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Fourth Estate Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind.
Jonathan Abernathy is drowning in debt. If he can appear to be competent at his new job, he might have a chance at a new life. But at what cost?
Jonathan Abernathy is fucked. Jobless, behind on student loan payments, and a self-declared failure, the only thing Abernathy has in abundance is debt.
When a government loan forgiveness program offers him a job he can do literally in his sleep, he thinks he’s found his big break. That is, until he finds himself auditing the dreams of white-collar workers, flagging their anxieties and preoccupations for removal. As Abernathy finds his footing in this new role, reality and morality begin to warp around him. Soon, the lines between life and work, love and hate, right and wrong, even sleep and consciousness, begin to blur.
At once tender, startling, and deeply funny, Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is a piercing critique of late-stage capitalism and a reckoning with its true cost.
Jonathan Abernathy is fucked. Jobless, behind on student loan payments, and a self-declared failure, the only thing Abernathy has in abundance is debt.
When a government loan forgiveness program offers him a job he can do literally in his sleep, he thinks he’s found his big break. That is, until he finds himself auditing the dreams of white-collar workers, flagging their anxieties and preoccupations for removal. As Abernathy finds his footing in this new role, reality and morality begin to warp around him. Soon, the lines between life and work, love and hate, right and wrong, even sleep and consciousness, begin to blur.
At once tender, startling, and deeply funny, Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is a piercing critique of late-stage capitalism and a reckoning with its true cost.
354 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2023
287 people are currently reading
9099 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 670 reviews
April 26, 2024
'Critique of late-stage capitalism' is what really got me interested in this read. The premise had a lot of potential and at first I found the writing style really refreshing. However, I didn't end up falling in love with the book itself.
I found the main character Abernathy likeable at the start but on finishing the novel I ended up not liking him very much. I also feel like I'd missed something as It didn't exactly feel coherent to me. I'm sort of left wondering what actually happened?
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!
I found the main character Abernathy likeable at the start but on finishing the novel I ended up not liking him very much. I also feel like I'd missed something as It didn't exactly feel coherent to me. I'm sort of left wondering what actually happened?
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!
November 9, 2023
In the Washington Post, Rafael Frumkin promised me George Saunders meets Severance. Frumkin should be fired.
My top five grievances:
1. I'm all for unlikable narrators, but a stupid narrator is a bridge too far. Being stuck in the perspective of someone incapable of understanding what is happening or reading the room was endlessly irritating, and it did not feel innovative or interesting.
2. I'm all for unreliable narrators and fractured narratives, but this was chock-full of straight-up continuity errors. Abernathy is a moron, yet spent his young childhood reading classic literature. Kai hates Abernathy, yet reveals deep secrets to him alone. Abernathy disappears for days on end, yet no one notices that he missed shifts at the tiny two-person hot dog stand. Dream cleaning is for elite white-collar office workers, yet somehow reaches low-income service workers as well. Cleaning dreams removes subliminal anxieties, yet somehow also scrubs memories entirely.
3. I'm all for ambiguous endings, meaning endings that can be interpreted in multiple ways. But this ending was logically incoherent -- it cannot be interpreted in any way.
4. I'm willing to overlook a lot of plot flaws if the prose is gorgeous, unusual, or compelling. It was none of those things.
5. A niche grievance but perhaps the one that made me the most mad: Describing the narrator as the "broom of the system" and not a "pale king" makes no sense, and those references were not earned. Keep David Foster Wallace's work out of your mouth!
My top five grievances:
1. I'm all for unlikable narrators, but a stupid narrator is a bridge too far. Being stuck in the perspective of someone incapable of understanding what is happening or reading the room was endlessly irritating, and it did not feel innovative or interesting.
2. I'm all for unreliable narrators and fractured narratives, but this was chock-full of straight-up continuity errors. Abernathy is a moron, yet spent his young childhood reading classic literature. Kai hates Abernathy, yet reveals deep secrets to him alone. Abernathy disappears for days on end, yet no one notices that he missed shifts at the tiny two-person hot dog stand. Dream cleaning is for elite white-collar office workers, yet somehow reaches low-income service workers as well. Cleaning dreams removes subliminal anxieties, yet somehow also scrubs memories entirely.
3. I'm all for ambiguous endings, meaning endings that can be interpreted in multiple ways. But this ending was logically incoherent -- it cannot be interpreted in any way.
