Long Island Compromise

A Novel

De: Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini, Taffy Brodesser-Akner

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An exhilarating novel about one American family and the dark moment that shatters their suburban paradise, from the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • New York Magazine’s Beach Read Book Club Pick • Belletrist Book Club Pick

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, Time, The Washington Post, NPR, Vogue, Town & Country, New York Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Parade, Kirkus Reviews

“Joins the pantheon of great American novels.”—Los Angeles Times
“Exuberant and absorbing . . . a big old-fashioned social novel.”—The Atlantic

“Were we gangsters? No. But did we know how to start a fire?”

In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, only slightly the worse, and the family moves on with their lives, resuming their prized places in the saga of the American dream, comforted in the realization that though their money may have been what endangered them, it is also what assured them their safety.

But now, nearly forty years later, it’s clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything, after all. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband’s emotional health. Their three grown children aren’t doing much better: Nathan’s chronic fear won’t allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anything—substance, foodstuff, women—in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that she’s not a product of her family’s pathology that she has come to define it. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives’ successes and failures.

Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family’s history, winding through decades and generations, all the way to the outrageous present, and confronting the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the terror of history, fear of the future, old wives’ tales, evil eyes, ambition, achievement, boredom, dybbuks, inheritance, pyramid schemes, right-wing capitalists, beta-blockers, psychics, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unite a family forever.

©2024 Taffy Brodesser-Akner (P)2024 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

We need more from Taffy Brodesser-Akner!

If you like The Royal Tenembaum’s, this book is for you. I just love TBA’s writing and storytelling. So good.

A family story of riches, ruin and redemption

Wow Edwardo Ballerini can sure do a great Yiddish New York accent, very impressive! I liked that the story was based on a lot of historical and geographical references!

A horrible family

The Fletchers, the main characters in this book, reminded me of those in Schitt’s Creek with the exception that they were unappealing and humorless. I do not recommend. Although I always enjoy Ballerini’s narration.

Funny and worth it

Good, really good. A Jewish Franzen. Worth a credit. I would love to see this as a series.

Beautifully written

I keep telling everyone that this book reminds me of Goodbye Columbus era Roth. A higher compliment I cannot pay!

Narrator was terrific.

A great listen to exercise with. Laugh out loud in places. Really long, though. She can write!

A fun, well written novel

Even though I, myself cannot relate to wealth, this story of a very dysfunctional, functioning family was very entertaining and awesomely narrated. I truly almost had anxiety when the characters did, because of the narration. Loved that!!

Accurate view of human nature and hilarious

I loved this! (Loved Fleischman... too) Saw another reviewer describe it as Philip Roth meets Nora Ephron, which works in a pinch, but more importantly I think Brodesser-Akner might actually be our best contemporary novelist. Her books are chock full of great prose/structure, and they're very funny with an accurate understanding of human nature.

Probably not recommended if you re squeamish about sex, drugs, language, or if you need "admirable" characters who undergo a lot of moral growth. That's not generally what l'm looking for in fiction, though. I want a deep dive into the truth of the human condition, via incisive looks at the complexities and contradictions in every last one of us, especially when balanced with legitimately funny humor. And this is exactly what you get from Brodesser-Akner.

The narrator’s performance was great too, and I’m very picky about narrators.

excellent

I loved this book. great writing about being Jewish in America, late stage capitalism, and generational trauma. very much in the style of Franzen.

Laugh Out Loud

Really enjoyed this book. Character development
is on point and the different POVs are expertly woven together. This author is 2 for 2 in my book so Im looking forward to what she comes up with next.