From National Book Award-finalist Walter comes a hysterically funny--and painfully timely--new novel of one man's attempt to save his family from economic disaster by putting his entrepreneurial leanings toward a life of petty crime.
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From National Book Award-finalist Walter comes a hysterically funny--and painfully timely--new novel of one man's attempt to save his family from economic disaster by putting his entrepreneurial leanings toward a life of petty crime.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Financial Lives of the Poets to cart. $9.07, good condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harper.
Add this copy of The Financial Lives of the Poets to cart. $9.20, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harper.
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Add this copy of The Financial Lives of the Poets to cart. $13.99, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harper.
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Good. Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Add this copy of The Financial Lives of the Poets (Signed Copy) to cart. $17.00, good condition, Sold by Kurtis A Phillips rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Roswell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by HarperCollins.
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Good in Very Good jacket. Book. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Signed by Author(s) Standard-size hardback with an unclipped dust jacket now protected in a new archival-quality, removable Mylar plastic cover. Signed on the title page with absolutely no further inscription, by the author. This copy's binding is moderately cocked (please do not "stack" books). Stored in sealed plastic protection and mailed (bubble-wrapped) in a sturdy Jiffy Rigi Bag envelope. We ship daily from Roswell, Ga. Serving satisfied customers since 1999.
Add this copy of The Financial Lives of the Poets to cart. $19.00, very good condition, Sold by Chaparral Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Portland, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harper.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 6x1x9; Minor shelf wear to binding. Text and images unmarked. Dj shelf worn with scuffs & creases in a mylar cover.
Add this copy of The Financial Lives of the Poets to cart. $32.00, very good condition, Sold by Chaparral Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Portland, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Harper.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 6x1x9; First printing signed by author on title page. The binding is tight, corners sharp. Minor wear to ends of spine and normal shelf wear to bottom edge. Dust jacket in a mylar cover.
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Former library copy. Staining/foxing/discoloration to text block/pages. A readable copy that is fairly worn and shows considerable signs of wear and previous use. May include writing/highlighting, library labels, stickers, shelf/handling wear, damages to pages/spine/binding/cover, and other defects. May not include supplementary material (toys, access code, dvds, etc). A portion of your purchase benefits nonprofits! -STOCK PHOTO, ITEM DETAILS (PUBLICATION YEAR, FORMAT, ETC) & OTHER INFO MAY BE INACCURATE. PRODUCT'S ACTUAL EDITION, ITEM DETAILS & FORMAT MAY DIFFER FROM WHAT IS SHOWN. INFO/PHOTOS PROVIDED UPON REQUEST.
I first discovered Jess Walter through his novel Citizen Vince, a funny and poignant novel about some gangsters, set amidst the Carter-Reagan election. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Though I (and, I think, Walter) was just a kid at the time, the book resonated with me and felt like an accurate description of the time. I followed up with Over Tumbled Graves and Land Of The Blind, two suspense/thrillers that are at the top of that genre. But it was The Zero that really showed me that Walter was something special - and he was nominated for a National Book Award, accordingly. In an especially creative way, Walter evoked the disjointed horror of 9/11 and the state of shock everyone was in for so long afterwards.
In that same way, Walter nails our current timeframe in his latest, The Financial Lives Of The Poets.
The protagonist, Matt Prior, gets laid off (after his solo effort of a poetry and investment website called Poetfolio.com unsurprisingly fails) and is on the brink of economic collapse. Though his house (which he and his family couldn't really afford) is at the brink of foreclosure, instead of talking to his wife about it, he ... decides to start selling pot. Things ensue.
I won't say much more, because the plot is clever and well constructed, and because it also wouldn't even suggest half of why Walter is such a great writer. This book feels especially timely, even if Prior's situation isn't (thankfully) like anything I'm going through personally. In the same way some people talk about books like Revolutionary Road and The Ice Storm as perfectly capturing an era, I feel strongly that in years to come, The Financial Lives of the Poets will be considered a perfect portrait of the Great Recession.
