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The Vegan
In The Vegan , Andrew Lipstein challenges our notions of virtue with a brilliant tale of guilt, greed, and how far we’ll go to be good.
Herschel Caine is a soon-to-be master of the universe. His hedge fund, built on the miracle of machine learning, is inches away from systematically extracting obscene profits from the market. His SoHo offices (shoes optional, therapy required) have been fine-tuned to reel in curious investors.
But on the night of May 12, at his elegant Cobble Hill townhouse, he has something else on his mind―the dinner party he and his wife have devised to woo their new A-list neighbors. When the evening fizzles, Herschel indulges in a devilish prank that goes horrifically awry, plunging him into a tailspin of guilt and regret. As Herschel’s tightly constructed world starts to unravel, he clings to the moral clarity he finds in the last place he’d a sudden connection with a neighborhood dog.
A wildly inventive, reality-bending trip, The Vegan holds a mirror up to its reader and poses a question only a hedge fund manager could Is purity a convertible asset? The more Herschel disavows his original sin, and the more it threatens to be revealed, the more it becomes something else entirely―a way into a forgotten world of animals, nature, and life beyond words.
Herschel Caine is a soon-to-be master of the universe. His hedge fund, built on the miracle of machine learning, is inches away from systematically extracting obscene profits from the market. His SoHo offices (shoes optional, therapy required) have been fine-tuned to reel in curious investors.
But on the night of May 12, at his elegant Cobble Hill townhouse, he has something else on his mind―the dinner party he and his wife have devised to woo their new A-list neighbors. When the evening fizzles, Herschel indulges in a devilish prank that goes horrifically awry, plunging him into a tailspin of guilt and regret. As Herschel’s tightly constructed world starts to unravel, he clings to the moral clarity he finds in the last place he’d a sudden connection with a neighborhood dog.
A wildly inventive, reality-bending trip, The Vegan holds a mirror up to its reader and poses a question only a hedge fund manager could Is purity a convertible asset? The more Herschel disavows his original sin, and the more it threatens to be revealed, the more it becomes something else entirely―a way into a forgotten world of animals, nature, and life beyond words.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2023
140 people are currently reading
8845 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Lipstein
4 books157 followersAndrew Lipstein is an American novelist. He wrote Last Resort (2022), The Vegan (2023), and Something Rotten (2025).
Andrew lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three sons.
Andrew lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
December 5, 2022
One of the best, if not THE best, book about veganism and high finance out this year.
June 27, 2023
The Vegan by Andrew Lipstein follows a hedge fund manager as he spirals into veganism and a moral quandary after pulling a “prank” on one of his dinner guests. Although, I wouldn’t call drugging someone with ZzzQuil and vodka a silly little prank.
Before this dinner, Herschel has no issue with eating meat but slowly begins to be repulsed by it. He also starts feeling a connection with animals, including his neighbour’s dog.
The book presents Herschel Caine as a successful man in finance, but to me, he just came off as an arrogant finance bro. I get that it is supposed to be a tale of greed and morality, but it failed to hold my interest. I had zero interest in the discussions on hedge funds and the company’s super-algorithm. I almost DNF’d it multiple times but persisted since it is a fast read. Except for Herschel, character development is practically nonexistent.
I am not the right reader for this book, but someone else might be.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
Before this dinner, Herschel has no issue with eating meat but slowly begins to be repulsed by it. He also starts feeling a connection with animals, including his neighbour’s dog.
The book presents Herschel Caine as a successful man in finance, but to me, he just came off as an arrogant finance bro. I get that it is supposed to be a tale of greed and morality, but it failed to hold my interest. I had zero interest in the discussions on hedge funds and the company’s super-algorithm. I almost DNF’d it multiple times but persisted since it is a fast read. Except for Herschel, character development is practically nonexistent.
I am not the right reader for this book, but someone else might be.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com
January 26, 2023
"The Vegan" by Andrew Lipstein starts with a slightly Woody Allen vibe of a Manhattan apartment party where Hershel Caine and his beautiful wife Franny invited another influential couple and a friend, Birdie, to, hopefully, establish good social connections. Hershel is a thirty-eight-year-old hedge fund manager leading a happy, stable life, and the future looks bright and wealthy. But a thoughtless prank at the party, which may or may not impact sending Birdie to a hospital, where she falls into a coma, changed everything.
