This month former stockbroker turned financial blogger and thriller writer Norb Vonnegut releases his second novel, The Gods of Greenwich. With this story Vonnegut, who is the cousin of deceased American literature legend Kurt, feeds our fears about the global market with his malicious power brokers. In this exclusive interview, Vonnegut chats with RT’s Web Editor Morgan Doremus about the state of America’s economy, some of the craziest Wall Street stunts he’s ever heard about and what readers can expect from him next!
| Morgan Doremus: Financial negligence or even out-and-out larceny is topical in today’s ‘econopocalypse’. For some the failings of the men and women behind the scenes of the US market is a source of fascination, for others a frustration. What are your feelings towards what is happening today with America’s economy?
Norb Vonnegut: Unemployment at 9.8 percent is considered a recovery. Our national debt is around $14.7 trillion. Congress is gridlocked over the budget. This stuff is too scary for the beach, so I don’t write about it in my thrillers. I do, however, dive into the wild behavior of people trying to get ahead in the crazy competitive world of finance. MD: Both of your novels, Top Producer (2009) and The Gods of Greenwich (2011) are financial thrillers. This subgenre has a few very well-known authors including Joseph Finder and Stephen Frey. When you first sat down to write, were you intimidated to be adding yourself to the ranks of these authors? NV: I am a big fan of both writers. So much so, I have forgiven Joe Finder for being a Yalie. And I’m looking forward to the next installment in his Nick Heller series. The Chairman by Stephen Frey is one of my all time favorites. I don’t think about genre while writing. Good stories are good stories. I’m trying to create great characters and a rollercoaster experience for thriller fans. Finance provides the context for my novels, because I lived in that world and know it intimately. But fear not, I don’t ask readers to grind through a treatise on the capital assets pricing model. Just thinking about that last sentence makes my teeth hurt. Read the full interview. |
The New York Times describes my novels as “money porn,” “a red-hot franchise,” and “glittery thrillers about fiscal malfeasance.” Through fiction I explore the dark side of money and the motivations of those who have it, want more, and will steamroll anybody who gets in their way.