I was given The Financial Lives of the Poets to review by TLC Book Tours. From the back cover, I was intrigued.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 triees to make money by becoming a drug dealer who knows nothing about the streets. Of course he gets caught immediately making matters even worse. And while I didn't quite agree with some of the language and storyline, I loved how Walter's writing made me feel like I was inside Matt's mind (that he was losing). This book reminded me of the contemporary literature that I love with the oddball writing styles like pieces of poetry thrown into the middle of the storyline.
If you can handle the F word almost every page, I'd recommend this book to most adults. It really does give you a good glimpse (in a fictional way of course) into the mind of a man falling apart in the dying economy as he tries to hold onto a mansion-like house and $1200 tree fort. 3 out of 5 stars.
Hey - great review. I've been thinking of checking out this book for awhile, and your review (even though it sounds like you had a few quibbles) pushed it up my priority list. What are some of the contemporary authors with the oddball writing styles that you love? Curious...
ReplyDeleteGreg
http://thenewdorkreviewofbooks.blogspot.com