As a twenty-something corporate employee with a doctor-in-training girlfriend, Livingstone Modicai Ackerman—Liv, to his friends—personifies success. Yet all is not as it seems. His job is tedious and soul-gutting, his girlfriend is a vacuous, image-conscious snob, and, meanwhile, his pathologically narcissistic parents are constant irritants. Add to this the febrile political climate dominated by a reactionary group, the Patriot Posse, led by a mendacious radio personality with outlandish hair and catchy campaign slogan to “Make America Great Again,” is a presidential candidate—and he’s winning!
Overwhelmed and struggling to maintain a sense of dignity and worth, Liv quits his job, breaks up with his girlfriend, and leaves for Spain to explore the existential question: Why live?
Told with humorous charm and wit, Why Liv? examines why modern work is so devoid of purpose and why reactionary politics is so alluring in America. Most of all, it humbly attempts to offer a reason to persevere during difficult times.
Interview with Jon Sebastian Shifrin
For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?
Why Liv? takes places in a new Gilded Age—contemporary America. The main characters hail from the glittering class whose members seamlessly glide at day’s end from their highly compensated corporate jobs to exclusive apartments in New York City. They are society’s winners, the people many of us aspire to be. And yet they are overworked and unhappy. The most self-aware among them, including the protagonist, knows that the rat race is folly, and he wants out. There has to be better way, he thinks, and he’s right. The promise of affluence undergirds our society. Most young people, in fact, believe they’ll be millionaires someday. Yet the zealous pursuit of riches is a goal that, even if achieved, likely will yield a miserable life featuring endless hours at a soulless job with no intrinsic value. This is the paradox of our consumer-driven existence. The cheese at the end of the maze is moldy. Thus, Why Liv?, though focused at the outset on an exclusive niche—the one-percenters—is broadly applicable, as the novel indicts a system to which 100 percent of us are subject.
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
As the cliché goes, you write what you know, which is precisely what I’ve done. I have long wondered why it is that those jobs that have true value by making the world a better place tend to pay poorly while those that seem to have no genuine utility oftentimes are highly compensated. My book touches on this paradox, which one scholar called the “phenomenon of BS jobs,” a matter of great interest to me, having held a number of such meaningless positions.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
Many jobs I’ve held over the years, while impressive on paper, were utterly pointless. They had no reason to exist—and therefore maybe I didn’t. Naturally, I fell into a deep funk. Only by discovering my own creative outlet, writing, did I climb out of the morass and begin to experience the sort of spiritual satisfaction I long sought. The theme of finding meaning is central to Why Liv?—hence the title. Like me, Livingston, the protagonist, has achieved success by societal standards. He has gone to the right schools and holds down a prestigious job. Yet he feels empty inside. I believe that his angst, like my own, is commonplace and therefore speaks to many struggling to find meaning in their lives, professional and otherwise.
Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Reading, like all the arts, has many functions. Entertainment is one. I, however, have striven for a bit more in Why Liv? by challenging the reader to ask questions about his or her role in society and what it means to live a meaningful life. Hopefully, I’ve done this in a way that doesn’t tax the reader but rather is seamlessly woven into an otherwise entertaining excursion that takes place on two continents.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Dorothy Parker, the eminent critic and satirist, once said, “I hate writing, I love having written.” I think most writers, myself included, identify with such sentiment, as the process of putting words on a blank page can be excruciating. I require regular breaks while writing, like a football player dashing off to the sidelines for “breathers.” The constant stoppages do not always work; oftentimes, I spend hours gazing in vain at my computer screen, having conjured only a line or two. Eventually, I clumsily cobble together a first draft of a book’s chapter or short story full of narrative flights of fancy and inconsistencies. But the hardest part is behind me. I then revise and revise, applying one layer on top of another, ironing out wrinkles and adding richness and depth—the sort of ornamentation that gives a story added punch. A relatively polished draft takes shape. Further revisions follow once I receive editorial feedback and, eventually, the particular piece is “done,” or completed to the point where returns on investment have sufficiently diminished that I turn my attention elsewhere. Then and only then, do I truly love having written.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
Presently, I am finishing a novel that touches on some of the same themes as Why Liv?, such as occupational angst and alienation. Told from the point of a view of a talented artist, the story covers his search to break into the art market—with little success. The book asks whether it’s worth trying to pursue a passion given the unlikelihood of achieving success.
How long have you been writing?
I was a late bloomer, only becoming serious about writing in my mid-twenties after becoming very disillusioned with the everyday drudgery of professional life. Over the ensuing two decades, I’ve honed my skills dramatically, though, when I pick up a book by one of my literary heroes like Tolstoy or Kafka, I recognize I still have a long way to go.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Why Liv?
Livingstone Mordicai Ackerman—Liv, to his friends—leads an enviable life. The twenty-something works a corporate job in Manhattan, has doctor-in-training girlfriend, and maintains a wide social circle. He personifies success. Yet all is not as it seems. Liv’s job is a tedious, soul-gutting slog replete with toxic office politics and his girlfriend a vacuous, image-conscious snob. His pathologically narcissistic parents, meanwhile, are constant irritants. Add to this a febrile political climate dominated by a reactionary group, the Patriot Posse. Its angry members, menaced by humiliation, real and imagined, converge on major cities coast-to-coast, including New York. More ominous still, their leader, a mendacious radio personality with outlandish hair and catchy campaign slogan to “Make America Great Again,” is a presidential candidate—and he’s winning How does one maintain a sense of dignity and worth in such a cynical environment devoid of humanity and hope? Such is the question facing Liv—and all of us.
If you could spend the day with one of the characters from Why Liv? who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
Alex is the protagonist’s best friend. He’s easygoing and irreverent, yet also brilliant, having been something of a math prodigy recruited by NASA in high school. However, Alex chose the path of least resistance by joining Wall Street. He’s making a bundle. An early retirement is possible because of his growing wealth. And what would he do once he no longer had to work? Smoke marijuana and surf. As such, Alex would be a great travel companion. He’d regale you with funny anecdotes and would be surprisingly insightful, too. A trip with him would be a wild and memorable excursion—and unexpectedly informative.
About the Author
Jon Sebastian Shifrin is a writer plying his trade in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in The Baltimore Sun, The Hill, Reunion: The Dallas Review, The Missing Slate, The Indian Review, and Futures Trading. Jon also is the founder of the popular current events website, The Daily Dissident (www.dailydissident.com). His non-literary career in politics has taken him from the White House to Capitol Hill to think tanks in Washington and Europe. To learn more about Why Liv?, visit www.whyliv.com.
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