reporter turns to dealing pot in Jess Walter's new novel.
By Jenny Shank, 10-05-09
The Financial Lives of the Poets
by Jess Walter
Harper, 290 pages, $25.99
In his hilarious and timely new novel, Spokane’s Jess Walter explores the maxim that there’s nothing more dangerous than an unemployed man, even though the primary person in danger may be the man himself, as...more
Laughing on the Way to Bankruptcy: Jess Walter’s “Financial Lives of the Poets”
A laid-off newspaper reporter turns to dealing pot in Jess Walter's new novel.
By Jenny Shank, 10-05-09
The Financial Lives of the Poets
by Jess Walter
Harper, 290 pages, $25.99
In his hilarious and timely new novel, Spokane’s Jess Walter explores the maxim that there’s nothing more dangerous than an unemployed man, even though the primary person in danger may be the man himself, as...more
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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:
Beautiful Ruins, 2012.
The Financial Lives of the Poets, 2009.
The Zero, a...more
More about Jess Walter...
His books:
Beautiful Ruins, 2012.
The Financial Lives of the Poets, 2009.
The Zero, a...more
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“(…) met the owner of this cozy book-and-candle Apt. G, a tall, leggy, striking girl named Bea or maybe just the letter B or maybe the insect Bee, not sure, her long blond hair pulled in a ponytail, her no-doubt banging body effortlessly buried beneath a pile of tights and sweaters and scarves – she is a walking coat rack – and as we shook hands, Bea fixed me with the most alarming blue-eyed stare of my life, the kind of stare in which you think some potent subliminal message is being passed along (Run away with me or maybe just Run away), (…)”
—
3 people liked it
“I don't know what I expected – no
maybe I do, Al Pacino from Scarface-
but this drug dealer is more like Al Pacino
at the beginning of The Godfather
reasonably bemused, untouched by his
criminal world, sitting with Diane Keaton
whispering about Luca Brazzi, not yet asleep
with the fishes, or like Al Pacino
from Glengarry Glen Ross, although actually,
now that I think about it, he's not
like Al Pacino at all but more like
Kevin Spacey from that film, and who's
ever been afraid of Kevin Spacey?”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
maybe I do, Al Pacino from Scarface-
but this drug dealer is more like Al Pacino
at the beginning of The Godfather
reasonably bemused, untouched by his
criminal world, sitting with Diane Keaton
whispering about Luca Brazzi, not yet asleep
with the fishes, or like Al Pacino
from Glengarry Glen Ross, although actually,
now that I think about it, he's not
like Al Pacino at all but more like
Kevin Spacey from that film, and who's
ever been afraid of Kevin Spacey?”
