The illusion and power of money in Hernan Diaz's 'Trust'
NPR's Book of the Day
NPR
4.2 • 672 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2022
⏱️ 9 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Today's book is one of those |
| 0:07.3 | Roshoman-style stories where one story is told through multiple angles and perspectives. |
| 0:14.0 | But instead of a singular incident, what's repeated is the life of one guy, a mega-rich |
| 0:20.4 | barren type during the Great Depression. |
| 0:23.0 | The book is titled Trust, and it comes from author Hernan Diaz. |
| 0:27.2 | And he said he wanted to give this story the multiple-angled treatment |
| 0:30.8 | because he was attracted to this idea of different narratives, of the gap between history and fiction. Obviously, that gap is on a lot |
| 0:40.2 | of folks' mind in this modern age, and Diaz makes the point to NPR Scott Simon about how wealth |
| 0:47.0 | is really what helps men, because it is usually men, warp reality in this country. |
| 0:53.1 | In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. |
| 0:58.0 | Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. |
| 1:02.6 | On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, |
| 1:08.3 | helping you understand why distant events matter here at home. |
| 1:12.2 | Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:17.8 | Renan Diaz's new novel trust may move you to look differently at, say, a $5 bill. |
| 1:24.2 | Why are we so confident it can buy a cup of coffee and a muffin? |
| 1:27.6 | Because it has a story. A narrative, you might say, that money can buy what we need and perhaps what we want and eventually what we may dream about. |
| 1:35.8 | But what is money, really? |
| 1:39.1 | Trust is a book spun from four narratives, a novel wrought from the tale of the life of Andrew Bevel of Financial |
| 1:45.1 | Barron during the 1929 stock market crash, then his attempt to write his own story, then his |
| 1:51.8 | secretary's memoir, and finally the journal left by his deceased wife, Mildred. Let's ask the novelist |
| 1:59.6 | to read from the secretary's memoir when she applies for her job. |
... |
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