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Atavists: Stories
A Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2025 • One of NPR's "Books We Love" for 2025 • A Chicago Public Library Must-Read Book of 2025 • An Electric Literature Best Short Story Collection of 2025 • A Financial Times Best Summer Book of 2025
A fast-moving, heartbreaking collection of short fiction from "the American writer with the funniest, wisest grasp on how we fool ourselves" (Chicago Tribune).
The word atavism, coined by a botanist and popularized by a criminologist, refers to the resurfacing of a primitive evolutionary trait or urge in a modern being. This inventive collection from Lydia Millet offers overlapping tales of urges ranging from rage to jealousy to yearning—a fluent triumph of storytelling, rich in ideas and emotions both petty and grand.
The titular atavists include an underachieving, bewildered young bartender; a middle-aged mother convinced her gentle son-in-law is fixated on geriatric porn; a bodybuilder with an incel’s fantasy life; an arrogant academic accused of plagiarism; and an empty-nester dad determined to host refugees in a tiny house in his backyard.
As they pick away at the splitting seams in American culture, Millet’s characters shimmer with the sense of powerlessness we share in an era of mass overwhelm. A beautician in a waxing salon faces a sudden resurgence of grief in the midst of a bikini Brazilian; a couple sets up a camera to find out who’s been slipping homophobic letters into their mailbox; a jilted urban planner stalks a man she met on a dating app.
In its rich warp and weft of humiliations and human error, Atavists returns to the trenchant, playful social commentary that made A Children’s Bible a runaway hit. In these stories sharp observations of middle-class mores and sanctimony give way to moments of raw exposure and Atavists performs an uncanny fictional magic, full of revelation but also hilarious, unpretentious, and warm.
A fast-moving, heartbreaking collection of short fiction from "the American writer with the funniest, wisest grasp on how we fool ourselves" (Chicago Tribune).
The word atavism, coined by a botanist and popularized by a criminologist, refers to the resurfacing of a primitive evolutionary trait or urge in a modern being. This inventive collection from Lydia Millet offers overlapping tales of urges ranging from rage to jealousy to yearning—a fluent triumph of storytelling, rich in ideas and emotions both petty and grand.
The titular atavists include an underachieving, bewildered young bartender; a middle-aged mother convinced her gentle son-in-law is fixated on geriatric porn; a bodybuilder with an incel’s fantasy life; an arrogant academic accused of plagiarism; and an empty-nester dad determined to host refugees in a tiny house in his backyard.
As they pick away at the splitting seams in American culture, Millet’s characters shimmer with the sense of powerlessness we share in an era of mass overwhelm. A beautician in a waxing salon faces a sudden resurgence of grief in the midst of a bikini Brazilian; a couple sets up a camera to find out who’s been slipping homophobic letters into their mailbox; a jilted urban planner stalks a man she met on a dating app.
In its rich warp and weft of humiliations and human error, Atavists returns to the trenchant, playful social commentary that made A Children’s Bible a runaway hit. In these stories sharp observations of middle-class mores and sanctimony give way to moments of raw exposure and Atavists performs an uncanny fictional magic, full of revelation but also hilarious, unpretentious, and warm.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2025
202 people are currently reading
10033 people want to read
About the author
Lydia Millet
42 books1,093 followersLydia Millet has written twelve works of fiction. She has won awards from PEN Center USA and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and her books have been longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and named as New York Times Notable Books. Her story collection Love in Infant Monkeys was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She lives outside Tucson, Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews
April 21, 2025
I’d like to start by thanking both W.W. Norton & Co. and NetGalley for granting me the amazing opportunity to review an advance copy of this collection of stories.
I can openly admit that I went into Lydia Millet’s new collection of short stories, *Atavists*, with more than a little bit of bias. Not only is she someone that I had already admired and treasured as a writer, but her 2020 novel *A Children’s Bible* is on my short list of what I consider to be the greatest works of modern fiction.
*Atavists* promised to be a grouping of short stories that all bear a loose connection with one another, but as I spent time with this collection, I began to see that the connections went far beyond a series of individuals making passing references to each other, the same characters appearing in multiple stories or just everyone being simply aware of each other in some sort of fashion.
The cast of characters at the heart of *Atavists* share one defining common thread, one of all being stuck at a that inexplainable part in their lives where they are searching for something that isn’t necessarily tangible and definitely not without complication. Call it meaning, call it a feeling or call it a purpose, but each of them feels the presence of a type of void that is near impossible to contextualize.
