Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
A book on dysfunctional families? Sign me up. It’s no secret that I love reading these so The Altruists was right up my street and I want to say a huge thanks to the publisher for sending this my way.
Arthur Alter is skint and estranged from his two children - his bisexual son Ethan who lives a rather reclusive life in Brooklyn living off his mother’s money and Maggie, who despite having money, wants to dedicate her life to helping others and lives a frugal life. The family were rocked with tragedy when Francine, wife and mother, passed away. She left money to her two children and Arthur wants to arrange a reunion, in the hope he can gain financial from seeing his children but they are hesitant to meet him after past events.
I really liked this book because 1. It is my go to style of book and 2. I thought it was pretty witty and really well written. I was surprised to know this was a debut. They are certainly a dysfunctional family and I found the characters very intriguing - especially Maggie and Ethan. One thing I loved was that it never felt unrealistic - even if your family are normal (if that exists) there are little things that you can relate to. It was littered with great humour and I found the pacing to be great but I devoured the book quickly as it’s predecessor was highly boring. Overall, a decent four stars. Ridker is obviously very talented and I look forward to reading his other books in the future. One for those who loved The Nest and The Vacationers
Arthur Alter is skint and estranged from his two children - his bisexual son Ethan who lives a rather reclusive life in Brooklyn living off his mother’s money and Maggie, who despite having money, wants to dedicate her life to helping others and lives a frugal life. The family were rocked with tragedy when Francine, wife and mother, passed away. She left money to her two children and Arthur wants to arrange a reunion, in the hope he can gain financial from seeing his children but they are hesitant to meet him after past events.
I really liked this book because 1. It is my go to style of book and 2. I thought it was pretty witty and really well written. I was surprised to know this was a debut. They are certainly a dysfunctional family and I found the characters very intriguing - especially Maggie and Ethan. One thing I loved was that it never felt unrealistic - even if your family are normal (if that exists) there are little things that you can relate to. It was littered with great humour and I found the pacing to be great but I devoured the book quickly as it’s predecessor was highly boring. Overall, a decent four stars. Ridker is obviously very talented and I look forward to reading his other books in the future. One for those who loved The Nest and The Vacationers
Loved the premise, could not get interested in these characters. Gave it my best.
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyable family story with a sad sack father who finally realizes what is important (sort of).
Recommended for book groups who like to parse family dynamics.
Recommended for book groups who like to parse family dynamics.
A book on dysfunctional families? Sign me up. It’s no secret that I love reading these so The Altruists was right up my street and I want to say a huge thanks to the publisher for sending this my way.
Arthur Alter is skint and estranged from his two children - his bisexual son Ethan who lives a rather reclusive life in Brooklyn living off his mother’s money and Maggie, who despite having money, wants to dedicate her life to helping others and lives a frugal life. The family were rocked with tragedy when Francine, wife and mother, passed away. She left money to her two children and Arthur wants to arrange a reunion, in the hope he can gain financial from seeing his children but they are hesitant to meet him after past events.
I really liked this book because 1. It is my go to style of book and 2. I thought it was pretty witty and really well written. I was surprised to know this was a debut. They are certainly a dysfunctional family and I found the characters very intriguing - especially Maggie and Ethan. One thing I loved was that it never felt unrealistic - even if your family are normal (if that exists) there are little things that you can relate to. It was littered with great humour and I found the pacing to be great but I devoured the book quickly as it’s predecessor was highly boring. Overall, a decent four stars. Ridker is obviously very talented and I look forward to reading his other books in the future. One for those who loved The Nest and The Vacationers
Arthur Alter is skint and estranged from his two children - his bisexual son Ethan who lives a rather reclusive life in Brooklyn living off his mother’s money and Maggie, who despite having money, wants to dedicate her life to helping others and lives a frugal life. The family were rocked with tragedy when Francine, wife and mother, passed away. She left money to her two children and Arthur wants to arrange a reunion, in the hope he can gain financial from seeing his children but they are hesitant to meet him after past events.
I really liked this book because 1. It is my go to style of book and 2. I thought it was pretty witty and really well written. I was surprised to know this was a debut. They are certainly a dysfunctional family and I found the characters very intriguing - especially Maggie and Ethan. One thing I loved was that it never felt unrealistic - even if your family are normal (if that exists) there are little things that you can relate to. It was littered with great humour and I found the pacing to be great but I devoured the book quickly as it’s predecessor was highly boring. Overall, a decent four stars. Ridker is obviously very talented and I look forward to reading his other books in the future. One for those who loved The Nest and The Vacationers
The first few chapters felt like a masturbatory exercise, where the author self-indulgently delighted in his own wit and turns-of-phrase. Once he got this out of his system though, the novel turned into something else, something really wonderful.
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I do not envy comic novelists. Besides the challenges facing any novel writer, they have to elicit a smile, chuckle or smirk from their readers at regular intervals. Then - if and when they get it right - they face the risk of seeing their work dismissed as ‘(s)light’ fare. A case in point, in my opinion, was Andrew Sean Greer’s Less, which I greatly enjoyed and which I think really did deserve the Pulitzer, but which was slated in some quarters, including by friends and reviewers whose opinion I greatly respect.
It is therefore great news that a fresh talent has now joined the ranks of comic novelists. Andrew Ridker was born in 1991 (which makes me feel terribly old), and his debut novel The Altruists is published later this year. Admittedly, on the cynicism/bleakness scale, this novel is closer to Richard Ford than to Andrew Sean Greer, which might make it more palatable to the literati. Indeed, it’s already attracting glowing advance reviews. As for me, I admired most of it, although I find it harder to actually like it.
