The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver

[james_davis_nicoll]

The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver

Comments

[kithrup]

the US’s foreign-born Latino President decides the only acceptable solution is to default on the debts

Just gonna let that part alone stand there.

[elusis]

Oh yeah. This is also the book whose author was called out for having a black woman character literally lead along on a leash, IIRC, to which Shriver offered the now-standard petulant rant about pee-cee and snowflakes, etc.

One wonders if this is, in fact, what got her book nominated for this particular award.

[jamoche]

"third in a series of reviews … a series I am increasingly coming to repent ever having begun."

I think a sample size of three is enough to come to a valid conclusion. I'd never had a high opinion of the Prometheus anyway - what kind of award has such a tiny candidate pool that it has to keep re-nominating the same books over and over anyway? - and I think you've established that the ones on there for their ideological purity are not all that great.

[jhetley]

Do they chew on things?

[movingfinger]

All the subtlety and insight I've come to expect from Lionel Shriver, present in this book in spades.

[ethelmay]

Further context: http://www.jimchines.com/2016/09/shrivers-on-cultural-appropriation/

[philrm]

With the economy stalled, robbed of tangible wealth by a gold-hoarding government

*headdesk*

[ba_munronoe]

I keep imagining them as giant ants or some other sort of oversized insect.

[philrm]

After reading James' review, I assumed it was the idiot economics that earned it the nomination, but you could well be right.

[elusis]

This comment gives me the clap.

[elusis]

It occurs to me that Shriver may have delusions of being Vonnegut.

[jsburbidge]

The two remaining ones are by Ken MacLeod, though. Things may be looking up.

[(Anonymous)]

Ted Cruz?

[mmcirvin]

They love Ken MacLeod; always have.

[mmcirvin]

Or Thomas Pynchon.

[movingfinger]

I don't know you

[elusis]

Yes, the Internet is amazing in how it lets strangers come together to entertain one another with snarky remarks about bad books, isn't it?

[ethelmay]

Also backhoes, jackhammers, and bulldozers.

[(Anonymous)]

I took the comment "gave me the clap" as an oddly phrased compliment, intended to mean "make me want to applaud" (or "gave me the urge to clap") - I could be wrong.

[asyouknow_bob]

"...the US’s foreign-born Latino President ..."

Sorry, right there - - this is where I got stuck.

Is it ever explained how or why the Constitution was amended to allow this? 2029 is only 13 years from 2016, it takes some number of months or years for ratification...

(...And I see I'm going need to spend some time booting up my new Dreamwidth account; at minimum, I'll need my LJ avatar here...)

[philrm]

I think you can take it to mean that Shriver's knowledge of civics matches her knowledge of economics.

[(Anonymous)]

The constitution allows foreign born presidents; what it doesn't allow is presidents which are not citizens by birth. (Ted Cruz is foreign born. John McCain, born on a US base in the US controlled Panama Canal Zone, is a marginal case. Both have been accepted as being eligible to be elected to the presidency.)

Ted Cruz is also a Latino. So in principle the situation in the book could be obtained by having Ted Cruz succeeding Donald Trump (or Bernie Saunders) in 2025, and being reelected in 2028, or succeeding Bernie Saunders (or Mike Pence) in 2029. James' review, which doesn't mention the president's politcal alignment, is compatible with Shriver calling out Republican financial profligacy.

[james_davis_nicoll]

As I recall, a sop to America's growing Latino population to ensure the Democrats keep their lock on the White House.

[(Anonymous)]

James' commentary is gold. Fortunately, he doesn't hoard it. This is undoubtedly why the Canadian economy remains robust enough to withstand US bans on softwood lumber, etc.

TSM_in_Toronto

[scott_sanford]

It was very interesting to watch excitable right-wingers try to spin reasons why the black man born in Hawaii wasn't a valid presidential candidate but the white guy who wasn't born in America was perfectly suitable for the presidency.

In my opinion John McCain should be fully eligible, but when he was born there was a legal vagueness regarding people who were neither born within the US nor in a country not the US. This loophole was quickly plugged to bring the law as written in line with the law as it was meant to be...but an argument the other way is not obviously wrong.

[(Anonymous)]

It isn't actually necessary to wonder, or guess. You can read a review of it in the LFS blog, which discusses that specific scene: http://lfs.org/blog/review-the-mandibles-a-family-2029-2047-by-lionel-shriver/ .

William H. Stoddard