Present Value : A Novel

by Sabin Willett

Fritz Brubaker and his wife, Linda—an attractive couple in their mid-forties—have it all. He’s a toy-company executive and she’s a million-dollar-a-year lawyer. Their children are in private school; they have a McMansion in a Boston suburb and a cottage on Nantucket. But their comfortable world is suddenly turned upside down when Fritz’s company’s stock tanks and he is arrested for insider trading. Linda’s image-conscious firm suspends her. Their houses get repossessed. The kids go haywire. Watching the Brubaker family’s lives unravel is the best way to see the stuff from which they’re really made. This clever, very funny novel is a post-millennial snapshot of America that shows what happens to an economy built on greed when its chickens come home to roost. It’s the story of a family gone wrong, and its attempt to reset its course.The author of two successful thrillers, Sabin Willett delivers in this ambitious new novel the kind of witty social commentary we associate with Tom Wolfe, Jonathan Franzen, and Zadie Smith. But he writes in his own original voice, breaking new ground as he describes a changed world. Present Value is a provocative, wonderfully entertaining ride—an irreverent, clear-eyed view of the way we live now.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

416 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2003

About the author

Peter Sabin Willett, known as Sabin Willett, (born March 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and novelist, a partner with the Boston law firm Bingham McCutchen, previously called Bingham Dana. He lives near Boston, Massachusetts. His is perhaps best known as a defense lawyer for U.S. prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, including Adil Abdulhakim.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the reference to the Benjamin Cardozo quote,

“A trustee is held to something stricter than the morals of the market place. Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive, is then the standard of behavior… the level of conduct for fiduciaries [has] been kept at a level higher than that trodden by the crowd”

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sabin Willett has written a humorous satire of (now-not quite) modern upper middle class life in
America. While some might call his approach dark, I feel the narrator was more drily humorous. "Present Value" is set in the suburbs of Boston (Dover, MA to be exact) in Aug. 2001. As Fritz drives his 2 spoiled children to their expensive private school in an enormous gas-guzzling SUV, his thoughts are mostly consumed with keeping up appearances with the other parents in line engaging in the morning "Good Parent Ritual". Nothing would annoy his lawyer wife more than opening up their family to criticism. In fact, a large portion of their daily life...from the clothes they wear, to the house they live in, to ensuring that their children's school backpacks include sunscreen for recess...is performed out of Fear of Criticism.

But then September 1st, 2001 happens, and in the midst of the unspeakable tragedy happening a mere 200 miles away, Fritz realizes that after his children recover from the initial shock, they are more concerned about when regular programming will return to television than the world events unfolding around them. He realizes that the 5000+ square foot house, the $200,000+ duel income, and the top-notch schooling are not turning his children into adults he wants them to be. His family is like 4 strangers bouncing around a huge house, never really touching each others lives. And that evening, as he watches TV, grieves for victims, and hopes his wife, Linda, makes it home from California (where she was on a business trip) OK, he realizes that he has *no one* he can actually have a conversation with.

Post-9/11 the economy takes a predictable down-turn, and Fritz is unpredictably arrested for insider trading. His arrest, and the effects it has on his pampered & image conscious family make up the rest of the novel. How will he deal with his trial? How will his wife deal with keeping the family together if he goes to prison? Most importantly...what is value? Is it a sum total of the worth of your possessions, or is it something more...something a bit more intangible? And how do we teach children who have everything the meaning of value? These are concepts that Fritz struggles with, and his efforts to bring his family together to a shared appreciation of value is the touching heart at the center of the books humor. Highly recommended!

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read two of Sabin Willet's novels and given them high marks. He usually writes serious, intelligent and knowledgeable stories. In his other life he is a Harvard graduate, Harvard Law School graduate and a partner in a prestigious Boston law firm. So when I found this offering in the library I jumped on it. I should have paid more attention to the cover; a picture of a very nice residence but what I failed to observe was the goat on the front lawn. This novel turned out to be an attempt at humorous satire and, other than being funny in places, a pretty pedestrian story about a mid-level finance executive and his million dollar per annum lawyer wife. I will, reluctantly, put a book down before finishing it and have done it on several occasions; in retrospect I'm surprised that I finished this one.

[Vanessa Sumner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hard to rate as it is quite dated in very bad ways.
I admire the author’s skill at creating complex characters in just a few pages. I truly enjoyed the satire throughout, but was pleased there was also true emotion and commentary of human nature that wasn’t meant to be funny. I laughed out loud a few times and was genuinely disgusted by the horrors and waste of the corporate world. Makes me want to dive even deeper into the anti-capitalist revolution than I already am.
The dated parts include open racism and misogyny both from the characters AND, more importantly, from the omniscient POV. Yes, it’s how some (many were much worse than this book!) white people talked and thought during the early 2000’s. But it still sucks! It sucked then and it sucks now. The omniscient POV is quite snarky and is often making fun of the characters which is why I didn’t take another star off.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard to imagine someone not in finance or law enjoying this book. There’s a lot of nitty gritty finance stuff and bankruptcy stuff here. Spoiler: in bankruptcy proceedings, only the lawyers get paid.

Reading this book made me remember Enron and its psychopathic leadership. I was bummed to learn that Jeff Skilling was released from jail last summer and Andrew Fastow was released in 2011.