Buzz, an empty nest father, is seeking something that satisfies his soul while also fulfilling his need to help others after his doctors inform him that he will never run a marathon again. Twenty year old Mia is looking for direction in finding a career path that caters to her particular set of skills that others in her life label as outdated or of little to no use in modern society. Collette is hoping that a small revenge will help mend the part of her heart that still feels broken after a brief love affair ended with cruelty and ghosting. Nick wants an answer to something, anything. And the search goes on and on with each character supplying a fresh and unique look at what it means to want or need or feel something that they cannot put into words.
We get such a brief time with this rather large cast of characters and yet Millet so deftly brings each of them to life, colouring them in and giving each of them a depth that makes it feel as if their every movement is being acted out directly in front of us as the reader. Conversations are filled with references to modern events and situations and don’t ever feel forced or generic, but rife with language that gratuitously and accurately drinks up the eccentricities and nuances of at least three separate generations all attempting to understand each other with varying levels of success.
The art of the short story is one that eludes many people that attempt to make writing a profession or a hobby. And that’s not a criticism, but rather a testament to just how difficult of a medium it is to practice. With the stories that make up Atavists, Millet has perfected the balance of providing enough narrative and enough meaning for each story to stand on its own two legs, while also placing that little nag in the back of each reader’s head that just wants a little bit more time with the individuals living inside of each story. Because of this, Atavists is a perfect place to jump into the bibliography of Lydia Millet and get a little taste of what has made many of her novels feel so vibrant, so alive and so apt for the times that we live in.
I can openly admit that I went into Lydia Millet’s new collection of short stories, *Atavists*, with more than a little bit of bias. Not only is she someone that I had already admired and treasured as a writer, but her 2020 novel *A Children’s Bible* is on my short list of what I consider to be the greatest works of modern fiction.
*Atavists* promised to be a grouping of short stories that all bear a loose connection with one another, but as I spent time with this collection, I began to see that the connections went far beyond a series of individuals making passing references to each other, the same characters appearing in multiple stories or just everyone being simply aware of each other in some sort of fashion.
The cast of characters at the heart of *Atavists* share one defining common thread, one of all being stuck at a that inexplainable part in their lives where they are searching for something that isn’t necessarily tangible and definitely not without complication. Call it meaning, call it a feeling or call it a purpose, but each of them feels the presence of a type of void that is near impossible to contextualize.
Buzz, an empty nest father, is seeking something that satisfies his soul while also fulfilling his need to help others after his doctors inform him that he will never run a marathon again. Twenty year old Mia is looking for direction in finding a career path that caters to her particular set of skills that others in her life label as outdated or of little to no use in modern society. Collette is hoping that a small revenge will help mend the part of her heart that still feels broken after a brief love affair ended with cruelty and ghosting. Nick wants an answer to something, anything. And the search goes on and on with each character supplying a fresh and unique look at what it means to want or need or feel something that they cannot put into words.
We get such a brief time with this rather large cast of characters and yet Millet so deftly brings each of them to life, colouring them in and giving each of them a depth that makes it feel as if their every movement is being acted out directly in front of us as the reader. Conversations are filled with references to modern events and situations and don’t ever feel forced or generic, but rife with language that gratuitously and accurately drinks up the eccentricities and nuances of at least three separate generations all attempting to understand each other with varying levels of success.
The art of the short story is one that eludes many people that attempt to make writing a profession or a hobby. And that’s not a criticism, but rather a testament to just how difficult of a medium it is to practice. With the stories that make up Atavists, Millet has perfected the balance of providing enough narrative and enough meaning for each story to stand on its own two legs, while also placing that little nag in the back of each reader’s head that just wants a little bit more time with the individuals living inside of each story. Because of this, Atavists is a perfect place to jump into the bibliography of Lydia Millet and get a little taste of what has made many of her novels feel so vibrant, so alive and so apt for the times that we live in.
May 4, 2025
This felt like American Beauty set in 2025. In other words: much worse.
The interconnected stories are about the things we care about in modern society...and it just feels so empty and wrong.
Millet's writing is very cynical, snarky and sharp. They are very funny too but they don't really make you laugh because underneath there is the unsettling feeling that what we care about is not what we should be caring about.
The interconnected stories are about the things we care about in modern society...and it just feels so empty and wrong.
