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A review by moonyreadsbystarlight
People in Trouble by Sarah Schulman
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
People in Trouble, indeed. This follows a woman, her husband, and her lesbian lover in a most timultuous time in their relationships with themselves and each other. Each chapter is told from rotating perspectives. Though it is all in third person, the narration is clearly colored by each character's worldview and biases, and at times include touches of surrealism. We see each of the many characters faults and eventual growth (some more than others). This is set in late 80s NYC, deeply affected by AIDS, drugs, and capitalist.
A lot of this is about political apathy and questions about boundaries and when to put yourself first, as well as clear themes about corperatization and gentrification. While the other novels by Schulman that I have read (Rat Bohemia and Empathy) incorporate a lot of details about conditions of the city, like many houseless, drug abuse, and AIDS, this is the first one that has talked about activism and the experience of being in spaces where people are dying so directly (certainly it was central to the other works, but this is probably the most direct and less surreal of the three).
I have lots of thoughts, especially reading this alongside her other works, but I'll save those for perhaps something that isn't a book review for just one of them.
A lot of this is about political apathy and questions about boundaries and when to put yourself first, as well as clear themes about corperatization and gentrification. While the other novels by Schulman that I have read (Rat Bohemia and Empathy) incorporate a lot of details about conditions of the city, like many houseless, drug abuse, and AIDS, this is the first one that has talked about activism and the experience of being in spaces where people are dying so directly (certainly it was central to the other works, but this is probably the most direct and less surreal of the three).
I have lots of thoughts, especially reading this alongside her other works, but I'll save those for perhaps something that isn't a book review for just one of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, and Slavery
To add context to the CWs: the pedophilia is not direct abuse, but weird comments, some about kids and more about the age gap in some of the relationships (though none of the characters in the story are minors). And the racism in the story is mostly comments and the white man being weird -- most of what is in here highlights the superiority complex of the character while also commenting on racial dynamics in NYC at the time. And the CW about slavery is imagery used, no one in the story is enslaved -- instead, people dressed up as though they are to entertain rich dickheads.