A review by tictactoney
The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book is....fine? It's fine. Some reeeeeally good insights on the culture & financial collapse in 2008. Heck, I would've thought it was written a few years after the collapse with some thought and retrospection but nah it came out 2009. There's some genuinely insightful stuff in here. And real hilarity. Sometimes both, like comparing an encounter with the cops to car salesmen. But also in so many ways it fell flat. Like many other reviews in here, I agree the last third of the book just didn't stick the landing. The poetry bits were...skippable. Way too many paragraphs spent with Matt ogling women (EYE ROLL). It's fine. The book is...fine.