THE NARCISSISM OF SMALL DIFFERENCES

Detroit 2009—a once vital city ravaged by globalization, like many other cities in the former industrial Midwest. Good jobs are hard to find, and Joe and Ana, a longtime unmarried couple both in their late 30s, each struggle with jobs they don’t like and a relationship of which they have become uncertain. They love Detroit and each other, but they are at a breaking point, needing to make serious choices about their futures. They feel a great deal of pressure to do what couples their age are supposed to do—get married, have children, and take out a mortgage. Ana has built a successful career in advertising, but she is finding this work increasingly soul-crushing. Joe has always wanted to be a writer, but he has had to support this dream with a series of increasingly dead-end jobs in a dying trade—journalism. Zadoorian (Beautiful Music; The Leisure Seeker) brings their travails and their relationship skillfully to life in this warm, surprisingly playful novel about middle-age crisis.

VERDICT: Zadoorian’s obvious affection for Detroit, along with his enthusiasm for his characters’ pursuit of meaningful lives, makes this a very enjoyable read. Recommended for fans of literary fiction and contemporary love stories.