4. I'm willing to overlook a lot of plot flaws if the prose is gorgeous, unusual, or compelling. It was none of those things.
5. A niche grievance but perhaps the one that made me the most mad: Describing the narrator as the "broom of the system" and not a "pale king" makes no sense, and those references were not earned. Keep David Foster Wallace's work out of your mouth!
March 29, 2023
Let's talk about late stage capitalism and auditing dreams for nightmarish content to clean up an employees subconscious so they become more productive at work. Who wants that kind of job? Not to help people, but to help corporations. People who are desperate, that's who. Jonathan Abernathy is desperate. Sometimes he 'lies' to himself with peptalks to get through the day. Jonathan Abernathy you are kind. You are loved. You are a valued member of this community. It's hard to keep lying to yourself the more you learn about the scummy truth behind your job (and how it's impacting loved ones). But how do you reconcile those feelings when you are finally able to start chipping away at the mountain of debt you've accumulated?
I loved getting my heart ripped out by this. I found myself in Mr. Abernathy in ways and hated myself for it.
Please please please pick this up when it comes out.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved getting my heart ripped out by this. I found myself in Mr. Abernathy in ways and hated myself for it.
Please please please pick this up when it comes out.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 29, 2024
4.25⭐️
Have you ever been used by capitalism under the guise of opportunity?
Jonathan Abernathy is a down-on-his-luck, 25-year-old "failure". He's never held a real job and is barely getting by, living with the constant, crushing reminder of student loan debt and (illegally - unbeknownst to him) inherited debt from his parent's deaths that he cannot pay.
He gets an offer from a government loan forgiveness program to work as he sleeps, auditing the dreams of the working class and marking any "unsavory bits" that may interfere with their ability to work.
He has certain affirmations that he tells himself, while not really believing it, that get him through the day-
Jonathan Abernathy,
You are kind.
You are loved.
You are a valued member of this community.
While things seem to be looking up for him -his relationship with his neighbor, the enigmatic Rhoda, is blossoming- the dream auditor position is proving to be something far more sinister than he could've imagined.
As his reality begins to shift around him he finds that he's losing more than he's gaining, and the further he moves up the corporate ladder, the more there is at stake.
This was truly a gem. Surreal, lovely, and a bit gruesome at times, it felt very Sorry To Bother You-esque. Abernathy is likable, yet realistic. He makes bad decisions, feels sorry for himself more often than not, doesn't say what he knows he should, yet constantly imagines the outcome of the unsaid words. I found myself consistently interested in his story throughout, it felt fresh; something I haven't been getting lately. It never felt predictable, and while it gets a bit sporadic, I think it added to the overall sense of dread and loss of reality. I could see myself rereading this, I really enjoyed it!
The narrator for the audiobook was amazing, really made it come alive.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this audiobook! Now available as of Oct. 31, 2023
Have you ever been used by capitalism under the guise of opportunity?
Jonathan Abernathy is a down-on-his-luck, 25-year-old "failure". He's never held a real job and is barely getting by, living with the constant, crushing reminder of student loan debt and (illegally - unbeknownst to him) inherited debt from his parent's deaths that he cannot pay.
He gets an offer from a government loan forgiveness program to work as he sleeps, auditing the dreams of the working class and marking any "unsavory bits" that may interfere with their ability to work.
He has certain affirmations that he tells himself, while not really believing it, that get him through the day-
Jonathan Abernathy,
You are kind.
You are loved.
You are a valued member of this community.
While things seem to be looking up for him -his relationship with his neighbor, the enigmatic Rhoda, is blossoming- the dream auditor position is proving to be something far more sinister than he could've imagined.
As his reality begins to shift around him he finds that he's losing more than he's gaining, and the further he moves up the corporate ladder, the more there is at stake.
This was truly a gem. Surreal, lovely, and a bit gruesome at times, it felt very Sorry To Bother You-esque. Abernathy is likable, yet realistic. He makes bad decisions, feels sorry for himself more often than not, doesn't say what he knows he should, yet constantly imagines the outcome of the unsaid words. I found myself consistently interested in his story throughout, it felt fresh; something I haven't been getting lately. It never felt predictable, and while it gets a bit sporadic, I think it added to the overall sense of dread and loss of reality. I could see myself rereading this, I really enjoyed it!
