Something New Under the Sun

A Novel

By: Alexandra Kleeman

Narrated by: Marin Ireland

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • A novelist discovers the dark side of Hollywood and reckons with ambition, corruption, and environmental collapse in “a darkly satirical reflection of ecological reality” (Time)

LONGLISTED FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Vulture, Thrillist, Literary Hub

“An urgent novel about our very near future, and a deeply addictive pleasure.”—Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies

Novelist Patrick Hamlin has come to Los Angeles to oversee the film adaptation of one of his books and try to impress his wife and daughter back home with this last-ditch attempt at professional success. But California is not as he imagined. Drought, wildfire, and corporate corruption are everywhere, and the company behind a mysterious new brand of synthetic water seems to be at the root of it all. Patrick finds an unlikely partner in Cassidy Carter—the cynical starlet of his film—and the two investigate the sun-scorched city, where they discover the darker side of all that glitters in Hollywood.

Something New Under the Sun is an unmissable novel for our present moment—a bold exploration of environmental catastrophe in the age of alternative facts, and “a ghost story not of the past but of the near future” (The New York Times).

©2021 Alexandra Kleeman (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Kleeman is a visionary writer. ... She’s also very funny. These two qualities are shown to great effect here, as she turns her attention to the movie business, our looming climate crisis, corporate malfeasance and the Disney child star system. It’s a brilliant, ambitious book.” (Refinery29)

“With nods to Beckett and Stoppard, Kleeman juxtaposes fiery doom with passages of sharp, absurdist dialogue and a sprinkle of one-liners reminiscent of Fleabag.” (Instyle)

“The varieties of emergency - ecological, psychological, familial, medical - are the half-hidden subject of Kleeman’s novel, burning at the periphery of what begins as a modishly detached rollick through Hollywood and its empty promises. ... It is a ghost story not of the past but of the near future, a ghost story as alarm bell, one hard to leave in the realm of fiction.” (The New York Times)

Genre-defying

The story is at once entertaining, suspenseful, allegorical, character-driven, flipped and relevant. The performance is stellar snd seamless. I loved it. I was not ready to like this book as much as I did. Every character as endearing and infuriating as only looking in the mirror can be. Brava!

Ugh

This was so painful not even Marin’s perfect narration could save it. Save your time for anything else.

Interesting premise

Not for me, though. I didn't care for the characters but stayed with the book until the end. Not sure it was worth the time.

Overwritten

If you use the phrase "spatchcocked pheasant" twice in the first 60 minutes, you're trying too hard.
And a published author being somehow roped into being a PA on a movie set, c'mon. I couldn't power through more than 70 minutes to get to any real story.