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The Dismal Science: A Novel (2014)

by Peter Mountford(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1935639722 (ISBN13: 9781935639725)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Tin House Books

review 1: How does Mountford make a middle-aged economist so riveting? He starts with beautiful women and exotic locations, interactions with the well-known personage of Paul Wolfowitz and insider stories about the World Bank. But it’s the human conflicts in Vincenzo’s life that make this a compelling read. Vincenzo is a senior functionary whose frustrations about his dead wife, his daughter and her boyfriend, and most vividly about his job undermine his place in the world. A man who fundamentally believes in the World Bank’s mission and its leader, he allows a young activist to encourage him on a course of disillusionment and self-destruction. Mountford’s style is perfect for his hero, able to acknowledge emotional fragility while maintaining his chatacters' dignity. The sc... moreenes with Vincenzo and his daughter are heart-breaking; the description of Vincenzo’s decline are often shattering. I couldn’t put it down.
review 2: I picked up this book at the library expecting it to be as scintillating as the comments on the cover: "…completely up-put-downable....", "...a terrific main character...", "...an extremely impressive imagining…." Instead, I found a well-written but dismally dull and muddled tale of a man's life unknitting itself as he spirals downward. It is on the tip of my mind what this novel reminds me of, another book looked forward to but delivering little. I kept reading because I thought something would happen. Anything. But the only thing that happened is the main charcter's self-sabotage. The rest is a dry tumble downhill. There are no peak moments, few mini-dramas to give it spice. I daresay that the writing was good enough. The author uses some big words that caused my fingers to twitch in the direction of my Collegiate dictionary. I didn't pick up much about economics, however–or politics, for that matter. It all seemed to be grayed down in favor of Vincenzo's downward spiral. Oh well. less

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