Millet's writing is very cynical, snarky and sharp. They are very funny too but they don't really make you laugh because underneath there is the unsettling feeling that what we care about is not what we should be caring about.
May 16, 2025
This collection of short stories sneaks up on you and wraps its arms around you. It's like being cozy on the couch, watching your favorite family sitcom. This is what I felt while listening to this book. I wanted to be immersed in these character's lives.
The book is sneaky. At first, you're like oh okay, just some average stories about some upper middle class people living in CA. But then the author sucked you in. She connects one story to another, and uses this character from Sorry A, and then gives them their own story in Story C, and so on. Till the end, you feel like you were plopped down in the middle of a tight little community that you don't want to leave. You want to know everyone's thoughts and secrets.
I think a part of the success of this book for me personally, was that the author didn't do the following:
Make the characters obnoxious. These are mostly upper middle class characters, and most of them were affluent. Instead of flaunting this, the author wrote each character with such genuine relatability, that I couldn't be irritated or annoyed with their class status.
The audiobook was fantastic, as there were several narrators voices used and all were excellent. It made for a good listen.
I think my only gripe was that in a few stories she did use third person narrative regularly which made it a tad confusing at certain points while listening to the audiobook.
I could go on longer, but I'll keep it short. I would definitely recommend this book to short story lovers, but also to someone who has not read short stories - it would be a gentle slide into the genre. Excellent experience all around!
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of the ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review!
The book is sneaky. At first, you're like oh okay, just some average stories about some upper middle class people living in CA. But then the author sucked you in. She connects one story to another, and uses this character from Sorry A, and then gives them their own story in Story C, and so on. Till the end, you feel like you were plopped down in the middle of a tight little community that you don't want to leave. You want to know everyone's thoughts and secrets.
I think a part of the success of this book for me personally, was that the author didn't do the following:
Make the characters obnoxious. These are mostly upper middle class characters, and most of them were affluent. Instead of flaunting this, the author wrote each character with such genuine relatability, that I couldn't be irritated or annoyed with their class status.
The audiobook was fantastic, as there were several narrators voices used and all were excellent. It made for a good listen.
I think my only gripe was that in a few stories she did use third person narrative regularly which made it a tad confusing at certain points while listening to the audiobook.
I could go on longer, but I'll keep it short. I would definitely recommend this book to short story lovers, but also to someone who has not read short stories - it would be a gentle slide into the genre. Excellent experience all around!
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of the ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review!
April 21, 2025
This was a miss for me. I don’t typically like short stories, but I was intrigued by the interconnectedness of these stories and the description of it as climate fiction, so I gave it a try. But nope. Many of the stories kept my interest and finding the connections between the characters too — and then it just ended. I kept waiting for the stories to add up to something but either they didn’t or I didn’t get it.
Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 10, 2025
"Atavists" is a collection of interconnected stories, almost resembling a novel. The characters live in Los Angeles in the modern day. The stories struck a chord with me. Millet's writing is smart, thoughtful and at times, funny. It is a delightful read, which ended all too quickly.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
February 17, 2025
Atavists is a wonderful collection of linked short stories, a genre I particularly like--when well done short stories are an amazing artistic feat and when connected they give the satisfaction of a novel while also giving the opportunity to read an entire piece of craftsmanship in a short but concentrated experience.
The stories are about family and relationship but also about climate change, the end of the world, greed, the aftermath of the pandemic, depression, community. Millet is a fine writer--she creates complicated worlds with deft touches. The older generation (people in their 40s) feeling like "tourists" in a new world while the younger generations seem equally confused. Ordinary people of all ages trying to make sense of extraordinary times. A young man goes to therapy and the therapist can't decide if he is depressed or merely seeing the world accurately.
Millet tackles big themes but through people living through all the ordinary situations and relationships with which we are familiar. Two sisters--one, the "successful" career woman (Millet manages to use this sister and her job to make indirect commentary on capitalism--through the eyes of her mother, who carries the memories of her activist days--who is settling for an unsatisfying relationship from which she is too lethargic to end; the other sister is drifting until she finds meaning in an unexpected way.
The writing is beautiful. The people and situations feel real, vivid and the larger themes don't take over the life of the world Millet has created. Middle (or maybe upper middle) class people making their way and creating their lives--the world seems new but the challenges remain familiar: to make connections and find meaning individually and in community.
Atavists will be published on Apr 22 2025 by W. W. Norton & Company. I want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and the author for providing me with a copy of this ebook.
