Some years ago, when the debate about “likable characters” and their desirability (or not) in fiction was still lighting up the more literary corners of social media, I attended a panel discussion in which the novelist Ottessa Moshfegh put the whole issue convincingly to rest: “I don’t even like likable characters in real life,” she said, or words to that effect. “Why would I want to put them in my books?”
This week we recommend three works of fiction with characters who are unlikable to varying degrees: Rumaan Alam’s novel about a young woman seduced by proximity to wealth, Jami Attenberg’s novel about the members of a dysfunctional family, and Tony Tulathimutte’s story collection about social outcasts who deal with alienation very, very badly. The characters may not be likable, but the books, happily, are.
Also recommended: new poetry from Danez Smith, a biography of the Washington insider Pamela Harriman, a memoir by the newswoman Connie Chung and a reflection on the state of Judaism in America today. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles
TABLETS SHATTERED:
The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life
Joshua Leifer
Both a history of Judaism in America and a cri de coeur from a heartbroken member of the tribe, Leifer’s survey reckons with the splintering effects of secularism, Zionism and ultra-Orthodox politicization to argue that American Jewry is, if not quite extinct, on its way out.
BLUFF:
Danez Smith
Smith’s poetry balances a delight in the possibilities of language with an innate skepticism about its use in the world; here is a poet who nurses the tension between art and action and exhorts readers to acknowledge injustice while appreciating the chaotic nature of human existence.
KINGMAKER:
Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Sonia Purnell
This rigorous, rollicking biography argues that Harriman, the Democratic stalwart and former ambassador to France who had close ties to a litany of powerful figures, was more than the men she cultivated.
REJECTION
Tony Tulathimutte
This collection of linked stories tracks the losers in the great American popularity contest: shoe gazers who are mostly short and unattractive, and cut from the herd. His subject is not fashionable ennui. He is writing about alienation and skin starvation, a longing for the nonexistent touches of friends and the embraces of lovers.
CONNIE:
Connie Chung
Chung’s entertaining and revealing memoir traces the triumphs and disappointments of her groundbreaking career in broadcast journalism, which reached its pinnacle when she was named co-anchor of the “CBS Evening News” alongside Dan Rather — only to see herself sidelined by a controlling Rather and by sexism in the industry.
ENTITLEMENT
Rumaan Alam
In this novel by the author of “Leave the World Behind,” a young Black woman takes a job helping an old white billionaire choose philanthropies to support. But the proximity to so much wealth convinces her, in increasingly deranged ways, that she has the right to have what she wants, even if she cannot yet afford it.
A REASON TO SEE YOU AGAIN
Jami Attenberg
With wry, streamlined wit and almost ruthless efficiency, this novel dissects the long disintegration of a Chicago Jewish family as its members grow up and apart and pursue their own priorities.
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