Chris Ayres

Death by Leisure: a Cautionary Tale Chris Ayres

The hilariously intrepid young author of War Reporting for Cowards returns from Iraq only to dive head-first into another absurd, terrifying world: the American leisure class.
Like Hunter Thompson crossed with one of David Brooks?s bobos in paradise, Ayres embeds himself in LA?s ?liesuretocracy?: an over-the-top world of caviar facials, billionaire charity balls, souped-up SUVs, and monster home loans . . . not to mention $1,000-a-night brothels and million-dollar poker tournaments. Ayres?s highly leveraged lifestyle lands him a surreal night with a supermodel, a date at Michael Jackson?s birthday party in Neverland Ranch (Ayres bribes the organizers five grand to get in), and a wife courtesy of Craigslist. But disaster is never far away.
In the book?s brutal final section, Ayres is forced to confront the excesses of his generation at a scene of apocalyptic destruction: the Katrina-ravaged South. Told with a blend of offbeat irreverence, genuine pathos, and incisive social commentary, Death by Leisure is a savage and darkly humorous odyssey that taps directly into the contemporary psyche.