Now, Hershel feels guilty, and the only creatures he finds understand him are animals: a bird on the street, a neighbor's dog, and two lizards he acquired at a pet shop. He sees animals as living in their own world, feeling lonely but strangely close to him. Suddenly, he is repulsed by the sight of meat and becomes a vegan. Adding to his frustration is the situation at his company: an algorithm that was supposed to predict how stocks would perform is doing more than that – it's changing the way the stock market works, so it becomes ethically wrong for Hershel to promote it. Try to tell it to Milosz and Simo, the firm's brilliant software developers, and to a greedy investor discussing his options!
The sudden conversion of Hershel is just fascinating to follow. This is not a midlife crisis or a naive Thoreauian dream of union with wilderness, initiated by guilt, but an idea born from trying to understand humans' connection with other beings and nature. "Language let us forget the sights and sounds of the world, the wheel let us transcend our bodies, artificial light let us control night and day, photography let us outsource and manipulate our memories, books and phones and the internet reduced distances to a point, denied Earth its immensity."
It might sound like such a heavy subject would make this novel difficult, but it's the opposite. This book is hard to put down, both philosophical and humorous, written in beautiful language, touching on subjects of financial investors, conformism, lifestyle status, art, accepting one's roots, fitting in, and sticking out. I haven't been entranced by the book like this in a long time! All elements – the protagonist, the background, and the excellent supporting characters create a novel that moved me into reflecting on our connection with nature and was very entertaining at the same time. I was both surprised (this was my first book by Andrew Lipstein, as I didn't read his "Last Resort" yet) and very impressed! I highly recommend it.
Now, Hershel feels guilty, and the only creatures he finds understand him are animals: a bird on the street, a neighbor's dog, and two lizards he acquired at a pet shop. He sees animals as living in their own world, feeling lonely but strangely close to him. Suddenly, he is repulsed by the sight of meat and becomes a vegan. Adding to his frustration is the situation at his company: an algorithm that was supposed to predict how stocks would perform is doing more than that – it's changing the way the stock market works, so it becomes ethically wrong for Hershel to promote it. Try to tell it to Milosz and Simo, the firm's brilliant software developers, and to a greedy investor discussing his options!
The sudden conversion of Hershel is just fascinating to follow. This is not a midlife crisis or a naive Thoreauian dream of union with wilderness, initiated by guilt, but an idea born from trying to understand humans' connection with other beings and nature. "Language let us forget the sights and sounds of the world, the wheel let us transcend our bodies, artificial light let us control night and day, photography let us outsource and manipulate our memories, books and phones and the internet reduced distances to a point, denied Earth its immensity."
It might sound like such a heavy subject would make this novel difficult, but it's the opposite. This book is hard to put down, both philosophical and humorous, written in beautiful language, touching on subjects of financial investors, conformism, lifestyle status, art, accepting one's roots, fitting in, and sticking out. I haven't been entranced by the book like this in a long time! All elements – the protagonist, the background, and the excellent supporting characters create a novel that moved me into reflecting on our connection with nature and was very entertaining at the same time. I was both surprised (this was my first book by Andrew Lipstein, as I didn't read his "Last Resort" yet) and very impressed! I highly recommend it.
August 9, 2023
Andrew Lipstein invokes the world of high finance, financial shenanigans, those who "have it all" but aren't satisfied. We learn about ownership and guilt, striving for even greater satisfaction and recognition, and the potential dangers of AI in the financial world. As if we weren't being warned about THAT every day on the news. But Herschel Caine finds his world in an uproar thanks to a potentially lethal practical joke he pulls on someone, and turmoil sends him off into introspective forays around the City. Herschel is not particularly likeable, which is one of the pluses of the book for me. I like reading about complicated people, and while I wouldn't want them for a friend or even a dinner partner, I enjoy watching from the sidelines as they implode.
August 14, 2023
Not very good, and especially disappointing considering how much I adored Last Resort. And I’m a militant vegan who believes in animal rights/sentience/etc!! Kind of a bunch of half thoughts crammed together with a very weak narrative arc and a main character who doesn’t really coalesce into making much sense. This slim novel should’ve probably been edited down to a short story. The cover art is great, so that’s why I’m giving it two stars instead of one! Would not recommend.
