Aspidistra Flying | Keep The

However, Gordon quickly learns that poverty isn't romantic; it's just exhausting. It makes him bitter, self-centered, and often cruel to his long-suffering girlfriend, Rosemary. What is an Aspidistra, Anyway?

Originally published in 1936, Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a bitingly satirical, often bleak, but deeply human look at the struggle to maintain one’s principles in a world that only respects the bottom line. The Plot: War on the Middle Class Keep the Aspidistra Flying

The story follows , a struggling poet who has declared a one-man war on the "Money-God". Gordon quits a promising career in advertising—a field he views as the "dirtiest ramp" of capitalism—to take a low-paying job in a second-hand bookshop. He lives in squalid, freezing rooms, convinced that by embracing poverty, he can remain an "authentic" artist. However, Gordon quickly learns that poverty isn't romantic;