Brewster's Millions

Montgomery Brewster is about to learn that money is the easiest thing to lose and the hardest thing to give away. When his grandfather dies, Monty inherits a million dollars, and discovers his great-uncle has left him seven million more. But there's a catch: to claim the fortune, he must spend every penny of the first million within one year, with nothing to show for it. No property, no investments, no assets. If he owns anything when the year is up, the seven million goes to charity. What follows is a glorious, increasingly frantic comedy of errors as Monty tries to burn through a fortune while everyone, from his gold-digging friends to society columnists, tries to figure out what on earth he's doing. McCutcheon's 1902 satire bites harder than you'd expect from a period comedy: it's a sharp examination of what we really own, what we're willing to spend, and whether wealth changes us or merely reveals who we already are. The premise has proven endlessly adaptable precisely because it speaks to something universal: the anxious, absurd relationship between money and happiness.