Pajiba's Audiobook of the Month -- July 2024

I love audiobooks, and I read a ton of them. I want to share my love of audiobooks, and I hope this is the best way to do so: an audiobook of the month post.

After what seemed like a slow start to the year, this summer has been fantastic for audiobooks. It began with May’s release of I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, which was my favorite book of the year until Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise hit the shelves. With this novel and Fleishman Is in Trouble, Brodesser-Akner has solidified her place among my favorite contemporary authors.

I adored Fleishman Is in Trouble, not just for its darkly funny examination of marital ennui but also for its—twist!—brutally honest observation of the heavy burdens placed on working mothers. (Side note: Claire Danes was robbed of an Emmy for her performance in the Hulu adaptation.) I didn’t think Brodesser-Akner could possibly top it. I was wrong.

Long Island Compromise draws inspiration from the real-life kidnapping of Jack Teich in 1974. The fictional version of Teich is Carl Fletcher, and the novel focuses not on the kidnapping itself but on how that suppressed trauma manifests in his three children. All wealthy and profoundly damaged, they grapple not just with the lingering effects of the kidnapping but also with their privilege. There’s the self-loathing screenwriter who conceals his masochistic sex life and drug habit from his wife; the “good son” whose crippling social anxiety and panic attacks stifle his ambition; and the brilliant daughter—a former child prodigy—who has spent her entire life trying to atone for her parents’ wealth.

Brilliantly written and often darkly funny, Long Island Compromise is also deeply Jewish. Some have aptly described it as the Jewish version of The Corrections, though this shouldn’t deter those who dislike Franzen; there’s nothing smug about Brodesser-Akner’s writing or public persona.

What sets Brodesser-Akner’s writing apart is her ability to weave complex family dynamics with sharp social commentary while maintaining a wickedly funny tone. Her keen eye for detail and knack for crafting memorable, flawed characters who are unlikable yet sympathetic make this novel, for me, the book of the summer.

Runner-Up: In any other month, I suspect that Cue the Sun: The Invention of Reality TV by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Emily Nussbaum would have been the book of the month. For reality television enthusiasts (or just fans of television in general), it’s an insightful and spectacularly fun read. Nussbaum delves into the origins of the most influential reality series, including Candid Camera, The Gong Show, The Real World, The Bachelor, and Queer Eye. The chapter on Survivor holds a special place in my heart, offering fascinating details about the show’s inception, including interviews with the crew from the first season. Even the chapter on The Apprentice, which I initially dreaded, proved to be captivating.

Honorable Mentions: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which will appeal to fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Ruth Ware, and Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays, an entertaining horror novel that explores that trope.