The New Naturals

By: Gabriel Bump

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

From the Ernest J. Gaines Award-winning author of Everywhere You Don't Belong, a touching, timely novel—called a "tour de force" by Kaitlyn Greenidge (Libertie) and "wry and astonishing" by Publishers Weekly—about an attempt to found an underground utopia and the interwoven stories of those drawn to it.

*Included in Fall Preview & Most-Anticipated Lists: New York Times, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Vulture.com, ELLE.com, The Millions, and Lit Hub*

An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, this hill becomes more than a safe haven—it becomes a place to start over. She convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere safe, somewhere everyone can feel loved, wanted, and accepted, where the children learn actual history, where everyone has an equal shot.

She locates a Benefactor and soon their utopia begins to take shape. Two unhoused men hear about it and immediately begin their journey by bus from Chicago to get there. A young and disillusioned journalist stumbles upon it and wants in. And a former soccer player, having lost his footing in society, is persuaded to check it out too. But no matter how much these people all yearn for meaning and a sanctuary from the existential dread of life above the surface, what happens if this new society can't actually work? What then?

From one of the most exciting new literary voices out there, The New Naturals is fresh and deeply perceptive, capturing the absurdity of life in the 21st century, for fans of Paul Beatty’s The Sellout and Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House. In this remarkable feat of imagination, Bump shows us that, ultimately, it is our love for and connection to each other that will save us.

©2023 Gabriel Bump (P)2023 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

Included in Fall Preview & Most-Anticipated Lists: New York Times, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Vulture.com, ELLE.com, The Millions, and Lit Hub

"A Blithedale Romance for the 21st century, only less naive and more complex. Race, class and gender collide in all the ways they do in the so-called real world. Bump's prose is fresh and frequently surprising. This is funny, sad, sad-funny and funny-sad and just plain smart."—Percival Everett, author of Dr. No

“The New Naturals is a tragicomedy for our times, exploring that age-old question of how to connect with our fellow human beings and build community, even as the world makes increasingly less sense. A tour-de-force, full of heart and asking the big questions about life and the mind.”—Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie

"Wry and astonishing … Brisk dialogue and flashes of mordant humor pay off, and Bump cannily grapples with such issues as gentrification, microaggressions, and environmental racism. This is a scalding study in human nature.”—Publishers Weekly

Unlistenable!

This book may have great qualities. But the narration gets in the way of comprehension of the sentences, so it’s hard to say. The director and producer fail the listener, as the narrator’s bizzare way of emphasizing the wrong words, stopping in mid-sentence at bizarre places, and adding expressions inappropriately make it hard to tell what you’re listening to. Sometimes the narrator sounded like it was AI. I gave up in frustration.

Written in the 3rd person

Hard to feel anything for the characters as it's written in the 3rd person. Just couldn't get interested.