The protagonists of The Altruists are the Alters, a Jewish middle-class family from St Louis. The mother, Francine, haunts the novel, despite being dead for most of it. Indeed, it is her inheritance which serves as the catalyst of the plot. Incensed at the fact that her sixty-something professor husband Arthur has taken up a much younger lover whilst she is dying of cancer, Francine bequeaths a secret fortune to her two children, Ethan and Maggie. Faced with the prospect of losing his girlfriend and also his heavily mortgaged house, Arthur invites his children back to St Louis for a reconciliatory weekend, hoping to convince them to bail him out.
But Ethan and Maggie have their own problems. Ethan (whose homosexuality Arthur has never quite accepted) is out of a job, and is now living off his mother’s money in Brooklyn, whilst trying to sort out his messy love life. On her part, Maggie is a hard-headed would-be altruist, whose obsession with causes and ideals often leads her to actually overlook the needs of the people who surround her. Although Arthur’s plans seem to be failing miserably (but quite entertainingly for us readers), they do lead the Alters to come to term with their history and to understand that they are possible more like each other than they like to think.
To be honest, I found it hard to symphatize with any of the characters, who are complexly drawn but seem to have few, if any, redeeming features. If likable rogues exist, Arthur Alter is certainly not one of them. And his children are, frankly, chips off the old block. This ultimately detracted from my enjoyment of the novel. At the same time, however, there is much that is brilliant about The Altruists – it is an undeniably insightful work, it has some crisply humorous dialogue, and memorable set pieces. I particularly enjoyed the final showdown between the Alters and Arthur’s young lover, and the Zimbabwe episode feels like something out of Evelyn Waugh. If this debut is anything to go by, Ridker is certainly an author to look out for.
It is therefore great news that a fresh talent has now joined the ranks of comic novelists. Andrew Ridker was born in 1991 (which makes me feel terribly old), and his debut novel The Altruists is published later this year. Admittedly, on the cynicism/bleakness scale, this novel is closer to Richard Ford than to Andrew Sean Greer, which might make it more palatable to the literati. Indeed, it’s already attracting glowing advance reviews. As for me, I admired most of it, although I find it harder to actually like it.
The protagonists of The Altruists are the Alters, a Jewish middle-class family from St Louis. The mother, Francine, haunts the novel, despite being dead for most of it. Indeed, it is her inheritance which serves as the catalyst of the plot. Incensed at the fact that her sixty-something professor husband Arthur has taken up a much younger lover whilst she is dying of cancer, Francine bequeaths a secret fortune to her two children, Ethan and Maggie. Faced with the prospect of losing his girlfriend and also his heavily mortgaged house, Arthur invites his children back to St Louis for a reconciliatory weekend, hoping to convince them to bail him out.
But Ethan and Maggie have their own problems. Ethan (whose homosexuality Arthur has never quite accepted) is out of a job, and is now living off his mother’s money in Brooklyn, whilst trying to sort out his messy love life. On her part, Maggie is a hard-headed would-be altruist, whose obsession with causes and ideals often leads her to actually overlook the needs of the people who surround her. Although Arthur’s plans seem to be failing miserably (but quite entertainingly for us readers), they do lead the Alters to come to term with their history and to understand that they are possible more like each other than they like to think.
To be honest, I found it hard to symphatize with any of the characters, who are complexly drawn but seem to have few, if any, redeeming features. If likable rogues exist, Arthur Alter is certainly not one of them. And his children are, frankly, chips off the old block. This ultimately detracted from my enjoyment of the novel. At the same time, however, there is much that is brilliant about The Altruists – it is an undeniably insightful work, it has some crisply humorous dialogue, and memorable set pieces. I particularly enjoyed the final showdown between the Alters and Arthur’s young lover, and the Zimbabwe episode feels like something out of Evelyn Waugh. If this debut is anything to go by, Ridker is certainly an author to look out for.
Sometimes people look to the external for validation. In those instances, it can be useful to look to others you consider to be worse than yourself, providing you with self-esteem by proxy. Ridker has created three characters stand as such examples. No matter how bad you feel about yourself, Ridker says, at least you aren't as bad as those detestable Alters.
The characters are self-involved, spoiled, and sadistic in their own ways. The three are introduced through individual yarns that coverge on a family reunion of sorts, where the patriarch of the Alter clan has plans to ask his children for money. Each character takes turns feeling superior, followed by a brief period of introspection and self loathing. This is short lived, however, as then another character inevitably tips the scales, prompting the other 2 to rise above. Wash, rinse, repeat. Such is the plot.
The writing, however, is rather clever and funny in a dark humor sort of way. As a person who's all about superiority and introspection, the style is definitely appealing.
The characters are self-involved, spoiled, and sadistic in their own ways. The three are introduced through individual yarns that coverge on a family reunion of sorts, where the patriarch of the Alter clan has plans to ask his children for money. Each character takes turns feeling superior, followed by a brief period of introspection and self loathing. This is short lived, however, as then another character inevitably tips the scales, prompting the other 2 to rise above. Wash, rinse, repeat. Such is the plot.
The writing, however, is rather clever and funny in a dark humor sort of way. As a person who's all about superiority and introspection, the style is definitely appealing.