Rejection
Books | Fiction / Satire
4
Tony Tulathimutte
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR"A master comedian with a virtuoso prose style has produced an audacious, original and highly disturbing book . . . an incandescent satire." —Giles Harvey, The New York Times Magazine From the Whiting and O. Henry–winning author of Private Citizens (“the first great millennial novel,” New York Magazine), an electrifying novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos.Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the touchiest problems of modern life. The seven connected stories seamlessly transition between the personal crises of a complex ensemble and the comic tragedies of sex, relationships, identity, and the internet.In “The Feminist,” a young man’s passionate allyship turns to furious nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that it isn’t getting him laid. A young woman’s unrequited crush in “Pics” spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of her sense of self. And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,” a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship leads to a life-upending mistake. As the characters pop up in each other’s dating apps and social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars and bedrooms, they reveal the ways our delusions can warp our desire for connection.These brilliant satires explore the underrated sorrows of rejection with the authority of a modern classic and the manic intensity of a manifesto. Audacious and unforgettable, Rejection is a stunning mosaic that redefines what it means to be rejected by lovers, friends, society, and oneself."Rejection is unrelentingly brutal and gut-bustingly funny and spares no one—not you, not me. Tulathimutte is a pervert and a madman and a stone-cold genius." —Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties“One of the foremost fiction writers exploring the subject of his own generation.” —Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker
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Author
Tony Tulathimutte
Pages
272
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published Date
2024-09-17
ISBN
0063337894 9780063337893
Community ReviewsSee all
"I did hate this. Tulathimutte wants to be an alt lit bro but is too self conscious and too deeply uncool to go about it in the blind, masterbatory way needed to be one, so, instead, he makes us sit with the most unbearable people, who, despite being very much so plausible, are so deeply insufferable that you don’t really feel called to find anything redeemable about them? I don’t understand what his premise was in creating this. What’s the statement? That everyone is awful? That the internet has devolved us into deeply flawed self centered people who are entirely useless who don’t deserve our empathy?
The two stories I enjoyed were the tech bro who will be soon put to death, and Kant’s non-identifying sibling. They felt like they had a vision and despite the shallowness of the former, the latter was deeply interesting. That being said, the opening story of the leftist turned manosphere mass murderer felt as if Tulathimutte read Men Who Hate Women and said, yes, that’s my character inspo. The attempt to preempt any criticism in the closing rejection felt cheap. As if Tulathimutte wants to nullify your dislike of his work as invalid because he’s already done it. jfc, grow up.
I don’t know. I don’t think I have anything interesting to say, I’m just thankful to be free. Finally."
Carolyn V