July 8, 2023
This one is a bit tricky to review. Basically, Herschel Caine’s seemingly harmless prank goes very wrong and his guilt manifests in an extreme empathy with animals. While I was reading, I thought it was all a bit ridiculous, but when I thought about it after putting the book down, I started to admire it. I began to think of it more as an imaginative way to show how guilt can consume a person, and in ways that we don’t get to choose. Worth a read, for sure.
Thanks to NetGalley and FSG for the advanced copy!
Thanks to NetGalley and FSG for the advanced copy!
January 9, 2023
I flew through Andrew Lipstein's sophomore offering, but I'm struggling to articulate my feelings towards it: the blurb describes the novel as "a brilliant tale of guilt, greed, and how far we’ll go to be good", and this feels like a concise but apt summation. A story of trying to atone for the moral wrongs one has committed... and one of veganism. I would be lying if I said I had read anything else like it!
Thank you Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
December 7, 2023
okay plant based american psycho 🤚🤚🤚🤚🙄
July 9, 2023
I have no idea what happened in this book. The characters were all abhorrent. Lying, cheating, deceit, etc. And just a bunch of rambling nonsense thoughts. The only thing I felt bad about was the anole.
August 12, 2024
3.5 stars
July 11, 2023
Herschel Caine is the vain and status obsessed CEO of a quant hedge fund, who’s algorithm may or may not destroy the stock market while making everyone at the company very rich. While he’s trying to woo investors, he’s also trying to befriend his neighbors the Guggenheims and invites them to a dinner party. Unfortunately one of the other guests is annoying and boisterous. To get rid of her he gives her a cocktail mostly made up of ZZZquil and some vodka, which leads to disastrous results and sends Herschel into, not so much a vision quest, but a morality quest, that ends up at veganism.
If Herschel were a woman, we would be calling this an unhinged woman book. He’s looking into animal’s souls and connecting with them, from the neighbor’s dog that can see Herschel’s guilt to the poor red panda in the zoo that sees him naked (you just have to find out). The guilt over what happened at the party consumes him to the point that animal products are revolting (Lipstein captured this so well, I was feeling sick) and it makes him start to look at the world differently, especially at his hedge fund. He doesn’t have the language to describe what’s happening, or at least he claims not to. While I do believe that his new convictions can’t necessarily be described, I do think he’s using a disconnection to language as a way to not accept or confront his guilt. I honestly didn’t think a book about a fintech bro would get me to think about the manipulation of language and morality, but here we are. His sudden turn to veganism seems like a way to reach a moral high ground that will let him be ‘good’ again, whatever ‘good’ means.
I don’t want you to think this is a book solely about veganism, because we still have the AI algorithm that’s making, possibly illegal, trades and corporate espionage. The company name is literally Black Box, the researchers don’t really understand how it works, it just does. It’s almost doing the dirty work for them in trying to make as much money as possible. This no longer sits right with Herschel, while his partner sees themselves as absolved and ready to profit. In trying to make things right, Herschel goes off the deep end again. He’s ready to go scorched earth
I’ve been thinking about this book since I finished it this weekend, especially the last line which killed me a little.
If Herschel were a woman, we would be calling this an unhinged woman book. He’s looking into animal’s souls and connecting with them, from the neighbor’s dog that can see Herschel’s guilt to the poor red panda in the zoo that sees him naked (you just have to find out). The guilt over what happened at the party consumes him to the point that animal products are revolting (Lipstein captured this so well, I was feeling sick) and it makes him start to look at the world differently, especially at his hedge fund. He doesn’t have the language to describe what’s happening, or at least he claims not to. While I do believe that his new convictions can’t necessarily be described, I do think he’s using a disconnection to language as a way to not accept or confront his guilt. I honestly didn’t think a book about a fintech bro would get me to think about the manipulation of language and morality, but here we are. His sudden turn to veganism seems like a way to reach a moral high ground that will let him be ‘good’ again, whatever ‘good’ means.
