Wellness

De: Nathan Hill

Narrado por: Ari Fliakos

'American storytelling at its era-spanning best . . . An immersive, multi-layered portrait of a marriage, Nathan Hill’s follow-up to The Nix is a work of quiet genius' – The Observer

An Oprah's Book Club Pick.

Moving from the gritty 90s Chicago art scene to a suburbia of detox diets and home renovation hysteria, Wellness is a thought-provoking exploration of intimacy, identity, and the absurdities of our tech-obsessed health culture.

When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the 90s, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in Chicago’s thriving underground art scene with an appreciative kindred spirit.

Fast-forward twenty years to married life, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to painful childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.

From the author of The Nix, Wellness mines the absurdities of modern technology and modern love to reveal profound, startling truths about intimacy and connection, reimagining the love story with healthy doses of insight, irony and heart.

'The incredible scope of this dazzlingly detailed state-of-the-nation satire almost defies description . . . Brilliant doesn’t begin to describe it, but I’ll say it anyway' – Daily Mail

©2023 Nathan Hill (P)2023 Penguin Random House

The story and the writing

I Thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. Well written and thought provoking. Would have enjoyed different narrators.

Fantastic novel, incredible reading

I didn’t expect such a beautifully crafted novel; moving, interesting, heartbreaking. And the incredible performance of the actor makes it even better

Astute observations of the complexity of daily loving

Nathan Hill has nailed the art of describing the complexity of love and wellness and contentment and what it means to live in relation to others. I can't stop thinking about this book and am already planning a reread.

Great writing, excellent narration

Another outstanding book - every bit as good as the Nix. Tragic yet hopeful and always entertaining.

Brilliant

It's been a long time since I've been this blown away by a novel. So good.

Brave topic, moments of dwelling on the boring parts

Let’s start with the good parts. I enjoyed the narration, The performance was just really good. Very brave topic to tackle, the monotony and boredom that can occur in marriage around middle age (late 30’s, 40’s). Enjoyed the angle of unpacking the main character’s background to expose who they are today and the big things they are questioning.
BUT, the book didn’t have to be this long to tell the story. There’s a couple of wasted hours zooming in on Jack’s father and his obsession with Facebook and the algorithm. Few other similar moments they didn’t need to dwell on that much.
As such. It was just ok for me.