Long Island Compromise

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

A big, juicy, wickedly funny social satire . . . probably the funniest book ever about generational family trauma.Oprah Daily

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, its 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 husbands emotional health. Their three grown children arent doing much better: Nathans chronic fear wont allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anythingsubstance, foodstuff, womenin order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that shes not a product of her familys 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 familys 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.

Reviews

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] Its better. Sprawling yet nimble, this is [Brodesser-Akners] 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

Brodesser-Akner is a keen observer of class aspiration as a survival method.The New Yorker

An outlandish, rollicking family sagaELLE

"Relatable but never dull . . . Brodesser-Akner, who twists her knife with more relish, begins with actual crisis (a mysterious kidnapping and release), then leaps to the surprising ways it stamps fear into each member of the wealthy family.Chicago Tribune

"In her savage, hilarious follow-up to Fleishman Is in Trouble,Brodesser-Akner takes on capitalism, wealth and generational trauma through a sharp satiric lens . . . Brodesser-Akners commentary about affluence and its effects resonates.Minneapolis Star Tribune

Another tale of modern neuroses, told with bombastic appeal . . . I cant think of another living writer better at crafting tales of acute and searing pathos, all while pleasing readers in the process.Vogue

Funny, raunchy and very, very Long Island.Newsday

The wizard Weisenheimer behind Fleishman Is in Trouble is back with a big, juicy, wickedly funny social satire. . . . As weird as this may soundBrodesser-Akner has written probably the funniest book ever about generational family trauma.Oprah Daily

Readers will get lost and found in its universe of wealth, family, faith, and other fallible securities.Booklist (starred review)

Brodesser-Akners latest combines the smarts of Sarah Silvermans stand-up, the polymath verisimilitude of Tom Wolfes novels, and the Jewish soul of Sholem Aleichems stories. This is a comedic feast.Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Generational trauma has never been so funny as when Brodesser-Akner writes it. This book is a must-read for those who like witty, observational novels, family sagas, and sharp dialogue and characterization.Library Journal, starred review

Author Bio

Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and the New York Times bestselling author of Fleishman Is in Trouble, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She is also the creator and executive producer of its Emmy-nominated limited series adaptation for FX. Long Island Compromise is her second novel.