[Anna Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about the high flying (literally and figuratively) couple with homes in Boston and Nantucket that are struck with tragedy- their private plane goes down in Nantucket sound and a painter and their young son survive unbelievably. Now the race is on to determine what happened and who was at fault. A story of redemption and what it really means to “have it all”.

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a family torn apart by insider trader. It has one plot twist that makes it somewhat interesting but mostly this story left me cold. The timing of the story was around 9/11/2001. The characters were mostly people who had everything and managed to be miserable. I really didn't enjoy this book.

[GRETCHEN B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great modern look at what happens when everything comes crashing down.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Very entertaining and funny in parts. Biting satire of the business class and Wall Street people.

[Donald Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, which combines a compelling plot regarding accounting fraud (think Enron on a smaller scale) with powerful social commentary and some thought-provoking ruminations about life's purpose. Willett's first two novels were also excellent, though it was several years ago that I read them, and my best recollection is that they were more plot-driven, without the over social statements that exist in this one.

Interwoven in this book are occasional chapters recounting a college economics professor teaching introduction to macroeconomics, and the remarkable metaphorical tools he uses to demonstrate an otherwise dry subject. These chapters, though they take place outside the plot, bear directly on the activities in the book. Very creative tool.

Also interesting is the description of a federal prison camp (a/k/a country club prison), especially the process of getting the prisoner from freedom to the prison. I found it interesting because the book I read just prior to this one (The Racketeer, by John Grisham) also includes a prisoner going to a federal prison camp, with a corresponding description of the trip there. Just an amusing coincidence that I should read two consecutive legal thrillers with precisely the same description of something I previously had no knowledge of.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love satire with a heart, so this was right up my alley. The characters were surprisingly well-developed, and the story of a family disintegrating and putting itself back together was actually very moving. Fritz was just a hilarious character in all of his integrity, and some of the scenes which focused on him were brilliant. I think the arraignment scene is comparable in humor to some of the funniest scenes I've read in literature, like the lecture scene toward the end of Lucky Jim and the Seder scene in Wonder Boys. I also really liked the chapters about the economics professor, and thought they were woven in very cleverly. I found the chapters about the senator and about the financial world incredibly boring, and mostly skimmed them. And I was disappointed that the author seemed to dump Lucy mid-way through the story. I thought she was a great character, and wanted to know what happened to her. But all in all, a very enjoyable read.

[Pbwritr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book, not a thriller or as exciting as The Betrayal, but keen satire on people in the financial world. Great descriptions of insider trading and how a company can fall apart. Wonderful explanations of economic principles in the guise of college lectures. A bit tedious some of the time, but mostly very witty through revealing "thoughts" of all participants, what we, "everyman," might think in the same situations. Very clever, overall, and basically a good sotry though the plot slows down at times.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book. Willett perfectly satirized a 21st century American family--complete with Blackberry addictions, luxury SUVs, and private schools. And Willett's humor was just spot on. At times, this book reminded me of the movie The Office, with the wit and irony of the main character and the characters surrounding him. I laughed out loud and cringed, but really enjoyed it all the way through.

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going through the books that I want to sell at my garage sale tomorrow and came across this one. I don't remember why/how/when I decided to read this book, but I do remember that I really enjoyed it, and was pleased to have found it.

Sharp, witty, trenchant (ain't that a GREAT word?) and engaging, I wanted to make sure that I added it to goodreads so that others could look into it. Also, now I will be able to remember her name and check out some of her other books!

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago and can't remember the plot that well, but I remember that this is a nicely written and bitterly funny book about living in modermn America. Characters are addicted to their ipods and the internet, so it is totally realistic. I enjoyed this book immensely, and wonder why it never got more attention. For an up to date black comedy, this is a good book to read. Not as slick as Christofer Moore's work or with as good a premise as Boomsday, still a dark and incisive work.

[Katharine Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your mileage will vary, but I could hardly put this one down and was impressed with the author's knowledge of law, finance, money, and human relationships. Of course, it cut close to the bone with the description of suburban Boston families and schools. 9/11 is weaved into the narrative and haunts other parts of the story like the collapse of the protagonist's company and family. The goats named after Red Sox players is a nice touch.

[Heide]

Absolutely this author. I will make an effort to read all his works. Sabin, I loved the characters, their imperfections and your amazing insights that make each one a valued person, regardless of how shallow they initially appear. I actually highlighted some sections as points to discuss with my love.
Highly recommend.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is unlike most that I read. It is definitely written from a man's point of view but I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is full of satire and great commentary on values within privledged families.

[Lori Anaple · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the satire about the "modern family" and the addictions to technology. It dragged on but the main characters seem to triumph over the cancer of greed. The only character that I really liked was Fritz and I found his observations quirky and funny.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this a few years ago and just LOVED it!

[Max Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately funny.

Takes place around Dover, MA, which is near and dear to me, so there is the fun local element.

But not more than that.

[Marni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun for people interested in accounting or the practice of law.

[Lindsay Goldstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read, and well constructed story. I appreciate the Boston and MA references!

[Veronique Davidson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts like a fairy tale and doesn't go the way you expect.
Better than it looks

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a satire on a community in which I used to live. I waited until I moved away to read it and it provided me with much laughter.

[Ellen]

Florida

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out great, but ended up liking some chapters and plowing thru others

[Toesnorth's mom]

very good