The Cold Millions

A Novel

By: Jess Walter

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Gary Farmer, Marin Ireland, Cassandra Campbell, MacLeod Andrews, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Mike Ortego, Rex Anderson, Charlie Thurston, Frankie Corzo

A Most Anticipated Book by:

• The New York Times Book Review
• Wall Street Journal
• Time
• Esquire
• The Millions
• Vogue
• People
• New York Post
• USA Today
• Medium
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Newsday

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Beautiful Ruins comes another “literary miracle” (NPR) - a propulsive, richly entertaining novel about two brothers swept up in the turbulent class warfare of the early 20th century.

An intimate story of brotherhood, love, sacrifice, and betrayal set against the panoramic backdrop of an early 20th century America that eerily echoes our own time, The Cold Millions offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of a nation grappling with the chasm between rich and poor, between harsh realities and simple dreams.

The Dolans live by their wits, jumping freight trains and lining up for day work at crooked job agencies. While 16-year-old Rye yearns for a steady job and a home, his older brother, Gig, dreams of a better world, fighting alongside other union men for fair pay and decent treatment. Enter Ursula the Great, a vaudeville singer who performs with a live cougar and introduces the brothers to a far more dangerous creature: a mining magnate determined to keep his wealth and his hold on Ursula.

Dubious of Gig’s idealism, Rye finds himself drawn to a fearless 19-year-old activist and feminist named Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. But a storm is coming, threatening to overwhelm them all, and Rye will be forced to decide where he stands. Is it enough to win the occasional battle, even if you cannot win the war?

Featuring an unforgettable cast of cops and tramps, suffragists and socialists, madams and murderers, The Cold Millions is a tour de force from a “writer who has planted himself firmly in the first rank of American authors” (Boston Globe).

©2020 Jess Walter (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Another tumultuous time

This is an engaging story of another era of political turmoil, haves and have nots. The narration was excellent. The characters were somewhat melodramatic but became more engaging as the story unfolds. I found myself comparing the situations in the book to current day politics, social upheavals, and economic realities. Highly recommend

Almost perfect

This was first experience with the storytelling abilities of Jess Walter and I’m incredibly delighted - or as frighten as anyone can be after reading a tale of poverty, exploitation and labor wars in the West in the Atlantic part of the 20th century. Walter brings the gulf between the have-everythings and the have-nothings to vivid life. In and age of no social safety net family, friends and the kindness of strangers were often the only things that stood between one and starvation. The story os a vivid recounting of the era, mostly through the eyes of a young naïf whose older brother is a committed Wobbly (member of the International Workers of the World). The 17 y.o. describes the events of a few months in 1909 when Wobblies and unionists and the remarkable activist Elizabeth Gurley Brown combatted the anti-free speech ordinance of Spokane. The struggle was often violent,,with many of the protesters beaten and imprisoned. Immigrants were particularly vulnerable and often sentenced more harshly than their US born comrades. Spokane industrialists m, explemplfied in the character of William Brand, controlled politicians and police, and were not above ordering the killings of labor agitators. The novel follows the young narrator as he watches his brother protest, the endure imprisonment, while he becomes involved with the labor leaders and activists trying to free them. Ryan’s evolution is hardly smooth journey and Walter is to be congratulated for embedding it in a context that hardly registers in American education curricula and has been all but forgotten in the current political and cultural context. I gave the book 4 stars overall because I found the first chapter didn’t seduce me - oh no, another Grapes of Wrath - but the story soon becomes compelling, well worth getting past my initial resistance.

loved every word, page, character, scene, story

what a book. great use of multiple narrators, all are excellent. great story, action, characters, moments, scenes. i loved everything about this book. its as rich and compelling a world as deacon king kong was to a different time and place--and i loved this book just as much. what great characters. what a great setting and time period. just so rich and alive and colorful and coarse. absolute cant miss. incredible historical novel. i wonder if beautiful ruins, jess walters really big popular novel, could possibly be this good. i guess now ive gotta find out. dont hesitate, get this book.

Great story great cast!

A great take on a western at the end of an era and the start of a new one. Multiple voice performances added some real depth that I did not expect.

