Kelly's Reviews > The Financial Lives of the Poets

I normally love this kind of storytelling - Jonathan Tropper-style, starring a hyper-intellectual, 40-something man just trying to get through the day without screwing things up too badly because his stocks are starting to drop, with his boss, with his wife, with his kids, and he's bound to do something foolish to get them back up - but for some reason this was almost too sharp, too tongue-in-cheek, too verbose. Every sentence was like a fully-loaded baked potato. Jess Walter just crammed everything into them - numbered lists, parenthetic asides, jokes, ironic observations, and a ton of uncertainty and self-doubt. It was snazzy and dazzling, non-stop fireworks and endless jazz hands. But, to be honest, it was exhausting. I was impressed, but I was annoyed to be impressed, because the writing was really freaking good (and knew it), but just too in love with itself (and, knowing it, was kind of apologetic [but not really]). "I'm a genius, I'm going to show off like hell, love me anyway."

Somewhere around the middle he relaxed, but I was so worn out that the second half couldn't quite elevate this to four stars. The plot itself was absurd (with no endearing side characters to save it), and so the crumbs of sentiment that Walter tossed out at the end didn't quite ring true. A Jonathan Tropper book can make me tear up; there's something vulnerable at its core. I didn't connect with Walter's MC, Matt Prior, or his family or his situation; this book was too contrived to generate any real emotion. I think Walter's a fantastic writer, though, and I remember reading and enjoying Beautiful Ruins. I'll definitely read more of his books and hope to have a better connection with other characters.