The Vulnerables

A Novel

By: Sigrid Nunez

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, HARPER'S BAZAAR, VOGUE AND KIRKUS REVIEWS

The New York Times–bestselling, National Book Award–winning author of The Friend and What Are You Going Through brings her singular voice to a story about modern life and connection

“I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez’s novels. I find them ideal. They are short, wise, provocative, funny — good and strong company.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“With the intimacy and humor of a great conversation, this novel makes you feel smarter and more alive.” —People Magazine

“An ode to our basic need to connect with other beings, be they human or animal, even in a global crisis that told us to stay apart.” —NPR

Elegy plus comedy is the only way to express how we live in the world today, says a character in Sigrid Nunez’s ninth novel. The Vulnerables offers a meditation on our contemporary era, as a solitary female narrator asks what it means to be alive at this complex moment in history and considers how our present reality affects the way a person looks back on her past.

Humor, to be sure, is a priceless refuge. Equally vital is connection with others, who here include an adrift member of Gen Z and a spirited parrot named Eureka. The Vulnerables reveals what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other and how far even small acts of caring can go to ease another’s distress. A search for understanding about some of the most critical matters of our time, Nunez’s new novel is also an inquiry into the nature and purpose of writing itself.

©2023 Sigrid Nunez (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Hillary Huber's warm, expressive tones engage listeners with this contemplative novel set in New York City in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.... Huber skillfully channels Nunez's musings on loneliness, class inequities, and the animal world. Her thoughtful and poignant performance helps listeners appreciate the humanity and common human experiences at the heart of this story. Huber delights in this thought-provoking exploration of the need for human connection at a time of enforced isolation." (AudioFile)

"Hilarious and deeply reflective." —TIME

“I am committed, until one of us dies, to Nunez’s novels. I find them ideal. They are short, wise, provocative, funny — good and strong company.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times

“With the intimacy and humor of a great conversation, this novel makes you feel smarter and more alive.” —People

Engaging and genuine ♥️

The author is very relatable and honest. The pandemic as a background was realistic to her lived experience without being dramatized.

Thoughtful

Insightful review of the times for a certain generation from the perspective of a thoughtful writer.

A novel?

I would have given it a higher rating if it were not called “A Novel”. What is the story line, except that the bird was gone with the housemate? The book should best be described as a collection of personal anecdotes interspersed with some boring imaginary tales. The author may be a good observer and a diligent student who knows how to put her acquired knowledge in eloquent words and in a seemingly ‘interesting’ time of human history. But no, being disguised as a writer to tell the story with details that surprise nobody does not make it a novel.

Unusual combination of perceptions

Moving from a simple story of a female writer holed up in a friends apartment with a beloved parrot and a handsome young man (also temporarily borrowing the apt, ) to a compendium of reflections on writers and writing this is a satisfying read of understated reflections

No likeable people in this book, only the parrot is likeable.

Way too many quotes, very disjointed, more stream of consciousness, a thesis with no point. Elitist pessimism.

This is not the description

I listened to an interview with this author and the book sounded fascinating. It was supposed to be about a young person being evicted from his parents house and going to the only place he knew, an apartment where he pet sat for a woman’s parrot, for which he had a key.

An hour in I thought I had the wrong book. It was very rambling. There wasn’t even the smallest breadcrumb to lead me to believe it was going to be what I thought I purchased. So much so I sought to return it.

Do not buy based on the description or the interview. There’s another book she wrote about a dog that left readers feeling the same way. I like dialogue heavy, intellectual, dry fiction. However, the start was so misleading my interest couldn’t latch on.

One bright spot: The narrator was quite good.

Flimsy at Best

Sort of a list of quotes from famous writers, There was too little content for me to have much of any opinion at all. I guess the point was that the author was bored and lost and lonely during the pandemic; this doesn’t make for much of a read. I hope she feels better now.

There was no story

I hated this book. Just some woman’s stream of consciousness put on paper. I didn’t t like the narrator or anyone else she mentioned except the bird.

I'm confused.

The description said it was a story, funny, edgy. There was no storyline. Musings by the author thinly held together. No humor. I kept listening, hoping, but was disappointed.