The Money Tree: a review

I've read three of Chris Guillebeau's non-fiction books and liked them all. I was surprised to learn that his 5th book, The Money Tree, is a novel though it still addresses his favoured themes of life fulfillment through entrepreneurship and self-direction. Sadly, Guillebeau's open, easy, readable style, which I find so helpful in reading about personal finance and small business, doesn't really translate into a catchy novel. From the start The Money Tree reads like a pedantic life lesson for teens. 

The characters in The Money Tree lack depth or believability. The main character has $3,000 in his savings account, yet when something goes wrong at his apartment he sleeps in his car for several days. He's inept, the girlfriend is long-suffering, and the mentor is a cross between Buddha and Einstein, without much variation. And the speed with which the plot moves is similarly unbelievable. I won't give you examples as there's not enough plot to avoid spoilers, but several times I flipped back through to confirm that, sure enough, X just happened three days ago and now Y is happening - it's enough to give one the vapours.

If the story is just meant to be a delivery method for Guillebeau's lessons on life and finance, it fulfills that mission. The evening it took to read this book wasn't wasted as I gleaned a couple lessons I may use to supplement my income, and I was reminded of the incredible danger student loans pose, particularly in the US. But it sure wasn't a page turner.

Guillebeau is a fine writer or I wouldn't have read now four of his books. I can see recommeding this one to high school graduates and people beginning their college careers as both a cautionary tale and a guidebook. If you like great stories though, this isn't that.