I don’t want you to think this is a book solely about veganism, because we still have the AI algorithm that’s making, possibly illegal, trades and corporate espionage. The company name is literally Black Box, the researchers don’t really understand how it works, it just does. It’s almost doing the dirty work for them in trying to make as much money as possible. This no longer sits right with Herschel, while his partner sees themselves as absolved and ready to profit. In trying to make things right, Herschel goes off the deep end again. He’s ready to go scorched earth
I’ve been thinking about this book since I finished it this weekend, especially the last line which killed me a little.
March 5, 2023
Herschel Caine at first seems to have it all. He's intelligent, handsome, and settled into married life in one of Cobble Hill's townhouses. It's clear from the outset that Caine's not stretched for funds as he calls for a daily car service to his SoHo-based firm which is on the brink of discovering technology to foresee the future of the stock market. A discovery that'll make him millions of dollars.
Within him, there's a desire to flaunt his wealth, and with the anticipation of an injection from investors — a dinner party with the neighbours on May 12 seems like the ideal opportunity to do so. That is until things go awry, and he finds himself in an almost deadly bind. It's at this point in Lipstein's second novel that I was turned on my head as Caine descended into a journey of utter madness.
The Vegan is fast-paced, whip smart, and it left me yearning for another Lipstein novel. Herschel Caine is a character unlike any I've ever met before.
You'll be racing to the finish line of this one.
Within him, there's a desire to flaunt his wealth, and with the anticipation of an injection from investors — a dinner party with the neighbours on May 12 seems like the ideal opportunity to do so. That is until things go awry, and he finds himself in an almost deadly bind. It's at this point in Lipstein's second novel that I was turned on my head as Caine descended into a journey of utter madness.
The Vegan is fast-paced, whip smart, and it left me yearning for another Lipstein novel. Herschel Caine is a character unlike any I've ever met before.
You'll be racing to the finish line of this one.
July 23, 2023
“He got to spend his working life thinking about things that didn’t exist because people like me sold our souls to try to make use of them, we looked people in the eyes and made false promises, we were forever optimistic in the face of the fact that we were trying to sell things that hadn’t been built just so we could buy the resources to see if they could be built at all.”
Woof. This is a very odd book. Like I am here for the hedge fund manager loses his marbles and becomes a vegan storyline and the writing is so good. But it’s also very strange and random. Ending was chef’s kiss 👨🏽🍳
Woof. This is a very odd book. Like I am here for the hedge fund manager loses his marbles and becomes a vegan storyline and the writing is so good. But it’s also very strange and random. Ending was chef’s kiss 👨🏽🍳
February 14, 2024
Heck, maybe even 4.5!! Super into this one
July 5, 2023
"...it was the collision of greed and ingenuity with our eternal myopia, our blind faith in progress. We now built things that exceeded even our imagination, by the time we understood the consequences it was far too late...And with every upgrade the human race wrought we saw more and more of ourselves, we saw less and less of the world we'd opted out of, we grew only in confidence, we became bold in our ignorance, we became deranged, obsessed not with who we were but who we weren't...our imaginations were hammers without nails."
Knowing nothing about this novel, #TheVegan was the BEST kind of surprise a book can offer: thoughtful, funny, dark, and timely. I was intrigued by its cover, title, and description, so I requested an ARC from #NetGalley and they came through. The book hits shelves next Tuesday 7/11/2023 and I think it's going to be very well-received. Herschel Caine has a lot going on. He's about to become wildly wealthy via the deconstruction of "algorithms" within the stock market, while networking with his well-heeled neighbors, and embarking on starting a family with his wife. Then an irresponsible decision sets off a series of dark and irreversible events from which he cannot rebound. The greatest "hit" is to his conscience and he begins to connect, in bizarre ways, to the natural world: animals in particular. An encounter with a neighbor's dog, Lucy, brings him to new realizations and perceptions and it just escalates from there.
As he begins to fall apart, he also seems to come together--becoming more self-aware and, in his mind, responsible and "honest" while continuing to impact lives around him in strange and detrimental ways. His encounters with nature and animals--from the dog to a red panda and then anoles/lizards he decides to adopt--are laugh out loud funny. This is a strange and beautiful novel, a sophomore release for #AndrewLipstein. I'm excited as I missed his well-received debut, Last Resort, which will now go straight to the top of my "read" pile. This happened recently when I discovered Hanna Halperin through her second novel - I Could Live Here Forever - and quickly located her debut Something Wild.
