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A review by rbruehlman
Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
3.0
This book did a good job of detailing the emotional fallout of divorce and the factors that contributed to a married life falling apart. In that sense, Brodesser-Akner did an excellent job of painting two people's psyches; Rachel and Toby were both highly believable characters, and their attraction to one another and eventual repulsion was understandable.
With that said, this book went on for waaaaaay too long and had pacing issues. I got bored of Toby by 2/3 of the way into the book and really needed something else to happen, but nothing much picked up until the final 80 pages. Also, while the illustration of Rachel's breakdown was interesting, the breadcrumbs given to you earlier in the book about how and why she broke down were more like loaves of bread. It wasn't a very surprising reveal.
My biggest issue with the book, though, was Libby. I appreciate that Brodesser-Akner was trying something different and unusual narrating from the third-person with Libby, but it didn't add anything? This book would have been better and more concise without her, if it had just focused on Toby and Rachel. Libby did not really add any extra insight into who Toby and Rachel were, and extended the length of an already-too-long-and-meandering book with side diatribes about her own marriage. Seth was a similar timewaster.
Libby's main purpose seemed to be being used as a tell-don't-show mouthpiece for Brodesser-Akner's belief that women are relegated to the shadows, not as fully respected as men. Okay, sure, might be a valid point, but the book didn't actually explore this narrative in its characters. It was mostly just Libby telling readers it was so. Rachel's breakdown, in my opinion, had nothing to do with her being a woman; it had to do with her extremely unstable, deprived childhood that instilled in her a deep sense of inferiority. Rachel spent her life trying to run away from that inferiority, and consequently chased after an impossible dragon she could never vanquish, no matter how hard she tried. Did losing a career opportunity because of her pregnancy hurt, and was it wrong? Sure. Was being a woman the source of all of her ills? No.
If Brodesser-Akler wanted to communicate the theme of women being treated less than, she needed to write a book with characters that actually illustrated said theme. It would have been an interesting book, but it wasn't the story Fleishman is in Trouble told. This book felt like a disjointed mess of a marriage failing because people are human and tacked-on forced social commentary that had nothing to do with that.
With that said, this book went on for waaaaaay too long and had pacing issues. I got bored of Toby by 2/3 of the way into the book and really needed something else to happen, but nothing much picked up until the final 80 pages. Also, while the illustration of Rachel's breakdown was interesting, the breadcrumbs given to you earlier in the book about how and why she broke down were more like loaves of bread. It wasn't a very surprising reveal.
My biggest issue with the book, though, was Libby. I appreciate that Brodesser-Akner was trying something different and unusual narrating from the third-person with Libby, but it didn't add anything? This book would have been better and more concise without her, if it had just focused on Toby and Rachel. Libby did not really add any extra insight into who Toby and Rachel were, and extended the length of an already-too-long-and-meandering book with side diatribes about her own marriage. Seth was a similar timewaster.
Libby's main purpose seemed to be being used as a tell-don't-show mouthpiece for Brodesser-Akner's belief that women are relegated to the shadows, not as fully respected as men. Okay, sure, might be a valid point, but the book didn't actually explore this narrative in its characters. It was mostly just Libby telling readers it was so. Rachel's breakdown, in my opinion, had nothing to do with her being a woman; it had to do with her extremely unstable, deprived childhood that instilled in her a deep sense of inferiority. Rachel spent her life trying to run away from that inferiority, and consequently chased after an impossible dragon she could never vanquish, no matter how hard she tried. Did losing a career opportunity because of her pregnancy hurt, and was it wrong? Sure. Was being a woman the source of all of her ills? No.
If Brodesser-Akler wanted to communicate the theme of women being treated less than, she needed to write a book with characters that actually illustrated said theme. It would have been an interesting book, but it wasn't the story Fleishman is in Trouble told. This book felt like a disjointed mess of a marriage failing because people are human and tacked-on forced social commentary that had nothing to do with that.