The narrator for the audiobook was amazing, really made it come alive.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this audiobook! Now available as of Oct. 31, 2023
December 23, 2023
this book wrecked me and I loved every minute of it
December 17, 2023
I had both the book and the audio of this one. It was such a strange book, but really worked for me. I found it to be so unique and creative. It did not seem as if it would come together, but somehow it really does. I decided to try something out of my comfort zone and am so glad I did.
Jonathan Abernathy is deeply in debt, can’t find a decent job, and thinks he’s worthless. So, when he is offered a job as a dream auditor he is very enthused. That job entails going into workers’ dreams and auditing out the bad parts so the person will be more productive at work.
This is a dystopian tale using speculative fiction, but basically it’s about Jonathan trying so hard to make something of himself that he is willing to convince himself that this job can somehow work out ethically. It can’t. Jonathan starts to see a much darker side as the story progresses and yet he keeps trying. He wants to do well and he wants to please people, so he is a great character that I routed for. He doesn’t always make the best choices, but there is just a real human feel to the story. You can understand the choices and the fear he holds. He starts to feel his life finally will work, has intense feelings for his neighbor, Rhoda and cares for her daughter, Timmy. Yet, Rhoda’s life gets pulled into this mess, too. He wants to make things ok for Rhoda, but has he gone too far already?
I found his mantra of “You are Kind, You are Loved, You are a Valued Member of this Community” quite amusing. It’s a lie he must tell himself to keep going. It reminded me so much of the marketing done to convince people that if only they believe in themselves just a bit more, riches are waiting at their door.
Thank you NetGalley, Molly McGhee, and Astra Publishing House for a copy of this book and the audio version. I always leave reviews of books I read.
Jonathan Abernathy is deeply in debt, can’t find a decent job, and thinks he’s worthless. So, when he is offered a job as a dream auditor he is very enthused. That job entails going into workers’ dreams and auditing out the bad parts so the person will be more productive at work.
This is a dystopian tale using speculative fiction, but basically it’s about Jonathan trying so hard to make something of himself that he is willing to convince himself that this job can somehow work out ethically. It can’t. Jonathan starts to see a much darker side as the story progresses and yet he keeps trying. He wants to do well and he wants to please people, so he is a great character that I routed for. He doesn’t always make the best choices, but there is just a real human feel to the story. You can understand the choices and the fear he holds. He starts to feel his life finally will work, has intense feelings for his neighbor, Rhoda and cares for her daughter, Timmy. Yet, Rhoda’s life gets pulled into this mess, too. He wants to make things ok for Rhoda, but has he gone too far already?
I found his mantra of “You are Kind, You are Loved, You are a Valued Member of this Community” quite amusing. It’s a lie he must tell himself to keep going. It reminded me so much of the marketing done to convince people that if only they believe in themselves just a bit more, riches are waiting at their door.
Thank you NetGalley, Molly McGhee, and Astra Publishing House for a copy of this book and the audio version. I always leave reviews of books I read.
October 12, 2023
Jonathan Abernathy is such a strange, strange book. On one hand, it is quirky, but on the other, it is depressing, and if you had a third hand, it would be quite heartfelt. Jonathon Abernathy does not have a third hand, however. What he does have is beaucoup debt. Like tons. And like most of us in this late-stage capitalist dystopia, he feels like he's drowning. And he actually is, because he is in an even later stage capitalist dystopia, olé!
I don't really know how to describe this book, or what I want to tell you about it. That sounds weird, right? Well, it's a weird book! In a good way, mind. And Jonathan Abernathy is... he's different than your usual main character, but again, it works. Nothing about this book should work, frankly, yet it does. It absolutely does. And I daresay if it didn't feel a wee bit sloggy in the middle, I'd be giving it a full five.
Jonathan Abernathy is everyone. He's also no one. That is to say, he is the most mundane random guy in the history of mundane random guys. He's inoffensive, but if you passed him on the street, ten bucks says he wouldn't even register on your radar, let alone leave any impression. He's certainly pleasant enough that you care about him on a human level, but you'll scratch your head at his sheer incompetence at life. But he also makes you think: how many people are really out there killing it at life, especially in Capitalism Hell™?
This world he lives it, which is not very far removed from our own, is bleak as sin, and I think that may be why the middle felt a little rough. Even though the book is witty and quirky, sometimes the bummer of humanity got a little... much, especially when you knew things were not exactly coming up roses for our pal Abernathy. The bleakness is quiet, and I don't know if that makes it easier or harder, frankly. However, the book has a very heartfelt quality to it that somehow makes up for all that. The minutiae of Abernathy's life and the relationships he tries (and sometimes fails, but alas) to make, his earnestness, they make it all feel very worthwhile. And perhaps that's the point: it is worthwhile, no matter if you are an Abernathy or the next Nobel Prize winner.
