The seven interconnected stories in Tony Tulathimutte’s collection all focus on a central theme: rejection. The characters have to face fears of loneliness, issues with their self-esteem, and, quite often, anger toward those they perceive to be responsible for rejecting them, as well as society.
The opening story, “The Feminist,” follows a man who so heartily supports the empowerment of women and their control of relationships, but it’s mostly so women will have sex with him. And that doesn’t happen. For a long, long time. (Lots and lots of friend zones.)
In “Pics,” a woman hooks up with a close friend of hers, and quickly discovers she feels like it was much more significant an event than he did. Her growing obsessiveness doesn’t help, and her continued spiraling makes her feel worse, which she takes out on everyone.
And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,” a young man comes out of the closet but can’t seem to find someone who wants a relationship. He soon discovers his fascination with a troubling sub-genre of porn.
These stories are very modern, with conversations conducted through various forms of social media at times, and they’re very much in step with the different sociological movements in our society. They’re dark and satirical, yet at times they pack a powerful punch.
My biggest struggle with the book is that none of the characters are particularly likable. It’s hard at times to read stories in which characters are complaining and ranting a lot. But Tulathimutte’s storytelling talent elevates the book.
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