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The Pyramid of Needs
Darkly funny family drama about transphobia, political identity and family dynamics. Perfect for fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh and The Dinner by Herman Koch.Cover
Linda Taylor is livestreaming her glamourous life as an alternative health guru when she trips over in front of her followers ‑ and can't get up. When Linda's children, Jack and Alice, find out she's broken her hip and can't care for their ailing father or pay her bills, they decide to help. There's just one Jack hasn't spoken to Linda since he came out as a trans man over a decade ago.
As the family gets together in Noosa and thunder clouds gather overhead, will family ties be enough to disentangle years of hurt, prejudice and pyramid-scheme brainwashing? Or will Jack have to cancel his mother for good?
The Pyramid of Needs is a dark, wry and deeply illuminating examination of family dynamics in a world full of division and misinformation.
Linda Taylor is livestreaming her glamourous life as an alternative health guru when she trips over in front of her followers ‑ and can't get up. When Linda's children, Jack and Alice, find out she's broken her hip and can't care for their ailing father or pay her bills, they decide to help. There's just one Jack hasn't spoken to Linda since he came out as a trans man over a decade ago.
As the family gets together in Noosa and thunder clouds gather overhead, will family ties be enough to disentangle years of hurt, prejudice and pyramid-scheme brainwashing? Or will Jack have to cancel his mother for good?
The Pyramid of Needs is a dark, wry and deeply illuminating examination of family dynamics in a world full of division and misinformation.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2024
7 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 28, 2024
The most incredible book written by the most incredible person! A joyful, painful, hilarious and gut-wrenching read. I quite literally couldn't put it down, especially in the second half. The moment I finished, I went online to buy more copies to send to friends. My book of the year, easily! A must-read.
April 21, 2024
Thank you Affirm Press for sending us a copy to read and review.
A story of family dynamics, strong opinions and gender division, this one will get attention among varied readers.
Linda Taylor thinks she is a social media guru, giving livestreams for a health product she loves while helping her feeble husband, Peter.
While recording live, she trips and breaks her hip.
Her children, Jack and Alice, need to come home and help.
As they both arrive in Noosa, the tensions and uncertainty are high.
The situation.….. Jack is a trans man.
The weather changes, the air is awkward and family ties are convoluted.
An engaging narrative that’s well written with a cast of very interesting characters.
The themes and topics are current, with wit and depth amongst a subject that needs to be highlighted more.
A story that will pull the heartstrings, get the mind working and give you a set of different emotions.
The characters give off realism, authenticity, spirit and get your sympathy.
A book that will entertain and give you the feels.
A story of family dynamics, strong opinions and gender division, this one will get attention among varied readers.
Linda Taylor thinks she is a social media guru, giving livestreams for a health product she loves while helping her feeble husband, Peter.
While recording live, she trips and breaks her hip.
Her children, Jack and Alice, need to come home and help.
As they both arrive in Noosa, the tensions and uncertainty are high.
The situation.….. Jack is a trans man.
The weather changes, the air is awkward and family ties are convoluted.
An engaging narrative that’s well written with a cast of very interesting characters.
The themes and topics are current, with wit and depth amongst a subject that needs to be highlighted more.
A story that will pull the heartstrings, get the mind working and give you a set of different emotions.
The characters give off realism, authenticity, spirit and get your sympathy.
A book that will entertain and give you the feels.
October 4, 2025
The Pyramid Of Needs had me absolutely engaged from the very beginning. Jack's character is incredibly unique and every aspect of his characterisation - down to the inner thoughts debating with his psychologist Cameron - is excellent! I don't know if I have ever read a novel with a character like Jack before. His anxieties around family are relateable and I think many readers will find a little bit of solice in this story.
I was surprised at the ending of this novel. I think a part of me thought that there would be some form of character development from Linda and that some compromise would be reached between the family members.
I was hoping for some kind of acceptance of Jack's identity from his family and that Linda would have a bit of a light bulb moment regarding her "supreme" lifestyle.
However, while the ending and the whole novel for some may be depressing, I think there is merit in the idea that individuals can thrive by creating a comfortable life for themselves that is free from the toxicities that some families contain.
I wished the novel was longer! I would love to have continued reading about Jack's life.
I highly recommend this novel!
On a side note:
I am incredibly chuffed to see one of the English teachers from my high school become a published author! Inspiring!
I was surprised at the ending of this novel. I think a part of me thought that there would be some form of character development from Linda and that some compromise would be reached between the family members.
I was hoping for some kind of acceptance of Jack's identity from his family and that Linda would have a bit of a light bulb moment regarding her "supreme" lifestyle.
However, while the ending and the whole novel for some may be depressing, I think there is merit in the idea that individuals can thrive by creating a comfortable life for themselves that is free from the toxicities that some families contain.
