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WAYS AND MEANS
Ways and Means by Daniel Leffert is a searing debut novel about a striving finance student, the line between ambition and greed, and the disordered politics of our era.
The Story - Alistair McCabe comes to New York with a plan. Young, handsome, intelligent, and gay, he hopes to escape his Rust Belt poverty and give his mother a better life by pursuing a career in high finance. But by the spring of 2016, Alistair's plan has come undone: His fantasy banking job has eluded him, he's mired in student debt, and in his desperation he's gone to work for an enigmatic billionaire whose ambitions turn out to be far darker than Alistair could have imagined. By the time Alistair uncovers his employer's secret, his life is in danger and he's forced to go on the run.
Meanwhile, Alistair's paramours, an older couple named Mark and Elijah, must face their own moral and financial dilemmas. Mark, nearing the end of his trust fund, takes a job with his father's mobile-home empire that forces him to confront the unsavory foundations of his family's wealth, while Elijah, a failed painter, throws in his lot with an artist-provocateur whose latest project transforms the country's political chaos into a thing of alluring, amoral beauty. As the nation hurtles toward a breaking point, Alistair, Mark, and Elijah must band together to save one another and themselves.
Propulsive, exuberant, and profoundly observed, Ways and Means is an indelible, clear-eyed investigation of class and ambition, sex and art, and politics and power in twenty-first century America.
ADVANCE PRAISE
"Deadly serious in ambition, wildly entertaining in execution, Ways and Means is a remarkably accomplished debut that charts the fault lines of class, politics, art, and desire during a period of American crisis. Every line of this gorgeous novel glows with Daniel Lefferts's intelligence and compassion."?Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
"A work of enormous wit, humor, and passion that captures life in turbo-capitalist America with compassion and grace."?Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends and Super Sad True Love Story
"Art, politics, late-stage capitalism, throuples: How is it possible for Ways and Means to cover so much ground, and so effortlessly? Lefferts writes with a satirist's eye, but never loses his compassion for his characters, or the harrowing world in which they-and we-find ourselves. This is a remarkable debut by a major new talent."?Grant Ginder, author of Let's Not Do That Again
"Totally absorbing, Ways and Means exhumes and lampoons the repressed erotics at the heart of American capitalism. Lefferts delivers The Great Gatsby for the 21st century: irreverent, sexy, and sharp. A major event."?Jessi Jezewska Stevens, author of The Exhibition of Persephone Q and The Visitors
"Ways and Means is wise, funny, ribald, and suspenseful. Daniel Lefferts moves beautifully through narrative modes, including lavish, obscenely hilarious description, nuanced psychological portraiture, and, when the time is right, propulsive thrillerdom. A love story, a satire, a noir, and a cautionary tale, this novel is a terrific debut."?Sam Lipsyte, author of The Ask and No One Left to Come Looking for You
"Ways and Means is a triumphant debut, a pulsating novel that dives into every crevice of our lives, from high art and higher finance to the depths of student debt and MAGA politics . . . Captivating, fresh, witty, and brilliant, Lefferts is a true, original American voice and this novel is not to be missed."?Kristopher Jansma, author of Why We Came to the City
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https://www.daniellefferts.com/Debut Novel: Daniel Leffert's address nation's deepening extremism and widening equality
What does a young, handsome, gay guy do when he hopes to escape his mundane life?
Ways and Means by Daniel Leffert is a searing debut novel about a striving finance student, the line between ambition and greed, and the disordered politics of our era.
Alistair McCabe comes to New York with a plan. Young, handsome, intelligent, and gay, he hopes to escape his Rust Belt poverty and give his mother a better life by pursuing a career in high finance. But by the spring of 2016, Alistair's plan has come undone: His fantasy banking job has eluded him, he's mired in student debt, and in his desperation he's gone to work for an enigmatic billionaire whose ambitions turn out to be far darker than Alistair could have imagined. By the time Alistair uncovers his employer's secret, his life is in danger and he's forced to go on the run.
Leffert tells EGN his whys and wherefores regarding his debut novel.
EGN: Your novel is a book about our current American crisis. What's your take on the mood of the country?
Leffert: I wrote the majority of this book during the Trump presidency, and it centers on the period just before he was elected. While I was writing it I worried that by the time of its publication it would feel outdated in its concerns, but that (unfortunately!) does not seem to be the case. All the political, economic, and cultural currents I write about -- deepening extremism, widening equality, increasing narcissism and desperation at the individual level -- have only continued. One always latches onto signs of hope, and there are some; but the mood does not seem great. I already have fodder aplenty for my next book.
EGN: Is the current state of chaos in America the logical conclusion to post-industrial, late-stage capitalism?
Leffert: I'm a novelist, not an economist or political historian, so I would never presume to say what exactly has led to our moment of chaos. But for the protagonist of my novel, that's certainly the case. He grows up in Binghamton, New York, a city that has never recovered from the withdrawal of industrial jobs in the 20th century, and he can only imagine finding fulfillment and success by working in finance, an industry that has done much to exacerbate the crisis that places like his hometown are beset by. The irony, of course, is that he graduates into a political moment in which the kind of Rust Belt communities he comes from begin to feel recognized and empowered -- if only by a charlatan who's harnessing their resentment for his own ends.
EGN: Are your characters pursuing an American Dream that is no longer? If no longer, why?
For my protagonist in particular, the American Dream as he knows it is out of reach. He flunks out of investment banking and is forced to take a job with dodgy characters, and that's where his trouble begins. If he'd fared better in his chosen industry, he might have gotten the things he wanted: a high salary, a luxury apartment, a position that opens doors and commands respect. But one thing I wanted to explore in this book -- and that my protagonist comes to see more clearly as the story goes on -- is how narrow, isolating, and unfulfilling that dream is. We should fight for better wages, fairer systems, and more affordable housing. But we should also ask -- even as we work toward those goals -- whether wealth and security are really going to deliver the kind of transcendent satisfaction we think they will.
