When fiction feels real: The Mandibles and the fragile future of America

The book The Mandibles is a speculative fiction novel by Lionel Shriver that presents a dystopian vision of America in the mid-21st century, following a major economic collapse. Although the book was first published in 2016, I only read it a couple of years later after a friend recommended it to me. Given what is happening in Los Angeles today, the book came back to mind, the parallels with the current U.S. situation are striking and, in fact, growing in number. I found the narrative remarkable enough (especially considering its original publication almost a decade ago) to highlight it here.

As we all know, Los Angeles is currently gripped by escalating unrest, some observers have even described it as a “mini–civil war.” Armed clashes between opposing groups have erupted across parts of the city, and federal government involvement has only intensified the situation. Controversy is mounting over the president’s use of executive powers: critics argue that he is overstepping constitutional boundaries, while supporters claim he is taking necessary steps to restore order. The entire nation is watching as tensions threaten to spiral further out of control.

This could just as well have been a chapter from The Mandibles. The novel follows a once-privileged, multigenerational New York–based family, through which Shriver explores themes of economic instability, societal upheaval, and the fragility of civil order when money loses its value and a Darwinian struggle for survival takes over. The book serves both as a cautionary tale and as a darkly satirical critique of contemporary Western society, its politics, economic and monetary policy, and the myth of perpetual prosperity.

From Los Angeles to 2047: How Shriver's dystopia mirrors today’s unrest

The novel spans nearly two decades, ending in 2047, but it all begins in 2029, a century after the Great Depression, in a United States teetering on the brink of economic collapse. We witness an America where global confidence in the dollar has evaporated. In response to the rise of a new global currency, the bancor, created by a consortium of foreign powers (already sounding familiar?); the U.S. government, led by President Dante Alvarado, a man of Latin descent, defaults on its debt and imposes draconian measures.

Believe it or not, all gold - including jewelry and dental fillings - is confiscated. Foreign currencies are banned, and Americans are forbidden from taking more than $100 out of the country. This “Great Renunciation” is justified as a means to protect national sovereignty, but the so-called reset unleashes hyperinflation, widespread shortages, and a shockingly fast unraveling of civil society. The economy descends into chaos. Infrastructure collapses. Clean water becomes scarce. Crime skyrockets. The government turns authoritarian, enforcing its new rules through military raids and punitive fines. The dollar effectively becomes worthless, and the U.S. is locked out of global trade due to its fiscal recklessness.

The collapse unfolds: Currency confiscation, societal breakdown, and family survival

Wow! Still reading? I guess that means you’re probably seeing at least some parallels with the current situation in the U.S., so let’s take a closer look at the book’s two main parts.

The novel is divided into two sections: Part One, which covers the years 2029–2032, and Part Two, which jumps ahead to 2047. In the first part, we are introduced to the Mandibles, a multigenerational family whose wealth was built on publishing and prudent investing. But like millions of others, they see their assets and financial security wiped out overnight. The comfortable life they had expected, thanks to an anticipated inheritance, vanishes with the currency reset and widespread asset seizures.

The family is suddenly thrust into survival mode as their bonds become worthless, their gold is confiscated, inflation skyrockets, and civil order breaks down. They flee the chaos of the city and relocate to a farm in upstate New York in a desperate attempt to survive. During this period, the novel also sketches the broader societal collapse: U.S. infrastructure shuts down for three weeks (with China blamed), Putin remains in power in Russia, Judge Judy sits on the Supreme Court, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s presidential run results in a constitutional amendment requiring future presidents to be born on U.S. soil. These absurd-yet-possible details inject a layer of dark humor and irony into the dystopian landscape. In Part Two, the story leaps forward 15 years to 2047. The Mandibles’ great-grandchildren, now middle-aged, try to escape the increasingly authoritarian U.S. regime. They head for Nevada, which has become a separatist enclave where Americans are attempting to rebuild a freer society. This part of the book at times reminded me of The Walking Dead, but without the zombies.

The novel ends on a cautiously hopeful note, as the family continues to adapt and survive despite the harsh realities of a radically altered world order.

Themes that hit home: Debt, decline, and the illusion of prosperity

So, what to make of all this, and why bring it up here? As mentioned earlier, there are elements in The Mandibles that feel eerily prescient, as if parts of the book could well reflect our own future should we stay on our current trajectory. The novel is often read as an exploration of several key themes, starting with:

1. Economic collapse and hyperinflation. The Mandibles offers a stark critique of the fragility of modern monetary systems. Its portrayal of hyperinflation is chilling, not because it’s triggered by war or natural disaster, but by something far more insidious: the gradual erosion of trust in fiat currency and the arrogance of policymakers. Reading the daily posts from Donald Trump on Truth Social, one might begin to wonder whether we’re already heading down that path.
2. A family saga of survival. At its core, the book is also a survival story, one that zeroes in on the tensions, loyalties, and fractures within the Mandible family. Generational conflict is a recurring thread, as each age group blames the others for the crisis and must develop its own survival strategies. The forced intimacy of multi-generational living reveals both the resilience and the fragility of familial ties.
3. The illusions of wealth and the danger of entitlement. The family’s fall from grace serves as a broader meditation on how easily prosperity can be mistaken for permanence. Shriver skewers the notion that privilege is deserved or enduring. As the crisis deepens, the Mandibles are forced to endure overcrowding, food shortages, and the indignities of poverty. The erosion of basic comforts and the loss of status take a deep psychological toll. The family’s decline is a microcosm of a society that has forgotten how to cope with adversity. Through biting social satire and dark humor, Shriver underscores the ironic tone that runs throughout the novel.
4. A cautionary tale about government overreach. The America portrayed in The Mandibles also serves as a warning about the dangers of unchecked state power, and yes, once again, it all feels uncomfortably familiar. The militarization of law enforcement, the banning of foreign currencies, and the confiscation of gold are depicted as deliberate steps toward authoritarianism. While the breakaway Nevada enclave offers a libertarian counter-model, the author remains skeptical of any utopia. Shriver exposes the enduring nature of inequality and the inherent difficulties of self-governance, even in a society founded on ideals of freedom.

As you’ve probably gathered by now, The Mandibles draws some striking parallels with the current U.S. situation. It prompts reflection on a range of unsettling trends: an increasing reliance on deficit spending; political gridlock over raising the debt ceiling; dependence on foreign buyers of U.S. debt; the Federal Reserve’s (and other central banks’) exploration of CBDCs; the erosion of real wages relative to the cost of living; declining trust in central banking institutions; growing government surveillance; the expansion of emergency powers beyond constitutional norms; intensifying partisanship eroding institutional checks and balances; deepening intergenerational economic anxiety, and perhaps even the fading belief in the American Dream itself.

A fictional wake-up call: Could this be the path we're on?

In conclusion, The Mandibles offers a provocative and unsettling vision of America’s potential future. It is both prescient and darkly humorous in its exploration of economic collapse and its impact on one American family. Through the Mandibles’ fall from affluence and their struggle to endure a dystopian new reality, Lionel Shriver critiques government overreach, economic orthodoxy, and societal complacency. His imagined future is not science fiction for fiction’s sake, but a plausible extrapolation of current trajectories, from unsustainable debt and political polarization to the fraying fabric of civic trust. With its rich world-building, layered characters, and razor-sharp satire, the novel stands as a powerful thought experiment: what might happen if the U.S. dollar,  and with it, the illusion of limitless prosperity, were to collapse?