The Financial Lives of the Poets

The Financial Lives of the Poets is the fifth novel by American writer Jess Walter. The novel is a comedic novel first published in 2009. The novel explores the global financial crisis, through the eyes of a business reporter turned poet.[1]

Reception

Reception of the novel was generally positive.The New York Times was largely positive about the novel calling it successful at "captur[ing] the fiscal panic and frustration" and full of "blistering wisecracks".[1] The Los Angeles Times called the novel "darkly funny, suprisingly tender [and] verse sprinkled", though the review highlights the characters in the novel as flawed and "bumbling" bringing their woes upon themselves. [2]

The Washington Post was similarly positive, though focusing on how the humor and comedy critique the American economic system, as a "a scathing indictment of our country's character and the "ruined systems" we labor under."[3] The Telegraph review was more mixed, describing the novel a "zeitgeist novel", humorously reflecting on the as a reflection on the economic depression, yet at the same time flawed: "For every moment of acute description [...] there are paragraphs of slumping, banal analysis".[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Maslin, Janet (2009-09-16). "In Jess Walter’s ‘Financial Lives of the Poets’ Fiscal Ebola and Bad Ideas Collide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  2. ↑ "'The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel' by Jess Walter". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  3. ↑ Zeidner, Lisa (2009-10-10). "Book World: Review of 'The Financial Lives of the Poets' by Jess Walter". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  4. ↑ "The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter: review". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
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