I truly enjoyed this book and its relevance to our modern day world--the ways we perceive and deceive ourselves and those around us. Thanks #NetGalley!
Knowing nothing about this novel, #TheVegan was the BEST kind of surprise a book can offer: thoughtful, funny, dark, and timely. I was intrigued by its cover, title, and description, so I requested an ARC from #NetGalley and they came through. The book hits shelves next Tuesday 7/11/2023 and I think it's going to be very well-received. Herschel Caine has a lot going on. He's about to become wildly wealthy via the deconstruction of "algorithms" within the stock market, while networking with his well-heeled neighbors, and embarking on starting a family with his wife. Then an irresponsible decision sets off a series of dark and irreversible events from which he cannot rebound. The greatest "hit" is to his conscience and he begins to connect, in bizarre ways, to the natural world: animals in particular. An encounter with a neighbor's dog, Lucy, brings him to new realizations and perceptions and it just escalates from there.
As he begins to fall apart, he also seems to come together--becoming more self-aware and, in his mind, responsible and "honest" while continuing to impact lives around him in strange and detrimental ways. His encounters with nature and animals--from the dog to a red panda and then anoles/lizards he decides to adopt--are laugh out loud funny. This is a strange and beautiful novel, a sophomore release for #AndrewLipstein. I'm excited as I missed his well-received debut, Last Resort, which will now go straight to the top of my "read" pile. This happened recently when I discovered Hanna Halperin through her second novel - I Could Live Here Forever - and quickly located her debut Something Wild.
I truly enjoyed this book and its relevance to our modern day world--the ways we perceive and deceive ourselves and those around us. Thanks #NetGalley!
June 22, 2023
TW: drugging someone without their consent, sexual assault, arson
Herschel Caine runs a hedge fund and has developed an algorithm that will revolutionize the economy, possibly at the expense of the middle class (um…like always?). The closer Herschel gets to financial success that he never fathomed, the more of an affinity he has for animals and sees consuming them as grotesque. It begins when he feels an emotional connection to his neighbor’s dog, saying that he can sense her emotions and that she feels trapped (projecting much? Herschel is the one who is likely feeling trapped by his life choices!). You might start to feel sorry for him, until he essentially drugs his wife’s best friend, which leads to her accident and coma (don’t mix ZzzQuil and vodka people).
He becomes increasingly unstable as the book progresses, breaking into the Prospect Park Zoo, buying anoles, then leaving them unattended leading to the death of one of the lizards. Then he vacillates between loving and hating his wife with such a speed that I think he needs to spend more time with his therapist. Herschel and Franny are supposed to be trying to conceive but I think she should be trying to find a divorce lawyer. He then shifts between wanting to eat animal products to being outright disgusted by them. I could barely keep up with Herschel and his moods. He also becomes increasingly unstable at work, while reliving past experiences of sexual assault and it becomes clear that Herschel is projecting his feelings of being trapped on to the animals he in encountering.
I think it’s apparent that I didn’t enjoy this novel. I can vibe with an imperfect character and there can be method to the madness, but Herschel seems to be all madness and no method. He’s hurtful, ruthless and delusional. It’s sad to think that there are men like him running our economy with unchecked mental health issues and money to burn.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for permitting me to read this work prior to its release.
Herschel Caine runs a hedge fund and has developed an algorithm that will revolutionize the economy, possibly at the expense of the middle class (um…like always?). The closer Herschel gets to financial success that he never fathomed, the more of an affinity he has for animals and sees consuming them as grotesque. It begins when he feels an emotional connection to his neighbor’s dog, saying that he can sense her emotions and that she feels trapped (projecting much? Herschel is the one who is likely feeling trapped by his life choices!). You might start to feel sorry for him, until he essentially drugs his wife’s best friend, which leads to her accident and coma (don’t mix ZzzQuil and vodka people).
He becomes increasingly unstable as the book progresses, breaking into the Prospect Park Zoo, buying anoles, then leaving them unattended leading to the death of one of the lizards. Then he vacillates between loving and hating his wife with such a speed that I think he needs to spend more time with his therapist. Herschel and Franny are supposed to be trying to conceive but I think she should be trying to find a divorce lawyer. He then shifts between wanting to eat animal products to being outright disgusted by them. I could barely keep up with Herschel and his moods. He also becomes increasingly unstable at work, while reliving past experiences of sexual assault and it becomes clear that Herschel is projecting his feelings of being trapped on to the animals he in encountering.
