The Mandibles

A Family, 2029-2047

By: Lionel Shriver

Narrated by: George Newbern

With dry wit and psychological acuity, this near-future novel explores the aftershocks of an economically devastating US sovereign debt default on four generations of a once-prosperous American family. Down-to-earth and perfectly realistic in scale, this is not an over-the-top Blade Runner tale. It is not science fiction.

In 2029 the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. Overnight, on the international currency exchange, the "almighty dollar" plummets in value, to be replaced by a new global currency: the "bancor". In retaliation the president declares that America will default on its loans. With "Deadbeat Nation" being unable to borrow, the government prints money to cover its bills. What little remains for savers is rapidly eaten away by runaway inflation.

The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable fortune filtering down when their 97-year-old patriarch dies. Once the inheritance turns to ash, each family member must contend with disappointment but also - as the US economy spirals into dysfunction - the challenge of sheer survival.

Recently affluent, Avery is petulant that she can't buy olive oil while her sister, Florence, absorbs strays into her cramped household. An expat author, their aunt Nollie returns from abroad at 73 to a country that's unrecognizable. Her brother, Carter, fumes at caring for their demented stepmother now that an assisted living facility isn't affordable. Only Florence's oddball teenage son, Willing, an economics autodidact, will save this formerly august American family from the streets.

The Mandibles is about money. Thus it is necessarily about bitterness, rivalry, and selfishness - but also about surreal generosity, sacrifice, and transformative adaptation to changing circumstances.

©2016 Lionel Shriver (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

current statism extrapolated

spot on realistic outline.
a 'middle of the road' extrapolation, without any 'black swans' for or against.
obvious linear progression of current corrupt socialism (two words with the same meaning).
mixed execution.

When reality is stranger than fiction

Read this book in 2021 (post-COVID-19 lockdowns and shortages), and let’s just say I don’t recommend falling asleep to this book. For a book written back in 2016, there may be opportunity yet for some of these scenarios to happen in real life. Entertaining, and informative to those who are concerned with global economic disaster.

Good read!

It is definitely a interesting book and how it is very applicable to today’s political and social climate

Chilling look at a potential future

The most haunting thing is the logic is flawless and could pan out exactly like this. The only thing that really stood out was birth rates going up across the world.

Brilliant

Where does The Mandibles rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Surprisingly, this is one of the top 5 audiobooks I have listened to. I say surprisingly because at first, I thought the in-depth discussions and understanding the Madiables have throughout their family about university level, complicated economic scenarios was forced, implausible and unrealistic.......but as it turns out, the wit was so sharp, the characters so well developed and engaging, and the understanding of the economic information so core to the suspension of disbelief, you first forgive, and then are thankful for the insertion of the dialogue. If you're a political science or economics major, you will be riveted by this book. I might caution you however, if you are the average American, think CNN is real news and believe the current political status quo in America is reasonable, this book is going to be not only a little heavy but practically unintelligible.

I was so impressed by this book it was the one which spurred me to write my first review, 146 books later.

gradebook

made me laugh smile and even tear up a bit I could see us heading down this path we don't change the way we're on

Pretty good.

I read a few reviews that claimed this was akin to Atlas Shrugged, so I was pursuaded to listen. That set expectations pretty high for me and I'm not sure if it's flattering or unfair to compare a 15 hr book to the 64+ hr classic. The overall premise was similar (maybe a contemporary version) but it did not have the character development and overall quality (not to mention sheer mass) of Shrugged. Had the bar not been raised, I might have enjoyed it more but I thought it was interesting anyway. The narrator was very good.

First 1/3 and last 1/5 are pretty good

Not so original economic and social ideas but still entertaining enough woven into a story.

Great first two acts and a few reading issues

The Mandibles is fantastic from the start until about two-thirds of the way through the book, when the story shifts forward in time for the last time. At that stage, plot slips away and exposition takes over, with characters doing a lot of telling-not-showing. Things pick up again in the final chapter, but even then, there's just way too much thick description and world building without a purpose to it.

Another strike against it: The narrator has lots of jarring pronunciation issues that derail the flow of the story.

Overall, this isn't as good as "We Need to Talk About Kevin," but its premise is fascinating enough to make it worth a listen.

back to the future coming soon.

You don't know what you are getting until the very end, but oh the surprise. No one believes something can happen, until it does. It will take listening twice to gather all the gems. I'm up to three and don't see myself getting bored. You wouldn't be here if you didn't get it already. It is the feeling that the horizon is a cliff, and everyone is rushing over the hill. I won't spoil it for you, just follow the yellow brick road.