Entitlement

A Novel

By: Rumaan Alam

Narrated by: Nicole Lewis

NAMED ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024

ONE OF THE NEW YORKER’S “BEST BOOKS WE’VE READ IN 2024”

ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S 50 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024

ONE OF KIRKUS’S “BEST BOOK CLUB FICTION OF 2024”

ONE OF REAL SIMPLE’S BEST BOOKS OF 2O24

“Rumaan Alam is a rarity...Entitlement — a psychological thriller that subtly turns into a vicious exposé of affluent liberalism— also sneaks up on you, and wins you over.”—The New York Times

"A brilliant exploration of extreme wealth and how it bends the lives of those close to it... Alam keeps things crystal clear and speedway fast."
—The Boston Globe

“Should come with an undertow warning.”
—Louise Erdrich

A novel of money and morality from the New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind

Brooke wants. She isn’t in need, but there are things she wants. A sense of purpose, for instance. She wants to make a difference in the world, to impress her mother along the way, to spend time with friends and secure her independence. Her job assisting an octogenarian billionaire in his quest to give away a vast fortune could help her achieve many of these goals. It may inspire new desires as well: proximity to wealth turns out to be nothing less than transformative. What is money, really, but a kind of belief?

Taut, unsettling, and alive to the seductive distortions of money, Entitlement is a riveting tale for our new gilded age, a story that confidently considers questions about need and worth, race and privilege, philanthropy and generosity, passion and obsession. It is a provocative, propulsive novel about the American imagination.

Not Entitled

This is a story about a naive woman who is trying to find herself. And about an old man trying to find himself in this young woman. The story had numerous unnecessary details that simply prolonged the book… added pages but no depth. I actually have spent my career serving in nonprofit work and I found the story offensive… neither character wanted to do good for truly philanthropic reasons. They both wanted something from each other not FOR others. I felt like I wasted my time. The author made this story about power and greed… and we already have enough of that. This was not an enjoyable read

Slow and boring

The summary of this book sounded interesting, an innocent getting so caught up in the greed and power of money that they begin to feel entitled. Unfortunately I was unable to finish the book. I found the plot very slow moving, the many characters unlikable, and the audio delivery flat. I may have liked it more had time been better spent on character development and less on mundane facts, like, “…he eats his toast at 6;00 and it is served by…” etc. this is not a verbatim quote, but rather an example of what one is in for when listening to to this book. Many random facts were presented that had nothing to do with moving the plot along or bringing the characters to life. The delivery reminded me of the TV character, Joe Friday from the show “Dragnet”, “just the facts mam”. If the delivery had not have been so flat I may have suffered through this book a little while longer, but probably not to the end.

so disappointing

Leave the World Behind was so haunting. I was looking forward to this new book, but there was nothing that I liked about it. Not a single likable or sympathetic character. It makes me think back to LTWB. Were there sympathetic characters in that book? Maybe not. But, the plot was intriguing enough to carry the book along and imagine how I would react in their situation. I could not relate to a single person in Entitlement, and that made it hard to enjoy.

How delusionally selfish can you get?

An amazingly insipid study of self delusional narcissism. the story ends predictably. What a waste of time.

Boring

Uninteresting characters. I couldn’t figure out the point of the book. Perhaps I’m in the wrong generation.