Bottom Line: Quirky and earnest and sure, a bit depressing, Jonathan Abernathy is unique, and unlike its titular character, wholly unforgettable.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I don't really know how to describe this book, or what I want to tell you about it. That sounds weird, right? Well, it's a weird book! In a good way, mind. And Jonathan Abernathy is... he's different than your usual main character, but again, it works. Nothing about this book should work, frankly, yet it does. It absolutely does. And I daresay if it didn't feel a wee bit sloggy in the middle, I'd be giving it a full five.
Jonathan Abernathy is everyone. He's also no one. That is to say, he is the most mundane random guy in the history of mundane random guys. He's inoffensive, but if you passed him on the street, ten bucks says he wouldn't even register on your radar, let alone leave any impression. He's certainly pleasant enough that you care about him on a human level, but you'll scratch your head at his sheer incompetence at life. But he also makes you think: how many people are really out there killing it at life, especially in Capitalism Hell™?
This world he lives it, which is not very far removed from our own, is bleak as sin, and I think that may be why the middle felt a little rough. Even though the book is witty and quirky, sometimes the bummer of humanity got a little... much, especially when you knew things were not exactly coming up roses for our pal Abernathy. The bleakness is quiet, and I don't know if that makes it easier or harder, frankly. However, the book has a very heartfelt quality to it that somehow makes up for all that. The minutiae of Abernathy's life and the relationships he tries (and sometimes fails, but alas) to make, his earnestness, they make it all feel very worthwhile. And perhaps that's the point: it is worthwhile, no matter if you are an Abernathy or the next Nobel Prize winner.
Bottom Line: Quirky and earnest and sure, a bit depressing, Jonathan Abernathy is unique, and unlike its titular character, wholly unforgettable.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
January 26, 2024
A harrowing, yet strangely endearing critique of late-stage capitalism and the ultimate price people pay to say they’ve “made it.” With genre-bending dream journeys and an enticing mix of bleak and funny, this novel is an expertly woven waking nightmare that asks: what does it mean to be successful, and who gets to decide? What is the cost, and is it worth it? What matters at the end of a life, and how do we shape a truly meaningful legacy? And why do we attach our and others’ worth to our earnings, assets, our capacity to be a model worker? A poignant look at corporate exploitation, the national debt crisis, and all the ways in which we pass life by waiting for it to begin, Jonathan Abernathy is a uniquely heartfelt social commentary that reminds us that behind every service, every good, every convenience, there is a human behind it struggling to get by.
December 14, 2023
The book is written as if she wrote it to be a movie and I hated that. It felt cheap and boring and often concerned with serving some real boring plot twist in order to service some awful stylistic choice. None of the characters are engaging enough to care about. Abernathy is a college educated buffoon and I really cannot enjoy the plot device of “man this guy is just not smart!” like he’s written to have a laugh track 80% of the time. He’s written like Adam Sandlers character in Click but maybe even he’s smarter than Abernathy. And with such a boundless plot device with dreams it somehow gets boring and reused multiple times.
May 1, 2023
*I was provided with an eARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!*
CW: depression, suicide, poverty, death of loved ones, emotional abuse
I'm pretty sure I heard about Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind via Twitter. It didn't have a cover yet - and I can't say that this is the cover I pictured for it - but I immediately added it to my TBR and jumped at the chance of reading an advance copy. So, I'm grateful for that opportunity.
From the beginning, the narrator's voice is quirky and presents Jonathan Abernathy with all his lovable traits and flaws to us. Abernathy is quite the indecisive and passive character, an anxious yet optimistic people-pleaser on top of that. All of which makes sense considering his history, while simultaneously making him quite infuriating at times. Possibly that is why I found it hard to connect with him and the other characters. Or, maybe, it's because we were being told so much of what was happening.
Don't get me wrong, some stories need you to tell instead of show things. I totally get that, but here I felt we were told everything - even the things that didn't end up happening.
