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The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, by Lionel Shriver
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With dry wit and psychological acuity, this near-future novel explores the aftershocks of an economically devastating U.S. sovereign debt default on four generations of a once-prosperous American family. Down-to-earth and perfectly realistic in scale, this is not an over-the-top Blade Runner tale. It is not science fiction.
In 2029, the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. Overnight, on the international currency exchange, the “almighty dollar” plummets in value, to be replaced by a new global currency, the “bancor.” In retaliation, the president declares that America will default on its loans. “Deadbeat Nation” being unable to borrow, the government prints money to cover its bills. What little remains to savers is rapidly eaten away by runaway inflation.
The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable fortune filtering down when their ninety-seven-year-old patriarch dies. Once the inheritance turns to ash, each family member must contend with disappointment, but also—as the U.S. economy spirals into dysfunction—the challenge of sheer survival.
Recently affluent, Avery is petulant that she can’t buy olive oil, while her sister, Florence, absorbs strays into her cramped household. An expat author, their aunt, Nollie, returns from abroad at seventy-three to a country that’s unrecognizable. Her brother, Carter, fumes at caring for their demented stepmother, now that an assisted living facility isn’t affordable. Only Florence’s oddball teenage son, Willing, an economics autodidact, will save this formerly august American family from the streets.
The Mandibles is about money. Thus it is necessarily about bitterness, rivalry, and selfishness—but also about surreal generosity, sacrifice, and transformative adaptation to changing circumstances.
- Sales Rank: #17774 in eBooks
- Published on: 2016-06-21
- Released on: 2016-06-21
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
“A provocative and very funny page-turner…” (Wall Street Journal)
“….[A] powerful work...Prescient, imaginative and funny, it also asks deep questions.” (The Economist)
“Hilarious, brilliant new novel...” (Elle)
“Known for tackling big contemporary issues head-on, Shriver deals skilfully here with the implications of economic meltdown. The novel, set in a near-ish future, tells of the plight of the once wealthy Mandible family and the decline of four generations into penury, thieving and prostitution.” (Financial Times (A Summer Pick of 2016))
“[Shriver has] a sharp social eye and a blistering comic streak, and her focus on nailing down the economic nitty-gritty of her plot is only one piece of the great, disconcerting fun she has in sending the world as we know it so vividly to hell.” (The New Yorker's Page-Turner Blog)
“Shriver has always seemed to be at least a few steps ahead of the rest of us, but her new novel establishes her firmly as the Cassandra of American letters….I don’t remember the last time a novel held me so enduringly in its grip.” (New York Times Book Review)
“It’s scaring the hell out of me.” (Tracy Chevalier)
The world that the Mandible family must negotiate is evoked in seamless detail… One thing I really like is her coining of made-up slang for her younger generation of characters and her resolutely materialist analysis of what could be coming. (Jane Smiley, The Guardian)
“Distinctly chilling.” (Independent (UK))
“This is a sharp, smart, snarky satire of every conspiracy theory and hot button political issue ever spun; one that, at first glance, might induce an absurdist chuckle, until one realizes that it is based on an all-too-plausible reality.” (Booklist (starred review))
From the Back Cover
In 2029, the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. Overnight, the “almighty dollar” plummets in value, to be replaced by a new global currency, the bancor. In retaliation, the president declares that America will default on its loans. The government prints money to cover its bills. What little real currency remains for savers is eaten away by inflation.
The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable inheritance, once their patriarch dies. When their birthright turns to ash, what began as mere disappointment spirals into the challenge of sheer survival.
In The Mandibles, Lionel Shriver brings the full power of her creative imagination to bear on a topic that seeps into every corner of our lives: money. Using her ability to nail the zeitgeist, droll humor, and psychological insight, Shriver has created an unforgettable and engrossing fictional world.
About the Author
Lionel Shriver is a novelist whose book We Need to Talk about Kevin is an Orange Prize winner. She is widely published as a journalist, writing features, columns, op-eds, and book reviews for the Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, Marie Claire, and many other publications. She lives in London and Brooklyn.
Most helpful customer reviews
91 of 96 people found the following review helpful.
The Buck Stops
By Mary Lins
Lionel Shriver's new novel, "The Mandibles: A Family 2029-2047" is captivating, and at the same time a humorous and chilling work of speculative fiction. Early on, one of Shiver's characters, in referencing the works: "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "1984", says: "Plots set in the future are about what we fear in the present. They're not about the future at all." Since this particular character turns out to be extremely wrong about a lot of things, I take this as a wink to the reader that Shriver believes that many of her dire predictions about the economic future of the US may indeed become true. We'll see!
