First published 2021
Charlie Barnes clings to his newspaper and landline phone like anchors to a simpler time. This mid-century man sees himself as a romantic striver and devoted capitalist. But the Great Recession hits him hard, and bad news arrives that forces him to question everything he believes about his life. His storyteller son has decided to tell Charlie's story, but the version emerging doesn't match the one Charlie tells himself. His other children, ex-wives, current wife, business clients, and friends all carry their own competing versions of who Charlie really is. As financial disaster looms and his carefully constructed self-image crumbles, Charlie must confront the gap between the story he's been telling about himself and the reality of the life he's actually lived. The question becomes whether Charlie can rebuild his identity from scratch when time is running short.
Genres: american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Period: Mid-Century
346 pages · Kindle Edition · Penguin