Long Island Compromise
Long Island Compromise
Long Island Compromise
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Description
Description
An exhilarating novel about one American family, the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise, and the wild rise of trauma and inheritance, from the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble In 1982, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway in the nicest part of Long Island, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and sons a week later, only slightly the worse for wear, and the family begins the hard work of trying to move on with their lives and resume their prized places in the saga of the American dream. But twenty-five years later, when Carl's mother dies and the family comes home to mourn her, the unprocessed drama that's been bubbling beneath the surface finally comes to the fore for the entire family: Carl, the prickly, still-terrified father, who has been secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping for years; his wife, Ruth, who has spent her potential protecting her husband's emotional health; and their three grown sons: Nathan, who is trying to stay on the promotion track at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood producer, who will consume anything--substance, foodstuff, women--in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and J.J., the cool observer who spends his life so bent on proving that he is not a product of the family's pathology that he comes to define it. After Carl buries his mother, he allows himself to acknowledge what happened to him all those years ago, and to finally face the question that's been idling in his mind for a quarter of a century: Where did the ransom go?
Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family's history, winding through decades and generations all the way through the wild present, and deals with all the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the fear of history, old wives' tales, evil eyes, orgies, dybbuks, a Mandy Patinkin obsession, hippies, right-wing capitalists, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unites a family forever.
Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family's history, winding through decades and generations all the way through the wild present, and deals with all the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the fear of history, old wives' tales, evil eyes, orgies, dybbuks, a Mandy Patinkin obsession, hippies, right-wing capitalists, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unites a family forever.
About the Author
About the Author
Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She is also the creator and executive producer of its Emmy-nominated limited series adaptation for FX. Long Island Compromise is her second novel.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Joins the pantheon of great American novels . . . Long Island Compromise is an exploration of intergenerational trauma and an unabashed critique of income inequality . . . Brodesser-Akner has written a humane, brazen, gorgeous novel whose words dance exuberantly on the page."--Los Angeles Times "Is this book as good [as Fleishman is in Trouble]? It's better. Sprawling yet nimble, this is [Brodesser-Akner's] Big American Reform Jewish Novel . . . Brodesser-Akner is empathetic to her characters' pathological inability to know themselves, but she is also merciless when it comes to the idea that acknowledging confusion is not enough."--The New York Times "Comprising immersive, tragicomic deep dives into the Fletchers' personal pathologies and inner demons . . . Long Island Compromise is ingeniously plotted, its various storylines building toward several extremely satisfying plot twists . . .The potentially corrosive nature of wealth has rarely been explored with such humanity."--The Atlantic "Brodesser-Akner is a keen observer of class aspiration as a survival method."--The New Yorker "An outlandish, rollicking family saga"--ELLE "Relatable but never dull . . . Brodesser-Akner, who twists her knife with more relish, begins with actual crisis (a mysterious kidnapping and release), then leaps to the surprising ways it stamps fear into each member of the wealthy family."--Chicago Tribune "In her savage, hilarious follow-up to Fleishman Is in Trouble, Brodesser-Akner takes on capitalism, wealth and generational trauma through a sharp satiric lens . . . Brodesser-Akner's commentary about affluence and its effects resonates."--Minneapolis Star Tribune "Another tale of modern neuroses, told with bombastic appeal . . . I can't think of another living writer better at crafting tales of acute and searing pathos, all while pleasing readers in the process."--Vogue "Funny, raunchy and very, very Long Island."--Newsday
"The wizard Weisenheimer behind Fleishman Is in Trouble is back with a big, juicy, wickedly funny social satire. . . . As weird as this may sound--Brodesser-Akner has written probably the funniest book ever about generational family trauma."--Oprah Daily "Readers will get lost and found in its universe of wealth, family, faith, and other fallible securities."--Booklist (starred review) "Brodesser-Akner's latest combines the smarts of Sarah Silverman's stand-up, the polymath verisimilitude of Tom Wolfe's novels, and the Jewish soul of Sholem Aleichem's stories. This is a comedic feast."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Generational trauma has never been so funny as when Brodesser-Akner writes it. This book is a must-read for those who like witty, observational novels, family sagas, and sharp dialogue and characterization."--Library Journal, starred review
"The wizard Weisenheimer behind Fleishman Is in Trouble is back with a big, juicy, wickedly funny social satire. . . . As weird as this may sound--Brodesser-Akner has written probably the funniest book ever about generational family trauma."--Oprah Daily "Readers will get lost and found in its universe of wealth, family, faith, and other fallible securities."--Booklist (starred review) "Brodesser-Akner's latest combines the smarts of Sarah Silverman's stand-up, the polymath verisimilitude of Tom Wolfe's novels, and the Jewish soul of Sholem Aleichem's stories. This is a comedic feast."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Generational trauma has never been so funny as when Brodesser-Akner writes it. This book is a must-read for those who like witty, observational novels, family sagas, and sharp dialogue and characterization."--Library Journal, starred review
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Random House Trade
Pub date:
2025-05-20
Length:
464 pages
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