People, I thought Joyce Carol Oates’ Fox was going to be my book of the year but the genteel Old World wordsmith Oates was slayed by this young dude Tony Tulathimutte. Oates is still brilliant but even she can’t do with language what Tulathimutte does. I want to finish his book, re-read it five times in a row and then possibly lick it. God truly loves me to have given me this book.
I have to issue two warnings, though, if people decide to read it.
One is that it gets very sexually explicit in stomach-turning ways. I had to skip 3 whole pages, and I’m a literary critic, I never skip.
The second warning is that unless you are young(ish) and terminally online, you’ll need a dictionary to understand parts of it.
This book is a novelistic rendering of Neoliberal Love. And it’s extremely funny. And talented. It’s so good that drops of linguistic ambrosia are practically dripping off its pages. It was long listed for the National Book Award that was won by the ideological propaganda slog James, which goes to show how stupid the literary establishment is. Rejection wasn’t even short listed, which is insane.
Clarissa's Blog 
Even Percival Everett fans mostly don’t think James was one of his better books. The award seems to be more about guilt they hadn’t given the guy one yet than this particular book being that good. I have no opinion since I haven’t read anything by him, but Erasure certainly sounds more appealing.
I’m only partway through “Days of Rage” by Bryan Burroughs, a history of the violent extremist left during the late 60s and early 70s, but I can already declare it a must read. The time we’re in now is just an echo of this one. The left sees its popularity and power fading so it lashes out like a panicked animal. The lack of an overarching centralized power structure makes the violent groups difficult to take down once and for all in a satisfying manner.
The worrisome things is in the 70s and 80s we won many victories against the left both materially and culturally, yet the 60s left by no means emerged as losers long term. Two steps left, one step right. Even if we manage to erase the woke era we’ll still just be right back where we started, which is what lead us to where we are now (obviously you can’t “go back” like that, I’m oversimplifying.)
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Oh! I was wondering if I should read Days of Rage. Thank you, I appreciate the recommendation.
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I strongly second the Days of Rage recommendation. It’s very good.
I’ve been meaning to look at Rejection but haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ll move it toward the top of my list.
(commenter formerly known as AcademicLurker)
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I started listening to Days of Rage, and it’s excellent. I like it that he says from the start that leftist violence in the 70ies wasn’t about the Vietnam war but purely about racial resentment.
One negative that I’m seeing is that the author has completely bought into the leftist narratives of race relations. He relates the Wikipedia version of the Kissing incident, which is crap, for example.
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Was there a time when these awards weren’t political? One of my favorites is V. S. Naipaul who was long overlooked for his spicy views on islam and the third world. Then 9/11 happened and he got the Nobel next month.
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My favorite author. “A House for Mr Biswas” is a masterpiece.
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Now I can’t wait for Neoliberal Love. I think it’ll add a whole new level of enjoyment to Rejection.
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I bailed on Fox after about 100 pages but I found Rejection un-putdownable. It gets so many details exactly right about today’s loneliness and despair (exacerbated by technology), and some of the prose is beautiful and funny.
But it’s not a work of art – it’s a tract, hammering home the same points over and over. Too much tell, not enough show. And nothing in the book matches the brilliance of the first story (or “chapter” if we’re going to insist it’s a novel) about the incel (which is marred by a pat ending.) I’ve been waiting for a great book about loneliness – the most painful theme there is – but this isn’t it.
Glad I read it though. I always take your recommendations very seriously.
This passage made me lol:
She resents children and marriage too much to ever covet them, and since getting a blowfly larva removed from her leg after a high school trip to Tanzania, her fear of parasites carried over to pregnancy.
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I liked the story about the neoliberal achievement subject the most. And Alisson’s story, too.
I’m very happy you enjoyed it! Tulathimutte wrote another book before this one and I’ll soon share my impressions of it.
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