The Guest Lecture

Abigail is a feminist economist lying awake in a hotel bed wedged between her husband and daughter, rehearsing her presentation on John Maynard Keynes she's set to give tomorrow. She's using the loci method, placing aspects of her speech in different rooms of her house that's she's moving through in her head, along with Keynes himself who offers up wry commentary throughout.

Which is kinda yawn TBH

Where the book really cooks is in the spot-on late night doom spiral, the dawning realization that past decisions have invariably led to this dark cul-de-sac. In this case Abby has lost tenure and, as the primary breadwinner in the family, the loss of income means having to move to a different town, a smaller house. And while she mentally lashes out at the sexist dinosaurs who denied her tenure despite her consistent publishing schedule and willingness to take on all the extra work thrown her way, she soon turns the blame on herself for pursuing an unsanctioned book project after a personal essay of hers went viral online.

It was a risk and it didn't pan out as she'd hoped.

She quickly goes from beating herself up over her critical misstep to dwelling on a collection of minor coincidences have brought her to this point, this career, this job - one that's she's not going to have for much longer. It feels like she never been completely in control. And then to all the relationships she's ruined on the way here, having lost touch, been called out, spurned, and ignored. And as she struggles to slow down the frantic gallop of her anxious mind, to redirect her energy back to the speech at hand, she can't help but heap on the self recrimination.

Been there. And that's why it just works for me. It's so immediately recognizable in a way that I haven't seen done so well.

...also lots of stuff about Keynes here for any budding economist, if that floats your boat.