Money

Money is a quintessential novel of the eighties, on a par with Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities. John Self is a director of ads, but also a drunk, addicted to porn, prostitutes, and food, and a spendthrift. Invited to shoot a feature film in the States, unlike the typical Englishman, he feels at home there. The hedonism, materialism, and excesses are second nature to him. Self goes from one scrape to another, but, as his name suggests, identity is a key theme, and it turns out that he is not who he thinks he is. There is even a… show more.

One of my friends gave me a copy of this book back in the days when we were all young artists and entrepreneurial wannabes who celebrated a lot more than we accomplished. It was a cycle of parties, hijinks, day jobs, and the slow growth of personal art projects; so, the arrival of this book about John Self’s madcap foray into feature film was timely. The character festoons whatever creativity and talent he has as a director with a profligate lifestyle that lampoons the very movie industry he hopes to dominate. Mysterious motivations drive him to hilarious extremes that Amis’… show more.

While technically not a book about addiction, Money is actually 100% a book about addiction. It’s also my favorite book ever written—one I re-read often. There’s simply no living writer with a skill for language like Martin Amis. I mean lines like “Unless I specifically inform you otherwise, I am always smoking a cigarette”? Genius. Saying his apartment smells like “batch” (for bachelor)? Referring to his teeth problems as a pain on his Upper East Side, while walking around Manhattan? I could go on forever about how much I love this novel; what other novelist would include a character named… show more.