I wished the novel was longer! I would love to have continued reading about Jack's life.
I highly recommend this novel!
On a side note:
I am incredibly chuffed to see one of the English teachers from my high school become a published author! Inspiring!
July 24, 2024
I loved this book! I just thought the ending was quite rushed & maybe I was hoping for a different outcome.
February 3, 2025
A really gripping and suprising story, well told with lots of pathos throughout. Characters that jump off the page and make you feel things, it’s hard not to take sides.
May 31, 2024
This book is not what I usually read, but it gripped me from the beginning.
Even though the experiences in the book were so different to my own, I felt connected the whole way through.
Price’s ability to write in two distinct voices was a triumph. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my friend !
Even though the experiences in the book were so different to my own, I felt connected the whole way through.
Price’s ability to write in two distinct voices was a triumph. And I’m not just saying that because he’s my friend !
May 20, 2024
Such a wonderful debut!
May 21, 2024
I really loved this book. If you feel left behind by the Sad Girl trend, this novel about aging parents, sibling disharmony, the toxic wellness industry and predatory pryamid schemes might ring more true for you. I love that this book has an unusual place for its central character, who is trans- the boring normal suburban guy just trying to survive his insane family. So many books I read with trans characters focus on the trans experience as gritty and difficult and I’m sure that is true for a lot of people, but Jack’s most pressing problem is that he is the only sane person in the room. I found this book unputdownable.
February 22, 2025
I was left reeling by the honesty and reliability of this book, and I flew through it. The depiction of transphobia is spot on, I have rarely seen captured on paper the exact way that families can treat their trans members without outright vitriol.
The voices of the two perspective characters (do they count as perspective characters when free indirect discourse is used??) were incredibly distinct, and even Linda's delusional belief in the pyramid scheme made sense.
I wish we got to see a little more of Jack's life outside his family and snippets of his work, but I understand the decision to focus on the small stretch of time over the weekend.
The voices of the two perspective characters (do they count as perspective characters when free indirect discourse is used??) were incredibly distinct, and even Linda's delusional belief in the pyramid scheme made sense.
I wish we got to see a little more of Jack's life outside his family and snippets of his work, but I understand the decision to focus on the small stretch of time over the weekend.
May 12, 2024
Superb. I still think about it occasionally a few months on. An awful mother yet her experience is written so well that you get inside her psyche and can (almost) see where she's coming from. An explosive family dynamic novel.
November 27, 2024
For a first novel, this book shows quite astonishing assurance; the author has got a really good grasp of his story and of the characters. However, in the end I didn't like it quite as much as I was expecting to.
The main characters, Jack and Linda, about whom the story revolves, each come with a fair baggage of history. Jack, whose transition has never been fully accepted by Linda (who's his mother), is constantly aggrieved by Linda's misgendering. Linda, for her part, has spent all her life, and all her money (plus a lot of her daughter Alice's money) try to keep afloat in the pyramid scheme of the excellently named Supreme Self products. An added complication is that Linda's husband (and the children's father), Peter, is now suffering dementia, and can no longer manage the financial and organizational side of their business. Linda breaking her hip requires the children to make an extended visit to look after her, which seems to bring all of the family dynamics to breaking point. Jack's memories of his father's anger and fury; his contempt at his mother for attempting to be "the best" in a failing business scheme, and her never having accepting his transition (in Linda's mind, Jack is still her daughter). I can't work out if Linda deserves any sympathy here. Linda fights to maintain her social media presence showing the power of the Supreme Self products - especially in respect of her "healing" so fast, which in fact she isn't healing at all well. Peter's ever increasing confusion; Alice's attempts to take charge of an impossible situation and to try to bully everybody else. It's a brilliant nightmare.
All that being said, I found the story moved too slowly, and with too much repetition. Every so often, there's a long section about Linda and Supreme Self, and after a while I kept thinking "we've been through all of this". The story could have done with a bit more humour; there was occasional lightness, but it was mostly dour and a bit bleak. Alice also seems a bit two-dimensional; I think more could have been done with her. And at the end she seems to refer to Jack as "she", which contradicts her careful non-misgendering so far. This is confusing.
There is a lot to like about this book; it explores some of the difficulties of transitioning (the scene of Jack at the airport should be required reading), and on the other hand it takes Jack's transition as something not strange or weird, but simply as a part of Jack's life. This is totally admirable. I wonder how much of Jack's character is based on the author's own experiences as a trans-man.
But as a novel, the book drags, and by the end I thought it was getting too long for its content, and seemed to have been unnecessarily padded.
However, I'll be clamouring for a copy of the author's next book, which I hope he writes!