I think it’s apparent that I didn’t enjoy this novel. I can vibe with an imperfect character and there can be method to the madness, but Herschel seems to be all madness and no method. He’s hurtful, ruthless and delusional. It’s sad to think that there are men like him running our economy with unchecked mental health issues and money to burn.
Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for permitting me to read this work prior to its release.
August 18, 2023
Felt like I was reading the stream of consciousness ramblings of a very smart, very paranoid, very privileged person on cocaine. Some interesting insights here and there, but not enough to sustain 225 pages.
March 5, 2024
I found this book absolutely gripping. If the ending lacks the heft that the story’s urgency makes one hope for, it’s still more than sufficient to pair nicely with the fun of getting there. A+ Audible reading, for those who partake
May 16, 2024
4.5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Lipstein’s writing is so precise in describing feelings and conversations. I was hooked from the beginning and would love to watch the film version. It has me wanting to go back and read Last Resort again.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Lipstein’s writing is so precise in describing feelings and conversations. I was hooked from the beginning and would love to watch the film version. It has me wanting to go back and read Last Resort again.
March 18, 2025
An interesting story (understatement of the year).
After some consideration, my final feeling is that Lipstein wanted to show off for his second novel: “Look at how internally logical! Look at all the high brow references! What sly wit!”
On the other hand, he had my full attention for all 240 or whatever pages.
Well shoot, maybe this isn’t my final feeling after all
After some consideration, my final feeling is that Lipstein wanted to show off for his second novel: “Look at how internally logical! Look at all the high brow references! What sly wit!”
On the other hand, he had my full attention for all 240 or whatever pages.
Well shoot, maybe this isn’t my final feeling after all
November 10, 2024
this guy has me beat in the overthinking olympics
July 23, 2023
3.5. I absolutely loved what was here, but there should have been more of it. The novel felt too hurried and some critical parts could have used a little more time and space. Still, a tremendous voice and a really entertaining read.
August 29, 2023
Horrible, couldn’t even finish it! There are no chapters and the author’s writing style is a confusing stream of consciousness which makes it impossible to follow.
August 25, 2023
I have to give this a middle of the road rating as I really do not know if I liked it or not. And bear with this review as I’m not really even sure how to do this either.
This book was recommended to me by a lovely young sales assistant in Daunt books as it reminded her of the cover of Hummingbird Salamander I was buying. And she said it was weird. The blurb used the word ‘cosmic’ so I was in.
And it started well enough, all about financial shares and that, didn’t have the first clue what was going on (maths is NOT a strong point of mine) but it was wonderfully written and I was coloured intrigued. I was still onboard through the whole dinner party incident and even through the first part of veganisim hitting.
But then we had all this far flung stuff about language and nature and a malformed subplot about blackmail or some such business stuff and it started to loose me.
It was indeed weird yes, but not weird in a way like anything I had read before. Not Outer Gods liquifying your soul weird or Great God Pan weird… just, well, not really about a lot apart from a bloke loosing the plot for about a week then apparently going back to normal. Although I thought his behaviour throughout was fairly odd and vastly contradictory. And the constant displays of wealth vulgar.
I struggled with every character (apart from maybe the dog) as they were not only from a world I have ZERO interest in, they were ridiculously paper thin and two dimensional. They where just background dressing for Mr Vegan.
I will think on it for sometime, so that in itself is a plus… we like a book that makes us think.
Is this how all vegans are made? Coz anyone who won’t eat cheese must be considered a tad mad.
This book was recommended to me by a lovely young sales assistant in Daunt books as it reminded her of the cover of Hummingbird Salamander I was buying. And she said it was weird. The blurb used the word ‘cosmic’ so I was in.
And it started well enough, all about financial shares and that, didn’t have the first clue what was going on (maths is NOT a strong point of mine) but it was wonderfully written and I was coloured intrigued. I was still onboard through the whole dinner party incident and even through the first part of veganisim hitting.
