Ordinary Money

by Louis B. Jones

Wayne Paschke's life is turned upside down when he discovers a crate of apparently authentic twenty-dollar bills, left in his garage by his best friend, Randy Potts

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 1990

About the author

Louis B. Jones is the author of three New York Times Notable Books - Ordinary Money (Viking 1990, Penguin 1991), Particles and Luck (Pantheon 1993, Vintage 1994), and California’s Over (Pantheon 1997, Vintage 1998). His newest novel, Radiance, will be published by Counterpoint Press May 2011. He is an NEA fellow and a fellow of the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. He has written screenplays – originals and adaptations of his own work – for studios and for independents. He's been a regular reviewer for the New York Times Book Review and has served as visiting writer at a number of colleges around the country. For some years he has acted as the Fiction Director for the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

Reviews

[🐴 🍖]

h*ck yeah. a glimpse into a parallel universe where franzen didn't get scared off by recognitions and stop reading gaddis, or alternately joseph mcelroy slumming it writing a domestic drama (albeit one w/ potential to drive the world back onto the barter system). lou b gets real semiotic with counterfeiting as a concept and what it means to be "counterfeit" (etymologically, "made in opposition"): you start seeing nods on every page, from bac-o's to silly corporate art installations. dan the blind lawyer & the rare coin pyramid scheme also highlights. ending's a little pat (maybe intentionally, as yet another debasement); the bigger structural problem imo is how kim vanishes partway thru after being like 1/3 the focus of the book early on. nevertheless this is screamingggggggg for a reissue

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m wavering between 2 and 3 stars. This book seems like it would be more engaging to study than to just read, to analyze for symbolism and satire than to just kick back and absorb. It’s really rather odd. Everyone does slightly strange and slightly awkward things. The main conflict (and the ancillary conflicts, come to think about it) arises out of nowhere and fades away again without any rhyme or reason. The book ends so blandly and suddenly that it gives the impression that Jones was tired of writing it and so just stopped.

[Ebenmaessiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book could be any number of things - caper, domestic drama, an 'are the kids all right' piece of luridity, or bumbling crooks make good / break bad, among others. its none of those, though, and to jones's credit, for it takes restraint to resist a path you've carved yourself. the book is, instead, an apologetics of mediocrity. hear, hear.