"The Mandibles" begins in 2029 (100 years since the "crash" of 1929). In what is later called "The Great Renunciation", the president (who is a "Lat": of Latin descent), calls for the renunciation all US debt and defaults on all foreign debt. Invoking the International Emergency Powers Act of 1977 (it's real), he calls for all gold to be confiscated. Blame is placed on nebulous "hostile foreign" entities who have tried to replace the dollar with the "bancor". The President, in addition to recalling all gold (including jewelry and dental work) from every citizen, has ordered the military to do a door-to-door search for hoarded gold and for those responsible to be fined and imprisoned. In addition, the US has "reset" all US Treasury bonds to zero and inflation has driven the price of a (scarce) head of cabbage up to $30. Some folks are happy that the "uber-rich" or the 1%-ers are falling like dominoes seeing it as finally a way to erase the vast economic disparities. The US starts printing (now almost worthless) money by the truckload, though with the toilet paper scarcity - well, you can imagine what happens.
The novel revolves around the eponymous Mandible family, founded by wealthy grandfather Douglas Mandible aka "Grand Man". His oldest granddaughter, Florence, lives in Flatbush, NY, with her teen-aged son, Willing (no kidding), and her lover Esteban. Florence is highly educated (Barnard) but can only find work processing cases in a homeless shelter. Her son, Willing, is the only one who seems to grasp what is happening to the economy, but of course, no one listens to him - he's just a kid! Florence's younger sister Avery, a pseudo-psychotherapist, is married to Lowell, a professor of economics at Georgetown. They have three children, Savannah, Goog and Bing (yep, named after search engines). Avery is used to the good life and now finds that she can't even afford olive oil. It's a long way down. Lowell has a particularly difficult time accepting the economic realities that don't match up with his economic theories.
Shriver's fictional future is full of interesting and humorous possibilities: Putin is still in power: dictator of Russia. Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for president necessitating the 28th Amendment (requiring the President to be born on American soil) to be nullified. Judge Judy was appointed to the Supreme Court (which made cases much shorter). Also in 2024, the entire infrastructure of the US (electricity, water, The Internet - gasp!) was shut down for three weeks and chaos ensued. China was blamed (no proof ever attained). Journalism is dead - no source can be trusted (I'd say that's already happened). I don't want to give away too many of Shriver's "treats" so that you can savor all the ironies yourself, but one about Mexico and a wall is particularly biting.
Shriver is in her element with her sterling wit, scathing satire, and stunning irony. This is the kind of novel you'll want to talk with people about - so I highly recommend it for any Book Club with nerves of steel, because it's going to stir up some fervent feelings about race, class, money, guns, and trust in the government. It couldn't be coming out at a more auspicious moment in US history!
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
A fable of the collapse of American society in the not-so-distant future.
By MT57
This was a fun read further distinguished by an unusually strong grasp of economic topics.
Basically, the plot shows an extended family of well-off whites with advanced degrees in New York and Washington DC struggling to cope with the collapse of the US economy and social fabric into Zimbabwe-like, Venezuela-like conditions after China and other nations lose confidence in the strength of the U S dollar, apparently because the Fed, under Chair Krugman, has monetized the national debt to enable the government to keep paying out entitlements to the elderly, and hyper-inflation ensues, along with capital controls and prohibition of ownership of gold, which is enforced by police invasions of homes, ripping open sofas and other property. Exacerbating matters, the demagogue of a President repudiates the national debt, "standing up to foreigners" like many a Latin American demagogue before him, which of course does turns off the capital spigot and leaves the U S economy low and dry. As we see in countries like Venezuela now, shortages immediately develop of basic products ( I particularly enjoyed the pages where the family figures out how to cope with the shortage of toilet paper ), the private sector collapses and social order breaks down; the police spend most of their day extorting bribes rather than attempting to enforce the law, which everyone needs to break to survive. The family loses multiple members to murder; and loses their homes to evictions, both legal and illegal.. A teenage son, who appears to be the voice of the author, resorts to armed robbery to feed the family, and leads them to a relatively safe place, although even that is ultimately confiscated.
The book jumps ahead a generation to a point where, in addition to the US having forsaken all military and geopolitical influence, to the point that President Chelsea Clinton can only send a condolence note to invaded allies, and Mexico having built a wall to keep Americans out, the U S has abandoned pretty much all of its principles (except the one that people in power get re-elected based on handouts), and devolved completely into a crumbling wasteland that the surviving members of the family cross in a hydrogen car to arrive at a metaphorical border, the crossing of which they may or may not survive. The author resolves the fates of the main characters in a satisfying way, if you believe in hard money, a flat rate tax, broad civil liberties (including with respect to bearing arms) and see a work ethic as more necessary to the survival of society than an expansive welfare state.
