A strange book in some ways. I have found that protagonists that are touted as having a notably dry or irreverent wit that they employ to negotiate life's difficulties,often come across on page as being closed off, flat and two dimensional. It's like the author has accepted the characters need to protect themselves with humour and the author hasn't got the heart or fortitude to unlock the the character fully to reveal what is really going on underneath.I chose the book because I was looking forward to seeing Cath - the 'wisecracking Australian 'bedrock feminist, unreconstructed left winger' as she launched herself into enemy territory - Wall Street to become a speech writer for a bunch of soulless financial mercenary pigs. I thought this would be exciting and a good contrast to the difficulties of managing her personal tragedy of caring for an older husband who was rapidly succumbing to Alzheimers.Unfortunately there was zero development of the feminist left wing elements of this character as played out in the workplace. The work scenes tended to centre on the opaque asshats she had to work with, rather than revealing her depths as a character and the financial concepts and jargon were laid on so thick I felt like I needed to go away and study the finance market for six months so I could understand what fuck she was talking about. The general theme that emerged revealed Derivatives are the financial equivalent of the Rubik's cube combined Devil's spawn and the whole financial world was heading to hell in a handbasket because of them.Jarringly contrasted were the chapters that covered the pityingly inexorable demise of her elderly husband Bailey. We barely got to know Bailey before he started to slip away from us. It was hard to feel the depth of Cath's, s grief and loss because her relationship with Bailey wasn't brought fully to life before he started to vanish. While the paragraphs detailing Bailey's protracted degeneration were captured tellingly and her writing often quite beautiful with rich, authentic metaphor, Cath often came across as a mechanical narrator.If you have a head for world finance and investment then you might really enjoy this insight into the years leading up to GFC. The writing is clearly on the wall.For me though it felt like there were two unrelated novels thrown together. I just couldn't feel the connection between Cath the speech writer and Cath the wife. Who the fuck was Cath? Who were her friends? Family, when did she ever level once with anyone about the troubles in her life. What was she thinking during all the hell she was going through? Where was the conflicted agony?.I'll leave it there.Whilst not for me, again if you understand the finance world, I'd recommend giving it a go. For you it might be a 4 star. For me only 2.
This book is very prescient considering it was published several years before the GFC. Despite the greed and stupidity she witnessed on Wall St I think even Kate Jennings must be shocked by just how far things have deteriorated since then. The extent of the government bailout, combined with the naked greed of the financial elite who continue to get richer while the rest of society suffer the consequences of their actions is just staggering. As I was reading this I kept flicking back to the front to make sure if actually said "novel" because it has such an air of authenticity about it that I couldn't believe it was fictional. Turns out it is heavily autobiographical and Kate Jennings not only worked on Wall St as speech writer but took the job to pay the medical bills of her husband with Alzheimer's.I really liked the way the two strands of the story unfurl side by side, as the main character, Cath, negotiates two very different worlds. Both parts of the story are told with great honesty and insight, and although the writing is spare and unsentimental it really packs an emotional punch. It's a short novel with more to say about American society and global capitalism than any other work of fiction I've read in a very long time. Highly recommended.
What do You think about Moral Hazard (2003)?
This brief novel really packs a wallop, conveying more meaning and emotion than most books four times its length. Two parallel stories about a woman living two parallel worlds: one as a liberal 60's idealist working in the belly of the beast as a Wall Street speechwriter, and the other as a wife struggling with a beloved husband stricken with Alzheimer's. The novel rarely has the two worlds intersect, which is how the protagonist wanted her life ordered. She hates everything about Wall Street, but she still finds solace there, in that the job gives her something to focus on, something other than the husband who is inexorably slipping away.
—Peter
The willingness to take risks because the costs will be borne by others. Cath seems to live in two different worlds, both seem unreal. Wall Street in 2002, after the crash and it's most interesting to read this book now because, there was, of course, another crash since then. The story isn't about learning those lessons, it's just interesting to see we didn't. Or Wall Street didn't and you can see why. But Wall Street may not be the most difficult world Cath is in. Her husband,older than her, has Alzheimer's. What will she do to navigate that world.
—Charlou Lunsford