The stories are about family and relationship but also about climate change, the end of the world, greed, the aftermath of the pandemic, depression, community. Millet is a fine writer--she creates complicated worlds with deft touches. The older generation (people in their 40s) feeling like "tourists" in a new world while the younger generations seem equally confused. Ordinary people of all ages trying to make sense of extraordinary times. A young man goes to therapy and the therapist can't decide if he is depressed or merely seeing the world accurately.
Millet tackles big themes but through people living through all the ordinary situations and relationships with which we are familiar. Two sisters--one, the "successful" career woman (Millet manages to use this sister and her job to make indirect commentary on capitalism--through the eyes of her mother, who carries the memories of her activist days--who is settling for an unsatisfying relationship from which she is too lethargic to end; the other sister is drifting until she finds meaning in an unexpected way.
The writing is beautiful. The people and situations feel real, vivid and the larger themes don't take over the life of the world Millet has created. Middle (or maybe upper middle) class people making their way and creating their lives--the world seems new but the challenges remain familiar: to make connections and find meaning individually and in community.
Atavists will be published on Apr 22 2025 by W. W. Norton & Company. I want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and the author for providing me with a copy of this ebook.
April 23, 2025
You know when you pick up a book on a whim and you tell yourself that you’re only going to read a few pages, but then you blink and somehow nearly an hour has passed??
That was Atavists for me.
Atavists is a series of interconnected stories, in which we spend a little time with a myriad of people, at a specific moment in their lives.
Almost every story in here looks at a different form of alienation experienced in modern society. But it never feels so of the moment that it’s removed from the larger framework of humanity. It’s quite timeless. Several characters in here knocked the breath right out of me.
I truly can’t recommend this one enough.
That was Atavists for me.
Atavists is a series of interconnected stories, in which we spend a little time with a myriad of people, at a specific moment in their lives.
Almost every story in here looks at a different form of alienation experienced in modern society. But it never feels so of the moment that it’s removed from the larger framework of humanity. It’s quite timeless. Several characters in here knocked the breath right out of me.
I truly can’t recommend this one enough.
April 6, 2025
Thanks to Libro.fm for the advance listener copy.
I wanted to love this - I’m very into the conceit of the interwoven short stories - but unfortunately I didn’t find any of the stories that compelling, and Millet has a lot of trouble writing Gen Z, which accounts for about half the characters in this.
I wanted to love this - I’m very into the conceit of the interwoven short stories - but unfortunately I didn’t find any of the stories that compelling, and Millet has a lot of trouble writing Gen Z, which accounts for about half the characters in this.
June 12, 2025
Why is every modern term jammed into this? Deepfakes, TikTok, Minecraft, BTS, LARP, comment section, IP address, Elon…
Ugh
Ugh
April 28, 2025
Advertised as a collection of linked short stories, Millet keeps readers on their toes because we don’t know which characters will resurface. Nor was it clear how much connection Millet seeks to create between the stories and, if so, which stories. I presumed the compilation would read like a star-studded ensemble, but the vignettes subtly overlap to highlight another character’s temperament and trials and only marginally reveal other perspectives. Those who are not a fan of short stories may not enjoy this project. The ecosystem’s overall themes were not consistently clear. However, one must trust Millet to guide in her breathable, meandering way. Her writing is sometimes soothing, always human, and never not fun. She exhibits her rich understanding of variegated outlooks (e.g., age, gender, religion) with the transitioning narratives. Atavists is loud in its quiet and contemplative way.
June 3, 2025
this is a collection of interconnected short stories about people living in the same community. i would really recommend this for people who don’t typically get on with story collections feeling like once you get attached to certain characters or plot lines, the story moves on. because these stories are somewhat related, we jump back and revisit old characters and their lives. in this way, it reads more like a novel.
i loved this so much. this is such a good example of how important fiction is. these stories force you to re-examine your previous thoughts about characters you’ve already met once you get their story from their own POV. empathy is necessary from the reader to really connect with these stories.
i also just loved how the author doesn’t shy away from modernity. i’ve seen a lot of authors choose to not include pop culture, current news, social media, trends, etc. in their work, maybe as a way to seem more “literary”? lydia millet faces all of it head-on, including mentions of minecraft, LARPing, alpha/beta males, etc. plus current events and news.
always happy to find a new favorite short story collection :’) i’m excited to read more by this lovely woman!
