Who Is Rich?

A Novel

By: Matthew Klam

Narrated by: David Costabile

A provocative satire of love, sex, money, and politics that unfolds over four wild days in so-called "paradise" - the long-awaited first novel from the acclaimed author of Sam the Cat

Every summer, a once-sort-of-famous cartoonist named Rich Fischer leaves his wife and two kids behind to teach a class at a weeklong arts conference in a charming New England beachside town. It's a place where, every year, students - nature poets and driftwood sculptors, widowed seniors, teenagers away from home for the first time - show up to study with an esteemed faculty made up of prizewinning playwrights, actors, and historians, drunkards and perverts, members of the cultural elite, unknown nobodies, midlist somebodies, and legitimate stars - a place where drum circles happen on the beach at midnight, clothing optional.

Once more Rich finds himself, in this seaside paradise, worrying about his family's nights without him and trying not to think about his book, now out of print, or his future as an illustrator at a glossy magazine about to go under, or his back taxes, or the shameless shenanigans of his colleagues at this summer make-out festival. He can't decide whether his own very real desire for love and human contact is going to rescue or destroy him.

A warped and exhilarating tale of love and lust, Who Is Rich? goes far beyond to address deeper questions: of family, monogamy, the intoxicating beauty of children, and the challenging interdependence of two soulful, sensitive creatures in a confusing domestic alliance.

©2017 Matthew Klam (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"I seriously, deeply love this book." (Michael Cunningham)

"What a thrill to experience the fusion of Matthew Klam's fierce, kinetic prose with the mysteries of fatherhood and domesticity. Who Is Rich? is an electric amalgam of frustration and tenderness, wonder and rebellion: a paean to the obliterating power of parental love." (Jennifer Egan)

" Who Is Rich? is a tantalizing novel - acute and smart and stark, but mostly it's unrelentingly funny about a large number of very inappropriate things." (Richard Ford)

Rabbit grows up

Midlife male crisis with infidelity.

The narrator brings out the cleverness & I think reflects the intended serious-not serious tone. The only profound things are true things about the author - his love for his family & desire to teach - he denies or takes for granted everything true about himself except his talent which is mediocre & devoid of ideas. A good novel crippled by a stereotypically awful artist with ordinary humanity. I’m not sure if that’s the portrait Klam meant to paint

Who is Rich? Who cares...?

The reader is excellent and the writing is skilled but the story itself is devoid of characters for whom I had one shred of empathy.

Self-indulgent, Repititious

I selected this book based on recommendations by GoodReads "if you liked The Nix you might like this book." I am sorry I wasted my time listening to this narrative. Taking place over 5 days, Rich examines his disappointing life, making excuses for his bad choices, disloyalty, adultery, and lack of real ambition. The other characters are equally immature and overall unlikeable. Too many extraneous names of unimportant characters take up valuable airtime.

Rich is an immature whiner. Grow up and take responsibility for your life, your choices and your behavior. Quit living on your head.

Readers do not waste your time or money on Rich and his sorry saga.

Disppointing

Loved Klam's earlier story collection, especially the one about the wedding toast, but couldn't finish this new novel. The protagonist is generally feckless and what he gets into seemed dull to me. Bellow wrote the book on protagonists whose life isn't working very well, especially Henderson the Rain King. That's a tough comparison, but we know from his stories that Klam can do better. Some readers add value; this one didn't for me.

Waste of a credit

The only audible book I haven’t finished. No redeeming qualities I can think of. This is the only book I’ve ever wanted to review, and I’ve listened to hundreds. Am going to try to get my credit back.

Couldn’t wait for it to be over

Narcissistic, self-indulgent protagonists alternately whining about being poor, or being rich, or their horrible spouses. Plot was minimal, main characters were totally unlikeable. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finished the thing.

Ahem. No!

I really disliked this creepy guy as narrated from the outset and then it only grew worse. I wish I'd never "met" him. This book was also unbelievably boring. I gained nothing from it but a waste of time and money. The author obviously knows how to write, but the content, story, and main character failed miserably. Major disappointment.
This author's writing came across as a Phillip Roth wannabe at Roth's absolute worst--too selfishly self-absorbed with his own neuroses to give anything of interest to the reader.

Boring and also Annoying

All I can say is that the protagonist talks about killing him self and getting a divorce multiple times, and midway through the book, you wish he would do either or both.