All Things Pankish

Affluenza by David LaBounty

Given our troubled economic climate, Affluenza by PANK contributor David LaBounty, is a timely novel. It is a confession, an unrepentant apologia, a critical examination of how one American couple’s greed and proclivity for indebtedness results in a multitude of tragedies. Chip and Deidre meet, as many couples do, while working at an insurance company in the suburbs of Detroit, the perfect, decaying setting for this type of narrative. It’s not that they fall in love but rather that Chip and Deidre recognize each other’s flaws and are able to tolerate that recognition. They live to excess in every way possible, keeping up with the Jones’s, becoming the Jones’s. They marry, have kids. Deidre quits her job to stay at home while Chip rises within the company. The more money Chip makes, the more he spends. He behaves very badly, he cheats, he spends, ignores his wife and children. Everything Chip does, he does to the extreme. In the end, Chip is so overwhelmed with the burdens of debt he devises a plan to free himself. I realized near the end where the story was going and I have to say I was shocked. The ending was unexpected and sociopathic. At first I thought, this goes way too far but then I let it sink in and I’ve come to believe, without giving the ending a way, that matters are brought to a conclusion in the only way possible.

This is not a perfect novel but there is a lot to like about the story LaBounty weaves, starting with the ending which is reminiscent of the work of Bret Easton Ellis in American Psycho. The narrator, Chip’s wry, bitter outlook is well-executed and his tone stays consistent throughout the novel reflecting real discipline on LaBounty’s part. I also appreciated Chip’s unrelenting self-loathing and complete lack of remorse. It is hard, I think, to write an irredeemable character without giving in to caricature. LaBounty toes that line very carefully.

At the same time, poor Deidre is a bit one-dimensional and at times, her portrayal felt unfair. Parts of the story are overdone. The descriptions of excess and greed, at some points, are so overwrought I became immune to them. Maybe that was the point, what with this being a novel about excess, but still, I think a bit more authorial restraint would have taken this novel to the next level. As I read Affluenza, I thought, more than once, I would have loved to edit this novel.

Those minor critiques aside, Affluenza is a powerfully conveyed parable that is as timely as it is telling. David has been kind enough to contribute two copies of his fine novel for a giveaway so we’re giving one each to the first two commenters who have not yet won something from us.  Affluenza is available directly from the publisher and is also available at Amazon.com.