The Hermit
explores the world of high-stakes investment banking with a sharp eye for the existential ramifications of this calling. The plot follows the daily routine of Andy Sylvain, a 50-year-old Manhattan bond trader who grows disenchanted with his daily hustle and starts to contemplate a clean break. He's a Master of the Universe whose thoughts and inner rationales betray a lost and confused man who cannot even describe what ails him, much less outline a cure for his malaise. Written in a breezy style, the novel's levity is deceptive: underneath sparkling descriptions of conspicuous consumption, glitzy parties, and the intricacies of trading-floor battles, the reader will find layered meditations on the poignant conflict between the allure of a rational, technocratic world and the longing for a transcendent order of things.