Book Look: Trust, by Hernan Diaz

Boiling the plot down to the simplest terms, this is the story of a fabulously successful New York financier, Andrew Bevel, at the turn of the century: his ancestors, his childhood and extraordinary marriage, his rising prestige and wealth, his role in exploiting (manipulating?) the roiling financial markets of the 1920s, his eccentricities, his legacy. Along the way, Diaz explores the relationship between capitalism, civic responsibility, and self-interest (echoes of Gordon Gekko's "greed is good"); the complicated forms of co-dependence that bind parents and children, husbands and wives; and - most of all - the many ways that wealth and power can be used to distort truth.

But this summary scarcely does justice to the deceptively twisty tale that is reworked - by the time the book is over - three times over. The first section, "Bonds," recounts the tale from the perspective of a novelist who has transformed the outlines of Bevel's life into a critically acclaimed novelization. The second section, "My Life," is composed of excerpts from Bevel's never-completed autobiography. The third section "A Memoir, Remembered," is recounted by Bevel's ghostwriter - it's in this section that you begin to appreciate the web that Diaz has been subtly weaving. Then in the fourth/last section, "Futures" - composed of excerpts from the diary of the Bevel's extraordinary wife - Diaz pulls the rug out entirely, challenging readers to reassess all the simple/easy/convenient assumptions they've spent the prior 300 pages forming.

Diaz is a gloriously gifted storyteller. His characters are deeply complex and original, his prose eloquent and smart, his insights into human nature grippingly authentic. This is one of the most original works I've read in a long time. "Trust" me - you won't regret the time you spend on this engrossing, inventive, highly human tale of pride, perspective, and power.