i loved this so much. this is such a good example of how important fiction is. these stories force you to re-examine your previous thoughts about characters you’ve already met once you get their story from their own POV. empathy is necessary from the reader to really connect with these stories.
i also just loved how the author doesn’t shy away from modernity. i’ve seen a lot of authors choose to not include pop culture, current news, social media, trends, etc. in their work, maybe as a way to seem more “literary”? lydia millet faces all of it head-on, including mentions of minecraft, LARPing, alpha/beta males, etc. plus current events and news.
always happy to find a new favorite short story collection :’) i’m excited to read more by this lovely woman!
previewed-decided-against
April 24, 2025I a little more than previewed this - I read the whole second story - and found it mean, and the writing unimpressive. Certainly simple and quick to read.
April 24, 2025
Happy Pub Day to this excellent short story collection from one of our best writers. I am a huge fan of the short story format, if you prefer novels or nonfiction or some other type of book, you might not be as enamored with this collection as I am. I love the way short stories punch you in the gut without a long preamble. You think you are reading a slice of life account of a kid who seems to be floundering, bartending just to have a job, and then you are completely heartbroken by a side character. These stories are interconnected, weaving a narrative web the reader can choose to explore, or simply take each vignette by itself. Every story is interesting on its own, woven together they create a tapestry of compassion and despair and love. A note on the narration: Normally I steer clear of audiobooks narrated by more than two people. I do not like full cast recordings. I was a bit worried when I saw this audiobook had several narrators. It was with a real sense of relief I found that each story had a single narrator. It worked wonderfully for this format. Switching narrators helped delineate between the end of one story and the beginning of the next. I started the book as a skeptic but was quickly converted to the multiple narrator format. Thank you to Lydia Millet, the narrators, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the audioARC.
Read
May 15, 2025best short story writer on the planet
March 30, 2025
“Atavists” is a collection of interconnected short stories about understanding generational divide and finding meaning in things that are in and out of our control: from global political climates, to mental health, to finding meaning under capitalism, to giving two sh*ts about social media, to obsessive and easily dropped hobbies. This was at times hilarious, absurd, exciting and inane.
For Millennials/Gen Xers, it’s preaching to the choir, but I was all ears.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lydia Millet and the publisher for this advanced copy. I loved it!
For Millennials/Gen Xers, it’s preaching to the choir, but I was all ears.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lydia Millet and the publisher for this advanced copy. I loved it!
May 15, 2025
The NYT review for this collection, by Fiona Maazel, opens with, "Lydia Millet is a prolific writer who has won big accolades, and yet somehow I’ve never read her work." (And you're the reviewer of Atavists for the Times why, exactly?)
As it turns out, this is Lydia Millet's 17th book. In fairness, I didn't know of her work until early 2023, almost 20 years after the release of her first novel, and 15 years after her collection Love in Human Monkeys was nominated for a Pulitzer. These days I seek her out. I'll continue to do so, but found Atavists a surprisingly difficult read.
The earth is failing. Families portrayed here are tired, still trying, running (literally, perhaps) on fumes. Endangered and dead animals abound. This is us, here and now. I grew sadder with each story, and increasingly sapped of energy to bring to reading them. A review of any kind feels almost unfair. I didn't expect to be uplifted. But beaten down - I don't know. Reading Atavists ultimately depressed me, which I suppose means its message came through. Still - the overall experience felt like I was like one of the women in a later story: caught out in a chilly rainstorm, not drenching or thunderous, just continuous and exhausting, as I stood still, hoping a safe ride home - or a disastrous gale carrying us all out to sea - something- would arrive.
Some notes on some of the stories:
Tourist
"He's a wife guy, Mom. It's a thing."
Trudy, a peevish middle aged woman looks around the world, looks at her teenage kids, and feels (much like me) tired. She'd planned to be different, to be someone -
"Yet here she was, living in a minor corner of the real."
Millet can't write poorly, that I've ever experienced, but this story felt like a path retraced too often.
"Even the knowledge that in four years he'd be leaving, because it was what they did when the clock struck 18, was like a pocket full of stones."
Dramatist
A 22 year old lost boy, Nick, making claims at becoming a screenplay writer but in reality mostly a Larp player, from the pov of Liza, his humiliated sister. This second piece had an interesting setup, but no story to follow.