But then we had all this far flung stuff about language and nature and a malformed subplot about blackmail or some such business stuff and it started to loose me.
It was indeed weird yes, but not weird in a way like anything I had read before. Not Outer Gods liquifying your soul weird or Great God Pan weird… just, well, not really about a lot apart from a bloke loosing the plot for about a week then apparently going back to normal. Although I thought his behaviour throughout was fairly odd and vastly contradictory. And the constant displays of wealth vulgar.
I struggled with every character (apart from maybe the dog) as they were not only from a world I have ZERO interest in, they were ridiculously paper thin and two dimensional. They where just background dressing for Mr Vegan.
I will think on it for sometime, so that in itself is a plus… we like a book that makes us think.
Is this how all vegans are made? Coz anyone who won’t eat cheese must be considered a tad mad.
February 5, 2024
Not sure I was ready for the level of sophistication required to enjoy this book. Herschel Caine is starting a hedge fund. The business is based on an algorithm that predicts stock movement. It has limitations and works in ways that are potentially illegal. Caine has other pressures to deal with and decides to be a vegan. He has also developed an appreciation for irony. I found myself excited by his reaction to a futurist painting. In some ways it foretold his reaction to the probable next steps in his life and business. I once saw a futurist painting used in the same way by one of the characters in a film on his way to exile; he packed a futuristic painting. Futurism embraced by a person with no future is similar to Cain's reaction. Cain's veganism appears to be a way to distance himself from reality. The actions he takes in refusing to eat meat and adopting anoles have nothing to do with the legal and moral conflicts he is facing in connection with his behavior toward his wife's former friend and decisions in his business. Perhaps the veganism is a reminder that we take actions and make choices because we are human, yet sometimes the result makes us feel and appear less human. I am not currently involved in the world of investments. Since I'm more likely to become a writer than a financial analyst, I found Last Resort to be more relatable than this second book.
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August 10, 2023
This is a very well-written novel that is not going to be for everyone. It's very esoteric and wealthy NYC. And it features a main character that many would find distasteful. Herschel Caine is a rich financier who works at a cutting-edge hedge fund company that is using AI to develop a revolutionary method of investing. The company is using dubious methods, and Caine ends up torpedoing things.
Whiplash over to what ends up being the main plot point, a dinner party at which Herschel adds NyQuil to an obnoxious guest's cocktail, which ends up going horribly wrong. He is wracked with guilt for the rest of the book, which manifests itself in a strange way--he becomes mentally sympathetic with various animals to such a degree that he can no longer consume animal products, hence the title of the book.
This is where the book becomes either really interesting or really tedious and dull depending on your perspective. It's a very high-minded, weird, and philosophical manifestation of guilt. I found it interesting and thought-provoking for the most part. A unique book.
Whiplash over to what ends up being the main plot point, a dinner party at which Herschel adds NyQuil to an obnoxious guest's cocktail, which ends up going horribly wrong. He is wracked with guilt for the rest of the book, which manifests itself in a strange way--he becomes mentally sympathetic with various animals to such a degree that he can no longer consume animal products, hence the title of the book.
This is where the book becomes either really interesting or really tedious and dull depending on your perspective. It's a very high-minded, weird, and philosophical manifestation of guilt. I found it interesting and thought-provoking for the most part. A unique book.
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March 2, 2023I don’t know what to make of this. I don’t have a lot to reflect on here — I was drawn to this book since I’m vegan and the premise sounded interesting. However, it was a bit of a slog and I nearly stopped reading several times. The style of writing (many run-on sentences) is not to my taste, and anything related to finance went straight over my head, so to be fair some of this is on me. I’m simply not sure what the author is trying to convey. What is the point? I really can’t say. I’m sure it’ll be a compelling read for some (the premise is original enough), but it wasn’t for me.
I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 29, 2023
I grew more and more disappointed in this book as it went on. The protagonist’s psychological detours seem unrelated to the event that might have inspired any guilt that could have led to the deterioration of his mental health. His sudden metamorphosis with regard to the software program he has promoted to make him rich is not credible and is inconsistent with everything else we have learned about him.
The author’s writing style is pleasant, but his story goes nowhere.
The author’s writing style is pleasant, but his story goes nowhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2023
I had to stop.
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