"W""hen Bad Things Happen to Rich People" is a novel of social
satire, a black comedy set in Chicago in the summer of 1995. The
novel's protagonist, Nix Walters, is an adjunct instructor of
English at a communications college in the loop with few prospects
for advancement. He had become a literary punch line when his
novel, touted as the next big literary phenomenon, was universally
panned by critics. He and his pregnant wife, Flora, are struggling
financially; however, their fortunes change when Nix is asked to
ghostwrite the memoirs of publishing magnate Zira Fontaine. While
grateful for a lavish author fee, Nix quickly finds his marriage,
his career, and his sense of identity threatened as he struggles
with a difficult subject, navigates office intrigue of Fontaine's
corporation, and faces impending fatherhood. These tensions come to
a turbulent climax when a brutal heat wave hits the city.
Written in the spirit of great naturalist novelists of the
previous century, such as Dreiser, Norris, and Crane, with a black
comic twist, Morris's first novel is a study in aspiration and
self-deception in the face of unforeseen adversity. Set among the
broad lawns of Lake Forest where the domestic staff skim leaves
from the pool and the sweltering streets of Chicago's
pre-gentrified Wicker Park neighborhood, where children plunge into
the raging stream of open fire hydrants, "When Bad Things Happen to
Rich People" is a broad panorama of our current social reality.
General
| Imprint: |
Northern Illinois University Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Series: |
Switchgrass Books |
| Release date: |
October 2014 |
| First published: |
October 2014 |
| Authors: |
Ian Morris
|
| Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Paperback - Trade / Trade
|
| Pages: |
224 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-0-87580-709-6 |
| Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
| LSN: |
0-87580-709-7 |
| Barcode: |
9780875807096 |
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