The main characters, Jack and Linda, about whom the story revolves, each come with a fair baggage of history. Jack, whose transition has never been fully accepted by Linda (who's his mother), is constantly aggrieved by Linda's misgendering. Linda, for her part, has spent all her life, and all her money (plus a lot of her daughter Alice's money) try to keep afloat in the pyramid scheme of the excellently named Supreme Self products. An added complication is that Linda's husband (and the children's father), Peter, is now suffering dementia, and can no longer manage the financial and organizational side of their business. Linda breaking her hip requires the children to make an extended visit to look after her, which seems to bring all of the family dynamics to breaking point. Jack's memories of his father's anger and fury; his contempt at his mother for attempting to be "the best" in a failing business scheme, and her never having accepting his transition (in Linda's mind, Jack is still her daughter). I can't work out if Linda deserves any sympathy here. Linda fights to maintain her social media presence showing the power of the Supreme Self products - especially in respect of her "healing" so fast, which in fact she isn't healing at all well. Peter's ever increasing confusion; Alice's attempts to take charge of an impossible situation and to try to bully everybody else. It's a brilliant nightmare.
All that being said, I found the story moved too slowly, and with too much repetition. Every so often, there's a long section about Linda and Supreme Self, and after a while I kept thinking "we've been through all of this". The story could have done with a bit more humour; there was occasional lightness, but it was mostly dour and a bit bleak. Alice also seems a bit two-dimensional; I think more could have been done with her. And at the end she seems to refer to Jack as "she", which contradicts her careful non-misgendering so far. This is confusing.
There is a lot to like about this book; it explores some of the difficulties of transitioning (the scene of Jack at the airport should be required reading), and on the other hand it takes Jack's transition as something not strange or weird, but simply as a part of Jack's life. This is totally admirable. I wonder how much of Jack's character is based on the author's own experiences as a trans-man.
But as a novel, the book drags, and by the end I thought it was getting too long for its content, and seemed to have been unnecessarily padded.
However, I'll be clamouring for a copy of the author's next book, which I hope he writes!
June 27, 2024
3.5 - but I'll give it 4 as I read it in one go on my day off.
GREAT concept. I could have easily read 600+ pages of this family and their dynamics, kind of like 'Crossroads' style. It was too short and seemed to skim over so much that could have been explored. Like go deeper into Jack and Alice's childhood - go deeper with the angry father, the neglectful parents, the having to grow and survive by themselves as kids. Go deeper into the relationship of Linda and Peter before kids, just as they were getting into Supreme.
I would have loved to have a POV from Peter and Alice too.
Explore Jack a little more - is he actually a good person? Go deeper with the Linda's need to be rich and accepted.
Clearly I wanted more, it was a good read though. Not as heart wrenching as others have said it is, but still good.
GREAT concept. I could have easily read 600+ pages of this family and their dynamics, kind of like 'Crossroads' style. It was too short and seemed to skim over so much that could have been explored. Like go deeper into Jack and Alice's childhood - go deeper with the angry father, the neglectful parents, the having to grow and survive by themselves as kids. Go deeper into the relationship of Linda and Peter before kids, just as they were getting into Supreme.
I would have loved to have a POV from Peter and Alice too.
Explore Jack a little more - is he actually a good person? Go deeper with the Linda's need to be rich and accepted.
Clearly I wanted more, it was a good read though. Not as heart wrenching as others have said it is, but still good.
November 25, 2025
This novel follows siblings Jack and Alice as they return to Noosa after their mother, Linda - a wellness influencer and devoted alternative-health MLM salesperson - falls during a livestream and breaks her hip. It actually takes until around page 106 for them to even reach their parents’ place, and the slow build didn’t do much to draw me in.
The heart of the story is the deep rift between Jack and Linda, who are opposites in just about every way, and there’s real potential for sharp commentary on misinformation, identity, and family fractures. But for me, the book never fully delivered on that potential. I didn’t connect with the characters, and about halfway through I found myself zoning out. The ending lands in a bittersweet place, which I appreciated, but overall the novel felt like it had the chance to say a lot more than it ultimately did.
The heart of the story is the deep rift between Jack and Linda, who are opposites in just about every way, and there’s real potential for sharp commentary on misinformation, identity, and family fractures. But for me, the book never fully delivered on that potential. I didn’t connect with the characters, and about halfway through I found myself zoning out. The ending lands in a bittersweet place, which I appreciated, but overall the novel felt like it had the chance to say a lot more than it ultimately did.
August 22, 2024
I was sold on the part where it was described as funny, and even better, darkly funny. That was a solid big fat lie. This book isn’t funny. It certainly tries to be funny but it’s doesn’t ever deliver a deep tickle of the soul. It’s more akin to the kind of groan you’d pay a dad joke.
The characters feel lacquered in stereotype and lack depth so I found it difficult to care about any of them.