Bleak as its message is, it has a situation comedy / late-night satire tone ("Post-Apocalyptic Modern Family") which undoubtedly accounts for its popularity. I must say I am surprised at its success given that its underlying perspective resembles most strongly a Ted Cruz for President campaign brochure. In addition to its implicit advocacy of right-wing economic principles, it is pretty bluntly anti-immigration. I admire the author for her ability to turn economic concepts into entertaining fiction and for the courage to adopt a perspective that is far from popular these days.
I suspect many readers will find it ideologically unpalatable, even disguised as fiction. (Without realizing that they are re-enacting the part of the prudes in the 1960s and 1970s who complained about movies and books and music that defied the moral norms of the era).
It is a fast read and a good beach or airplane book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Destruction to Desolation: Shriver’s Course of Empire
By Joseph A. Domino
It’s hard to classify Lionel Shriver’s latest novel, The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, as futuristic dystopian fiction if for no other reason than the present direction and momentum of the U.S. could bring us something like Shriver’s vision in a decade or so. The upheaval and displacement summon up visions of the Russian revolution (think Dr. Zhivago and family losing all but one room in their house, and then finally the family is displaced. Or, the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath).
The novel also feels like a natural sequel to So Much for That, where a man whose plans to retire to a remote island are derailed by his wife's diagnosis of cancer. The man’s wife with all the treatments not covered by their insurance causes a vast portfolio her husband acquired from selling his handyman repair company to disappear within months. The wife is diagnosed as terminal and the man is fired. Perfect title. The two novels should be filmed as season one and two on HBO or Showtime.
Shriver’s opening in Mandibles is a little difficult to following owing to the extensive cast of characters which comprise the large Mandible family. Subsequent editions of the book would do well to include a Mandible family tree. Still, the narrative settles into a fast-paced rhythm.
Most of the family are struggling to some degree, awaiting for deliverance by the family’s 97-year old patriarch (Grand Man) and inheritances from his vast fortune. But 100 years after the big crash, a second crash (a la Mr. Robot, Phase 2) wipes him out. A number of countries have issued a new currency, but exclude the U.S. The Mexican U.S. president takes drastic measures, one of which is to ban the new currency. So the Mandibles and many other Americans with worthless dollars face runaway inflation resulting in, for example:
• A head of cabbage selling for $20, later $30; zucchini, $24/lb.; snap peas, $31/lb. and shortages and bare shelves are on the rise.
• Government search and seizure of gold (hiding it is treason).
• Travelers cannot take more than $100 out of the country.
When “Grand Man” is evicted from his $27,000 a month luxury retirement home, one family member suggests Medicaid assistance. Ah, but they’ve changed the rules. This assistance is denied if any family members have any assets. A gut check tells me this one is coming.
Near the middle of the book, there are at least 10 family members living in a small house so that it takes on a “Shameless” vibe. But even this arrangement doesn’t last long. There is a break 300 pages in, punctuated with a violent shocking climax followed by a jump to 2047. To say that the U.S. has recovered is to accept a desultory life of mediocrity with a re-branded IRS tracking citizens who are required to have chips planted in the backs of their heads which can trace earnings, purchases, and movement.
Along the way, Nevada has seceded and is considered a kind of “free zone,” a blank spot on any U.S. map, which Shriver presents as an acceptable libertarian refuge. Depending on your politics this may be off putting. One of the survivors, Willing Mandible, instrumental in the family’s survival 18 years earlier, decides to head there in search of an Uncle Jarred who had defected there years before. Willing, along with his 92-year old Aunt Nollie find Jarred. They are successful and establish a foothold where Willing sends for other family members. While it’s not utopia, it’s simply an “off the grid” place to survive where the main requirement is self-reliance. Nevada has its own currency and has a flat tax of 10%. No social security, no medicare, no public assistance. If you get sick you better have some caring family members.
Politics aside, Shriver’s prose is compelling. A visual analogy for Part One (300 pages) might be Thomas Cole’s fourth in a series of five paintings (“Course of Empire): “Destruction.” Part Two may be compared to the final painting in the series: “Desolation" (the aftermath). Over this time period, China has annexed Japan. Indochina has invaded Australia. Finally Russia annexes Alaska. A U.S. Senator says, well Alaska is so far away anyhow.
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