Acts of Service

A Novel

By: Lillian Fishman

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

A “bold and unflinchingly sexy” (Vogue) debut novel about a young woman who follows her desires into a world of pleasure, decadence, and privilege, unraveling everything she thought she knew about sex . . . and herself.

“One of the most entertaining books about sex I’ve ever read . . . The perfect read for fans of Raven Leilani and Ottessa Moshfegh, this is a book that will have people talking.”—BuzzFeed

“A sex masterpiece.”—The Guardian

A Kaia Gerber Book Club Pick • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New Yorker and The Hollywood Reporter

“Anytime I want, I can forsake this dinner party and jump into real life.”—Eve Babitz

Eve has an adoring girlfriend, an impulsive streak, and a secret fear that she’s wasting her brief youth with just one person. So one evening she posts some nudes online. This is how Eve meets Olivia, and through Olivia the charismatic Nathan. Despite her better instincts, the three soon begin a relationship—one that disturbs Eve as much as it enthralls her.

As each act of their complicated, three-way affair unfolds across a cold and glittering New York, Eve is forced to confront the questions that most consume her: What do we bring to sex? What does it reveal of ourselves, and one another? And how do we reconcile what we want with what we think we should want?

In the way only great fiction can, Acts of Service takes between its teeth the contradictions written all over our ideas of sex and sexuality. At once juicy and intellectually challenging, sacred and profane, Lillian Fishman’s riveting debut is bold, unabashed, and required reading of the most pleasurable sort.

©2022 Lillian Fishman (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Extraordinary . . . a work of ferocious moral and sensual intelligence and a masterly defense of sex for its own sake.”—The Guardian

“A stylish, elegant piece of provocation that is also as sincere and searching as its heroine. Even if it pisses you off, it’s hard not to keep turning the pages. Acts of Service is a bold, promising debut.”—Mary Gaitskill

“Radical, daring and bracing . . . It is a book of exciting, provocative complexity, and, for me, it made the human creature feel like something new.”—Sheila Heti, author of Pure Color

A pleasant but disturbing surprise!

This book was a surprise in every way! Sex as the main character and the people as the co stars. It’s arousing but also disturbing at times , How humans can relinquish power for pleasure , also finding out some disturbing truths about oneself. Hands down one of the best reads I’ve had this year. Also the voice over is one of my comfort zones when listening.

The weirdest pick-me bull ever.

The story of a woman justifying her relationship with a narcissist masquerading as a sexual awakening is nauseating. You want for the character to redeem herself in some way, but it never comes. Instead, she convinces herself despite all evidence to the contrary, that she is now enlightened by this extremely anticlimactic novel. However, it’s well written and the narrator’s voice is very enjoyable to listen to. I really got the feeling that I could have been listening to the main character’s inner thoughts.

Less than expected but enough to keep you wanting more

This book seemed to be rated very highly but that’s probably bc it contains great sex. I do like the way she explains her feelings throughout but it left me wanting a little more out of it at the end. The story just needed more to it. But the narrator was great and I’m still glad I listened till the end.

Just Awesome

This was amazing. It was well written and human, so very human. The author is a very visual writer and she paints a story that is not for everyone. I adore her writing style. Yes, it's sexy. But it's more, way more.
Yes, some folks will be shocked by her writing. It's hard to read, not because it's not poorly written. It's not, it's superbly written, but it's accessible only to a reader with a very good vocabulary and who's willing to really think about the concepts the author articulates. The subject matter is explicit and gritty. Some folks will struggle with relating to the content and characters. It's not easy to find "nice" people in this book. It's like everyone is naked all the time and you can see their flaws and their beauty. This book does not have a binary of good and bad and it's easy to judge the characters in this book. Of course that’s true in real life too.

Disturbingly haunting story.

Putting sex and the main character’s relationship to it at the center of this story, may lead people to think this book is just steamy. It is sexy, but also disturbing. It makes you question power and what we desire in sex. And leaves you uneasy.

The reader is slow. But increase the speed and it’s easier to listen to.

Thought Provoking

Really enjoyed this thought provoking analysis of desire and shame as it plays out in this bizarre love triangle. Smart writing and sensuous voiceover make it the perfect bedtime read.

ugh

truly loathsome listening experience, would not recommend. painful to get through, i had to force myself to finish

Idk man

I’m here for exploring sexuality but it is so so annoying that a man is at the center of this. Instead of it feeling exciting and revolutionary it just made me roll my eyes