Karen's Reviews > Trust

To be honest, I am not always a fan of Pulitzer Prize winning authors/books. I sometimes wonder, whatever possessed the committee to pick them. A lot of times, the book is long (like this one), and/or over written and drawn out or not very well thought through. Or written in a way that doesn’t appeal to the average reader.

And typically, the Pulitzer Prize is given for its contribution to culture and humanity – not necessarily literary merits.

So, when this book, this winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2023, was provided as a donation to my Little Free Library Shed, I was a bit skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy it.

Thus, when I opened the book to begin my reading of it, I found myself pleasantly surprised when I had to force myself to put it down, so I could get some sleep that first night.

What happened?

This book’s author’s writing happened.

It is an unusually-told story about interesting people. And it is a book spun from 4 narratives – a novel wrought from the tale of one man, his attempt to write his own story, his secretary’s memoir and a journal left by his deceased wife.

It is also a story, very much about wealth, family, and power set in 1930s New York.

And there is something to be said about a story about money. The value we place on it. That money can buy what we need and maybe what we want and eventually what we may dream about. But, at the same time, it makes us question, what really is money?

The author shared…

“The book is to an enormous extent about this man who's trying to control a narrative. And this is something that I found about wealth in general and wealth in America in particular. Great fortunes have the ability to distort and warp the reality around themselves. Furthermore, they have the power to align, to bend reality according to their own designs. I think, in fact, the greatest luxury good today out there is not, you know, mansions or yachts. It is reality itself.”

And the telling of this story, was done in such a way, that intrigued me as a reader. With…Lyrical prose. Complex but fascinating characters. Expert plotting.

But mostly, it was exquisite in its storytelling.

So, to say the least, I was happy to find that this Pulitzer Prize book was a worthy reading experience. For me. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Interestingly enough, like most Pulitzer Prize winning books, there are mixed reviews. I am not surprised.

4.5 stars rounded up.