Fetishist
Here is Buzz, the dad from the previous story. He adores his son in law, Luis, who is the opposite of his son, Nick. Luis is hardworking, responsible, always pitching in around the house. Then - trouble. Buzz discovers some very specific porn Luis has been looking at on their shared pc - think major age gap, lusty grandmothers. I didn't buy this. Luis, a 20 something, shares a laptop with his father-in-law, and doesn't wipe his browser history after frequently looking at x-rated sites? Nah. Also, why is this Dad's name Buzz, and why does he use terms like 'gnarly'. Also, also Amy, Buzz's wife, is laden with completely unbelievable dialogue. She sounds like Betty Crocker discovering a deflated soufflé.
The strained credibility lessens as the story eventually evolves into Buzz musing over his daughter's future, his own aging. Still, the ending is as truncated as the previous story. I'm mystified.
Artist
Grown daughters, a single mother, unable to combat a lingering negativity, a cloud of depression. One daughter refusing work that isn't meaningful - or not "her bliss"- while mother is a successful artist.
The Therapist
We meet a therapist who sounds like she's not very good at her job. The advice she gives is meager, or off. Then she's on a nature walk with her entomologist partner. They get separated; a storm arrives:
" 'So you're wet,' she told herself. 'Big deal. That's done. At some point you'll be dry again. Just listen, why don't you.' The sounds went on and on and on, spread about her in their inseparable millions, a symphony of water and plants. If she listened without resistance, the sounds would take her beyond the shivering, beyond the inconvenience, into the elemental ... right now, here in the home that made us, we still have the rain."
Cosmetologist
A story about the after effects of loss from a family Covid death - that takes place in a salon where a woman performs bikini waxing. The aesthetician and the client - the client lying bare from the waist down with her legs wide apart - agree that having a child is too risky. A surprisingly contrived entry.
Optimist
Atavists concludes back with Buzz the Dad, Amy the Mom. Buzz is obsessing over potentially performing an act of political kindness, offering shelter to refugees.
Exhausted, Amy goes on a walk with her friend Trudy. They sit, looking out over their neighborhood. Two women talking about the vanishing wildlife, the fires.
"This place was beautiful once," said Trudy, "before we got here and ruined it."
The ending is so viciously bleak that I couldn't react. I didn't expect hope; I had to accept, finally, the I didn't anticipate anything. I just wanted the book to be over. And admitting this feels shameful.
As it turns out, this is Lydia Millet's 17th book. In fairness, I didn't know of her work until early 2023, almost 20 years after the release of her first novel, and 15 years after her collection Love in Human Monkeys was nominated for a Pulitzer. These days I seek her out. I'll continue to do so, but found Atavists a surprisingly difficult read.
The earth is failing. Families portrayed here are tired, still trying, running (literally, perhaps) on fumes. Endangered and dead animals abound. This is us, here and now. I grew sadder with each story, and increasingly sapped of energy to bring to reading them. A review of any kind feels almost unfair. I didn't expect to be uplifted. But beaten down - I don't know. Reading Atavists ultimately depressed me, which I suppose means its message came through. Still - the overall experience felt like I was like one of the women in a later story: caught out in a chilly rainstorm, not drenching or thunderous, just continuous and exhausting, as I stood still, hoping a safe ride home - or a disastrous gale carrying us all out to sea - something- would arrive.
Some notes on some of the stories:
Tourist
"He's a wife guy, Mom. It's a thing."
Trudy, a peevish middle aged woman looks around the world, looks at her teenage kids, and feels (much like me) tired. She'd planned to be different, to be someone -
"Yet here she was, living in a minor corner of the real."
Millet can't write poorly, that I've ever experienced, but this story felt like a path retraced too often.
"Even the knowledge that in four years he'd be leaving, because it was what they did when the clock struck 18, was like a pocket full of stones."
Dramatist
A 22 year old lost boy, Nick, making claims at becoming a screenplay writer but in reality mostly a Larp player, from the pov of Liza, his humiliated sister. This second piece had an interesting setup, but no story to follow.
Fetishist
Here is Buzz, the dad from the previous story. He adores his son in law, Luis, who is the opposite of his son, Nick. Luis is hardworking, responsible, always pitching in around the house. Then - trouble. Buzz discovers some very specific porn Luis has been looking at on their shared pc - think major age gap, lusty grandmothers. I didn't buy this. Luis, a 20 something, shares a laptop with his father-in-law, and doesn't wipe his browser history after frequently looking at x-rated sites? Nah. Also, why is this Dad's name Buzz, and why does he use terms like 'gnarly'. Also, also Amy, Buzz's wife, is laden with completely unbelievable dialogue. She sounds like Betty Crocker discovering a deflated soufflé.