It’s certainly not the worst book ever, it’s readable, but it didn’t engage me and have me gagging to rip into it.
The characters feel lacquered in stereotype and lack depth so I found it difficult to care about any of them.
It’s certainly not the worst book ever, it’s readable, but it didn’t engage me and have me gagging to rip into it.
April 2, 2024
Absorbing narrative with such interesting characters. This wonderfully written book artfully weaved in a mighty amount deep and interesting topics amongst the storyline for its size! The topics I have first hand experience of were impressively accurately written (often the best depictions I've ever read!) and the topics I knew less about were real eye openers. A fantastic read that I'm confident would be enjoyed by a wide range of diverse readers.
April 28, 2024
Interesting book with a tense, humorous plot line. Captures dumb white influencer culture in contemporary Australia well. Clever ending. My only con was that it was a bit grim and no one really changes or expresses any joy, even for a minute. Really good read for people who want to be backed up after cutting off their crap fam.
September 25, 2024
3,5 stars
This book Is so tight paced that some time, I have had difficult to read and to follow , especially the Linda's parts. It seemed to me like a horror story , surreal . The only real part was that of Jack, the only one 'sane' and true at him self. But this story have so many paths and topics covered and made me think.
This book Is so tight paced that some time, I have had difficult to read and to follow , especially the Linda's parts. It seemed to me like a horror story , surreal . The only real part was that of Jack, the only one 'sane' and true at him self. But this story have so many paths and topics covered and made me think.
May 4, 2024
3.5*. Very entertaining and with numerous insights into family life and transgender issues (the latter being something rarely touched with such candour as this book). Rolls along at a cracking pace, with well-balanced chapters from each of the key protagonists. Truly horrific exposure of MLM - I'm hoping the depiction was over the top, but fear it was accurate. Recommended and worth reading.
May 7, 2024
This book hit close to home - I think my own biases made me not enjoy the book to its full potential. However, I can imagine myself really enjoying it if I didn’t have the real-life MLM experiences (good god lowkey traumatised). Linda was frustrating (compliment)
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April 29, 2024Extremely bleak! Both protagonists are hard to read. The MLM talk is eye watering (compliment).
May 19, 2024
A fantastic read. Thank you for bringing this to life Ernest.
September 12, 2024
5/10
And a shit font.
And a shit font.
October 27, 2024
Loved this one. Multilayered, quirky, sad, funny, current.
November 24, 2025
honestly i hated all 4 of them it was beautiful
August 31, 2024
This book was billed as being "A darkly funny story about transphobia and family dysfunction." And it was was on my library's Top 20 list.
It was only when I got it home that I realized that its author was a transgender man working as a secondary English teacher in Naarm.
I had no idea about whether a transgender man would have started life as a male or a female, and readers outside of Australia will have no idea about where Naarm might be.
But I derived some degree of amusement in reading about the pyramid scheme in which the book's main character had immersed herself:
Linda had flourished during the darkest days of the government's so-called pandemic, even if sales had been a struggle. She took the opportunity to surround herself with protective forces. She and Peter had relied heavily on Supreme Self's special formula, the Supreme Plandemic, which challenged customers to take control of their own health journey. They replaced all of their regular lamps with salt lamps, and traded in their 5G-compatible devices for older, safer models. She built a crystal barrier around their home, ensuring that she was in control of the energy they lived in.
Linda and her husband (Peter) have an actual adult daughter and an adult previous daughter who has now "transitioned" and calls himself Jack. We never really learn why the latter decided to become Jack, and I was, at the end of the book, left with an overall feeling of melancholy about that.
I did, however, learn that a TERF is a "a person whose views on gender identity are considered hostile to transgender people". Go figure!
It was only when I got it home that I realized that its author was a transgender man working as a secondary English teacher in Naarm.
I had no idea about whether a transgender man would have started life as a male or a female, and readers outside of Australia will have no idea about where Naarm might be.
But I derived some degree of amusement in reading about the pyramid scheme in which the book's main character had immersed herself:
Linda had flourished during the darkest days of the government's so-called pandemic, even if sales had been a struggle. She took the opportunity to surround herself with protective forces. She and Peter had relied heavily on Supreme Self's special formula, the Supreme Plandemic, which challenged customers to take control of their own health journey. They replaced all of their regular lamps with salt lamps, and traded in their 5G-compatible devices for older, safer models. She built a crystal barrier around their home, ensuring that she was in control of the energy they lived in.
Linda and her husband (Peter) have an actual adult daughter and an adult previous daughter who has now "transitioned" and calls himself Jack. We never really learn why the latter decided to become Jack, and I was, at the end of the book, left with an overall feeling of melancholy about that.
I did, however, learn that a TERF is a "a person whose views on gender identity are considered hostile to transgender people". Go figure!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews