The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel

Jess Walter is a talented and funny writer. This book is very funny and a good, quick read. Many people can probably relate to the life of the novel’s central character, Matthew Prior.Everyone knows (in reality) that the newspaper business is in a downward spiral. Newspapers are not selling like they once did. People are getting their news from the internet and other places. This is really kind of sad. Matthew Prior was a financial reporter for a newspaper and quit his job on a whim during the downward trend and later regretted his decision. The whim – he was going to do a start-up company that would be a website that would bring people the news in the form of poetry. If only it was that simple. The website did not take off well and Matthew was going downhill fast.This is a story of life gone awry in a web of financial debt that many can relate, too. Matthew is bridled with debt and seemingly no way out. His wife started an on-line E-bay business that turned out to be a guise for binge shopping. Their home is mortgaged and mortgaged and mortgaged. Their life together is falling apart. Matthew even finds himself following what he believes is his wife’s on-line romance.Then one night the light shines or so Matthew senses. Matthew goes to the local 7-11 for a gallon of milk for the kids in the morning. He stumbles across the “delinquency dream team” and he gives them a ride and they light him up with some really high-grade marijuana and they get really toked up. Matthew has not smoked pot since his college days as with most of his friends.But much to his surprise his friends would still smoke pot if they only knew where to score it. Enter down-trodden Matthew. Selling pot may just be Matthew’s way out of his financial problems, or not? Well, the book will tell in a highly creative and funny story. I have not laughed out loud while reading a book in quite some time. I would have no trouble recommending this book to my friends. So sit back and enjoy.

The title, The Financial Lives of the Poets grabbed my attention straight away because it married two concepts. Mr. Prior, a newspaper man who was let go because of cutbacks, stumbled into a group of pot-smoking young men and attempted to replace his prior income by dealing drugs is fantastical, but fun. Not all of the bad guys were that bad, which is often the case. He lost his home and other worldly possessions and maybe his wife, but in some ways he made his life work, again, without recouping regaining the trappings he thought were important.There is no miracle cure for what ails him, but rather, a gentle awareness that when one loses everything...all is not lost.

This is one of the wittiest and funniest novels that I've read. It leads you along like a shaggy dog story, unfolding wackier and wackier as you read along. I loved it so much that I have purchased copies as gifts for special people. If you want a great lift during difficult times, this may well be the perfect solution. Warning: this is NOT intended as career advice!

This is the second Jess Walter book I have read, the first being "Beautiful Ruins". I really like Walter's voice and the way he draws you in to the characters and their stories. You may not like a character or identify wholly with a character but there are real elements of humanity in each of them that drives their choices. The Financial Lives of the Poets has something to say about how the real estate crisis in 2008 impacted individuals on a very personal level, and the story of Matt's navigation through that crisis and its fallout was often unpredictable and downright funny. This is a quirky story that is off the beaten path, but refreshingly so, and as a reader you are taken on Matt's journey through every wrong turn. It's fascinating to watch the events unfold, even if there comes a point where you begin to really wonder if Walter's led us off track somewhere along the way. I liked that it was different and that it developed interesting characters. The writing is extremely good. I'm definitely going to find more of Walter's books at the library to get lost in.

I became a fan of Jess Walter after reading Beautiful Ruins. So I had to try another, and I enjoyed this book too. I love the intelligence and insightfulness of his writing. He creates complex, interesting characters who I care about, and who are believable. This is a tale of personal unravellings in basically good people going through severe economic hardship.The story is beautifully crafted and at times laugh out loud funny despite the heartache and poor choices the characters dish out and endure. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I lost interest at times, perhaps out of head-shaking frustration as the main character became increasingly mired in a cascade of poor choices and bad luck in an attempt to get rich quickly. Even within that stage, however, the characters with supporting roles offered rich entertainment, as they were multifaceted and likable. Without giving anything specific away, I can assure readers that it is worth hanging in there through the dark places as the story builds to a credible, illuminating, thought provoking, and to me, very satisfying end. Highly recommended.

Ever have a friend you call who’s always worse off than you, and you call him so you feel better about your own screwed up life? Matt Prior, the main character of The Financial Lives of Poets, is that guy you would call.Jess Walters can turn a phrase, tell a story, make you laugh and then feel so damn sad about life’s opportunities that just slip away .... all intertwined with hilariously bad poetry.

Really enjoyed the writer's sense of humour. It's the first Jess Walters novel I've read and I'll definitely be trying a few more. I don't often read funny books as I prefer historical fiction and thrillers, but this book had me laughing throughout. Brilliant dry wit. Well worth a read!

Last year I read and loved Water's Beautiful Ruins. This does not have its romantic lyricism but is just as funny and maybe even wiser. There is acute observation and there is stylistic excellence. Waters has both. This earlier book also has the bonus of nostalgia, if that is the right word, for the 2008 crash,. It now reads like a warning from historyFantastic read, sentence by sentence and really well plotted too.

Humane, funny, moving and full of delightful surprises, this novel by Jess Walters is both a comic exploration of human frailty and an exuberant satire on the American Dream turned nightmare. Wonderfully written, wonderfully wise.

Ok novel

I liked the style and found the characters likeable and I wanted things to work out ok for them. Not schmaltzy but satisfying