The Subprimes

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In a wickedly funny dystopian parody set in a financially apocalyptic future America, you are your credit score. Extreme wealth inequality has birthed a class of have-nothings known as Subprimes, whose poor credit ratings render them unemployable. Jobless and asset-less, they’ve faced foreclosures and wander the globally warmed American wasteland in search of day labor and a place to park their battered SUVs. The narrative follows two families navigating this harsh reality, with one Subprime family migrating east in search of a better life. They soon join a slightly better-off writer and his family, who are also struggling. Their journey leads them to a small settlement of Subprimes attempting to create an agrarian utopia on a foreclosed exurb. However, their fragile stability is threatened when job creators target their land for shale oil extraction. Amidst the chaos, a hero emerges—a woman on a motorcycle, suspiciously lacking a credit score, who may hold the key to salvation. This novel offers a darkly comedic exploration of paradise lost and found, the implications of credit, economic policy, and the essence of family, all while reflecting on the current state of America and its potential future.