A compelling ride to Spokane, in 1910

The Cold Millions by Jess Walter. An historical novel set in Spokane around 1910 and centered on the “Free Speech” battles waged by the Industrial Workers of the World, (IWW or “the Wobblies”). It follows two “Dolan” brothers; Gregory (“Gig”) and the younger Ryan (“Rye”) – orphaned, teenage drifters who land in Spokane after riding the rails through Idaho, Montana and the NW. 17 yr old Ryan is pulled into the orbit of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the (real) 20 yr. old firebrand IWW organizer who is jailed and tried along with 500 transient workers, socialists and unionists on the front lines of a battle for basic worker rights. Meanwhile the older and star-crossed Ryan has fallen in love with Ursula The Great - a comely local performer whose popular caged cougar act is called “a Spectacle of Indecency” by the local press. This book spotlights strong, mold breaking and courageous women as they elbow their way through the sexual, political and cultural barriers of an exploding, raw, class-bound 1910 Spokane. Jess Walter’s gift is the ability to turn even despicable caricatures into people you secretly find yourself actually caring for, at least a little, as they knife, deceive and screw each other: the Anarchist/Killer Early Reston, the aging ex Pinkerton Del Dalveaux and even the Mining Magnate Lem Brand are given just enough motive, history and satirical dialogue to temp you toward empathy. Others are straight-up heroes: the ACLU lawyer Fred Moore, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and the Spokane Native Jules. A thrilling conclusion and touching Epilogue – hey; discovering and researching the many real historical figures and events that appear in this novel is alone worth the price of admission. A wonderful read.

Beautifully written story, wonderful performance

This is one of the few books that I probably enjoyed more listening to on audio instead of reading the book directly. The performances were wonderful, and I enjoyed the occasional change of performer with the changes of character point-of-view. Each performer had an authentic voice, as if they were truly telling you their story, not reading it from a page. The story was beautifully written and unique, and unfolded in its own time. The themes were thought-provoking, yet very subtle. Enjoyable!

Engrossing

Terrific story, well--narrated by several voices. Amazing slice of life novel about a time in American history when social and economic forces were at war with each other. Knowing Spokane as I do, the book had special dimension for me.
5 Stars.

Cool Millions vs. Cold Millions

Spokane, Washington, is not the most glamorous locale in the world, but it is home to Jess Walter, and it was home over a century ago to a significant skirmish in the labor wars of the era. And that event becomes central to the story of the Dolan brothers, a pair of young migrant workers looking for the fair shake that the unions are offering.

While older brother Gig dives deep into the movement and pays a devastating price, young Rye is swept up by the competing forces of the cool millions banked by the rich mine magnate who tries to buy him off and the fiery young socialist spokesperson for the cold millions, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a real life historical figure who comes to life spectacularly as a fictional character.

Walter employs an unusual structure -- most of the novel is a third person perspective that follows Rye, a blank canvas, a naif, an everyman. Mixed in, every other chapter, is told in first person by many of the other characters in Rye's world, including his brother and Gurley Flynn and even characters that predate the story's primary setting.

Maybe this approach works better in print -- in this audio production, a decision was made to use a cast of narrators rather than letting the main narrator, the excellent Edoardo Ballerini, carry the whole load. In theory, this should lend itself perfectly to the audio format. In reality, it was flat and distracting and left me wanting not only the narration to be one person, but the whole point of view to be Rye.

I've read all of Walter's novels, and have waited nearly a decade for his follow-up to his best known work, Beautiful Ruins. The result is very very good, especially from a socio-political point of view, this story echoing the ongoing class conflicts of the present day. But without the exotic Cinque Terre setting or Hollywood actors as part of the tale, Cold Millions cannot possibly satisfy fans of Beautiful Ruins. If you're prepared to read a different kind of book, Walter remains one of the best authors of literary fiction working today.

First rate storytelling

Jess Walter knows how to spin a yarn. A must read. What are you waiting for?

Fabulous piece of history and the love of brothers

This gave me an experience of a part of humanity I would never have had. Captivating story and very well performed.