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

3.0

I'm of two minds on this book. The writing is terrific, very readable, smart, funny and tight. I also liked how it was focused on the newspaper business somewhat, since that's what I do. But I didn't like the characters and the decisions they made. As my wife pointed out, you're not supposed to, but that didn't keep me from being annoyed by them. Again, that's a testament to Walter's good writing, but I didn't really sympathize with them at all. But much of the book is laugh-out-loud funny and you can't help but admire the occasional wicked thing someone does. In the final analysis though, definitely worth a read.