July 2024
Intermediate to advanced
320 pages
8h 5m
English
In Lionel Shriver’s dystopian novel The Mandibles: A Family, 2029–2047, readers are immersed in a macroeconomic dystopia.1 Crushed by its mountain of debt, the United States has defaulted, the greenback is worthless, and hyperinflation rages. The crisis stretches beyond macroeconomics and leads to a societal breakdown. Gold, guns, and a farm offer the best chance of hanging on. The Mandibles, a family of wealth, are fighting for survival.
Though this novel is entirely fictional, it speaks to real—and surprisingly common—fears about the macroeconomy.2 When we discussed the novel with Shriver in 2021, she told us that her plot, which begins in 2029, could turn into reality before a potential ...
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