The Financial Lives of the Poets

By Jess Walter

Matt Prior left his reporting job to start a financial advice poetry website, poetfolio.com. When that doesn't work, he returns to the newspaper only to be laid off as the paper downsizes. When the book begins, Matt's house is a week away from foreclosure and he suspects his wife is having an affair. Additionally, the household includes two young sons and Matt's senile father. Matt needs money and so Matt decides he could make a lot of money by selling pot. What could possible go wrong with this plan? He makes so many bad choices that I found the book kind of stressful, although amusing. My husband kept laughing out loud and didn't find it stressful at all. As a bonus, most of the chapters feature Matt's poetry. Well-written and quirky.

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This book was reviewed by Jean S.