The Disenchanted

An excerpt from page 54:

"It must have been a fascinating period alright," Shep was saying. "I wish to hell I had seen it. But from the point of view of economic morality, it was bankrupt as hell, wasn't it? All that crazy speculation, people buying stuff they didn't need, with money they didn't have. And all the fat cats repeating 'Business is fundamentally sound.' That's what fell on us like a ton of bricks --and we're still trying to dig ourselves out from under."

I don't remember how this book found its way onto my to-read list. It pre-dates my time on goodreads, back when I only kept a little notebook to jot down interesting titles. It languished on my virtual shelf for so long. Shame. It's fucking amazing.

456. The Disenchanted, by Budd Schulberg (read 4 Jan 1953) When I finished this novel I noted that it had made a splash in 1950 when it came out because it fitted in with the Fitzgerald revival . Actually, I said, it is a little ridiculous--such patent "movie" and "slick" writing. It is so cliche-y, so false, with only at times being anything. Very cheap and poor writing, designed for a simpleton's consumption