The strained credibility lessens as the story eventually evolves into Buzz musing over his daughter's future, his own aging. Still, the ending is as truncated as the previous story. I'm mystified.
Artist
Grown daughters, a single mother, unable to combat a lingering negativity, a cloud of depression. One daughter refusing work that isn't meaningful - or not "her bliss"- while mother is a successful artist.
The Therapist
We meet a therapist who sounds like she's not very good at her job. The advice she gives is meager, or off. Then she's on a nature walk with her entomologist partner. They get separated; a storm arrives:
" 'So you're wet,' she told herself. 'Big deal. That's done. At some point you'll be dry again. Just listen, why don't you.' The sounds went on and on and on, spread about her in their inseparable millions, a symphony of water and plants. If she listened without resistance, the sounds would take her beyond the shivering, beyond the inconvenience, into the elemental ... right now, here in the home that made us, we still have the rain."
Cosmetologist
A story about the after effects of loss from a family Covid death - that takes place in a salon where a woman performs bikini waxing. The aesthetician and the client - the client lying bare from the waist down with her legs wide apart - agree that having a child is too risky. A surprisingly contrived entry.
Optimist
Atavists concludes back with Buzz the Dad, Amy the Mom. Buzz is obsessing over potentially performing an act of political kindness, offering shelter to refugees.
Exhausted, Amy goes on a walk with her friend Trudy. They sit, looking out over their neighborhood. Two women talking about the vanishing wildlife, the fires.
"This place was beautiful once," said Trudy, "before we got here and ruined it."
The ending is so viciously bleak that I couldn't react. I didn't expect hope; I had to accept, finally, the I didn't anticipate anything. I just wanted the book to be over. And admitting this feels shameful.
April 11, 2025
4.5
Lydia Millet never misses. She is a huge climate activist so her stories always have themes of climate fiction but this one definitely focused more on relationships and how the generations have changed it’s funny and thoughtful and I related to so many of these stories. Easy reading, need a copy for my shelves when it’s out April 22!
Lydia Millet never misses. She is a huge climate activist so her stories always have themes of climate fiction but this one definitely focused more on relationships and how the generations have changed it’s funny and thoughtful and I related to so many of these stories. Easy reading, need a copy for my shelves when it’s out April 22!
May 24, 2025
this fell so flat for me unfortunately. I have a question by the end of it which is, what was this about? what even happened? cause it kind of feels like nothing. these quirky novels, shorts, etc, are usually so up my street, but this felt surface level to me - Millet is a talented writer but I almost sense she'd do incredibly in a much thicker complex book in comparison to this layout
May 15, 2025
it kind of lost me somewhere along the way, but solid writing
Read
September 15, 2025This is perhaps the most 2025 book I’ve ever read and maybe it won’t age well (kind of hope it doesn’t?).
Interweaving stories about the stupid things we care about and the important things we care about in stupid ways. A lot of 2025 things are touched on: social media, cancel culture, climate anxiety, celebrity culture, porn addiction, COVID, the manosphere, LARPing (lol). The disaffected and aimless youth, the out-of-touch middle-aged. Nearly every character is preoccupied with the wrong things and almost every one is depressed. Most of the characters are wealthy Angelenos; Millet renders them with real humanity but taken all together there is a stink of insufferability to it all. People with few real problems moaning “we’re all doomed.”
Interweaving stories about the stupid things we care about and the important things we care about in stupid ways. A lot of 2025 things are touched on: social media, cancel culture, climate anxiety, celebrity culture, porn addiction, COVID, the manosphere, LARPing (lol). The disaffected and aimless youth, the out-of-touch middle-aged. Nearly every character is preoccupied with the wrong things and almost every one is depressed. Most of the characters are wealthy Angelenos; Millet renders them with real humanity but taken all together there is a stink of insufferability to it all. People with few real problems moaning “we’re all doomed.”
November 29, 2025
overall, i felt very meh about this set of short stories. because all the characters were loosely connected, it read almost more like a disconnected novel… i wish the author had leaned more into one or the other. i also felt as though a lot of the “the world is ending” commentary was apt, but not fully-formed. i also didn’t love the authors writing style, but of course that’s just a matter of personal taste.
