The Fictional Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

21. – 534.) The Fictional Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter – The book challenged my preference for only seeing if a reviewer enjoys a book. Having read and enjoyed Over Tumbled Graves and Citizen Vince I was expecting a mystery. Instead, it was the story of Matt Prior, a laid off journalist, who with his wife, Lisa, and their two children and his memory loss father are struggling to avoid bankruptcy. They face financial disaster partly because of the collapse of the American mortgage system and partly because of their excessive optimism in buying a big home and then renovating it beyond their means. Yet the primary reason is a failed internet venture. Matt had sought to establish a website providing financial advice in verse. It was called poetfolio.com. As the financial vise tightens the marriage frays. After an accidental encounter with some young guys at the local 7-11 Jess is drawn into the current world of marijuana use – a much better product than when he was a young man. The decline recounted of Matt’s former newspaper is comparable to Michael Connelly’s lament in The Scarecrow. Personal and financial poetry is scattered through the book. It was hard for me to enjoy the book as the story was so depressing. The desperate attempts to stave off bankruptcy were matched by the marital discord. It is very well written. Before I read another Walter book I would want to make sure it is a mystery. Hardcover or paperback. (May 15/10)