May 1, 2025
I am in awe of the trick of uniting these stories. There's humor alongside the real environmental threats we face-- and great humanity. Millet seamlessly captures the range of human experience from dread to folly while noting the nondualistic nature of being.
April 29, 2025
This was so quietly yet deeply sad
Read
May 31, 2025very well written but a bit too cynical for me
April 21, 2025
this was an absolute classic emily book - short stories that are somewhat interwoven & very character driven - loved it! read it in two sittings
June 4, 2025
A darkly funny time capsule - in book form - of a failing society. A sharply observed look at the ways we fiddle - or obsess over other people’s social media - while Rome (and everywhere else) burns.
July 20, 2025
This was simply not very good, and I feel bad for saying that because I really did want to like it.
It tries to paint a portrait about life and people in our modern times and internet culture, but it just comes off very out of touch and forced. The ruminations are trite at best and try hard at worst, the conversations are unrealistic and feel very edgy YA-esque, the tone oscillates between trying to be funny and trying to be deep (and fails at both), the references feel dated already, even when they aren't, and the stories meander pointlessly then have endings that feel tacked on.
The whole thing feels very "hello, fellow kids". It seems to be written by someone who's researched and observed the zeitgeist rather than living in it, which is just not the same at all. Particularly egregious is how the author constantly uses the term "social" to describe social media. People in real life use socials, social media, and simply "online." Never "social", and it just takes me out every single time.
In my opinion, Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte has done what this is trying to do, but a hundred times better. I generally don't like to compare titles, but there were many parallels here - such as the themes and especially the callbacks to characters from previous stories in succeeding stories - that just kept bringing my mind back to Rejection and where it soars where this flops.
I suppose people who are older and less chronically online will enjoy this, as it's a simpler take on online culture that doesn't require all the context that comes with having grown up on the internet. But if that isn't you, then I unfortunately can't recommend this at all.
It tries to paint a portrait about life and people in our modern times and internet culture, but it just comes off very out of touch and forced. The ruminations are trite at best and try hard at worst, the conversations are unrealistic and feel very edgy YA-esque, the tone oscillates between trying to be funny and trying to be deep (and fails at both), the references feel dated already, even when they aren't, and the stories meander pointlessly then have endings that feel tacked on.
The whole thing feels very "hello, fellow kids". It seems to be written by someone who's researched and observed the zeitgeist rather than living in it, which is just not the same at all. Particularly egregious is how the author constantly uses the term "social" to describe social media. People in real life use socials, social media, and simply "online." Never "social", and it just takes me out every single time.
In my opinion, Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte has done what this is trying to do, but a hundred times better. I generally don't like to compare titles, but there were many parallels here - such as the themes and especially the callbacks to characters from previous stories in succeeding stories - that just kept bringing my mind back to Rejection and where it soars where this flops.
I suppose people who are older and less chronically online will enjoy this, as it's a simpler take on online culture that doesn't require all the context that comes with having grown up on the internet. But if that isn't you, then I unfortunately can't recommend this at all.
March 17, 2025
I've read and liked Dinosaurs, by Lydia Millet, but it wasn't memorable enough for me to have high expectations for this. So they were exceeded! It took a little while for the narrative voice to grow on me, but after a few stories it made sense. A few of the stories are LOL funny (especially The Cultist) and others are poignant or thought provoking. I especially enjoyed how loosely connected they were, with most characters getting their own POV story. While never the exclusive focus, a lot of the stories touched on recent topics, like covid, plagiarism, refugees, and online dating nightmares. I hope this gets picked up beyond Millet's fans.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.
April 30, 2025
While I remain a bona-fide Lydia Millet fan and will continue to read every new volume, these short stories (with titles reflecting avocations) don't really provide any fresh insights into what it is to be alive. Millet has already written about techbros and schemers in other volumes with great wit and verve, but that seems to be largely absent here. "Gerontologist" may be my favorite story in the collection, if only because that's the only story here in which Millet's batty brain lets loose, with an often quirky examination of aging and mortality. Other stories like "Cultist" and "Futurist" feel like retreads of previous material.
July 22, 2025
This might be my favorite genre of book- Short stories where characters from one story show up in other stories and the whole anthology is getting at big ideas.
There, There... Welcome to the Goon Squad... Stories from the Tenants Downstairs... Etc.
This is probably not as good as those 3 books, but it's pretty great.
There, There... Welcome to the Goon Squad... Stories from the Tenants Downstairs... Etc.
This is probably not as good as those 3 books, but it's pretty great.
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