Regardless of how much I actually connected with the characters, I thought that the concept was really fascinating. As a vivid dreamer myself, I loved exploring other peoples dreams and what taking them away meant for them. Even if all of this is fiction, I can see some truth behind it. Add the hard-hitting realities of poverty and capitalism, and you have quite the mix. I definitely mean it as a compliment when I say that I got Black Mirror and Severance vibes while reading the novel, albeit Abernathy tried to keep it more upbeat.
In the end, I found the story and its themes really interesting. It was a quick read that muddled reality and dreams in the later stages, offering a hard-hitting resolution. I wish I had connected with it a bit more, but I still think it offers a lot of food for thought. Maybe I'll even dream about it ...
Fazit: 3/5 stars! Interesting for sure!
CW: depression, suicide, poverty, death of loved ones, emotional abuse
I'm pretty sure I heard about Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind via Twitter. It didn't have a cover yet - and I can't say that this is the cover I pictured for it - but I immediately added it to my TBR and jumped at the chance of reading an advance copy. So, I'm grateful for that opportunity.
From the beginning, the narrator's voice is quirky and presents Jonathan Abernathy with all his lovable traits and flaws to us. Abernathy is quite the indecisive and passive character, an anxious yet optimistic people-pleaser on top of that. All of which makes sense considering his history, while simultaneously making him quite infuriating at times. Possibly that is why I found it hard to connect with him and the other characters. Or, maybe, it's because we were being told so much of what was happening.
Don't get me wrong, some stories need you to tell instead of show things. I totally get that, but here I felt we were told everything - even the things that didn't end up happening.
Regardless of how much I actually connected with the characters, I thought that the concept was really fascinating. As a vivid dreamer myself, I loved exploring other peoples dreams and what taking them away meant for them. Even if all of this is fiction, I can see some truth behind it. Add the hard-hitting realities of poverty and capitalism, and you have quite the mix. I definitely mean it as a compliment when I say that I got Black Mirror and Severance vibes while reading the novel, albeit Abernathy tried to keep it more upbeat.
In the end, I found the story and its themes really interesting. It was a quick read that muddled reality and dreams in the later stages, offering a hard-hitting resolution. I wish I had connected with it a bit more, but I still think it offers a lot of food for thought. Maybe I'll even dream about it ...
Fazit: 3/5 stars! Interesting for sure!
January 23, 2024
Thank you to the author Molly McGhee, publishers Astra House Books, and as always NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of JONATHAN ABERNATHY YOU ARE KIND. All views are mine.
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. The student loan bit is amazing. It shows the character's vulnerability and its a relatable and only relationally political issue: Abernathy’s life? It’s looking up! Though Abernathy has over $250,000 in loans with more than a 10 percent annual interest... no career prospects, a tenuous-at-best living arrangement, untold debt inherited after his parents’ death..., Abernathy is happy.... Bankruptcy? Put on hold, baby.... Paychecks (should he receive them in the future)? No longer being automatically confiscated by the US of A. This? This is the stuff of life itself. loc.240 It also establishes the kind of hero the book has on offer-- an ordinary one.
2. I love the concept of a character, especially an unlikeable one, being paid to go into people's dreams and, like, fix them.
3. The author makes some enlightening statements about sleep, like: Abernathy watches her. She is thirtysix, he realizes, but she is very young. They are both very young. Maybe people are young forever, but it’s only in sleep that we can see. loc. 2037
4. Abernathy is Little Orphan Annie meets Monk. He's hilarious. Awkward to the point of destruction, but completely optimistic and driven!
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. So this narrative did not do what I expected it to do. It kind of took an INCEPTION meets THE MATRIX vibe, minus all the fighting. I'm not sure I hung in there with it.
2. I love both the beginning and end of this one, but the middle gets a little thick for me.
Rating: 💤👀💤.5 vision naps
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Oct 18 '23
Format: Digital, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
⏳️ creative timelines
🤠 ordinary extraordinary heroes
🦶 big twists
💇♀️ women's coming of age
😏 irreverence
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. The student loan bit is amazing. It shows the character's vulnerability and its a relatable and only relationally political issue: Abernathy’s life? It’s looking up! Though Abernathy has over $250,000 in loans with more than a 10 percent annual interest... no career prospects, a tenuous-at-best living arrangement, untold debt inherited after his parents’ death..., Abernathy is happy.... Bankruptcy? Put on hold, baby.... Paychecks (should he receive them in the future)? No longer being automatically confiscated by the US of A. This? This is the stuff of life itself. loc.240 It also establishes the kind of hero the book has on offer-- an ordinary one.
2. I love the concept of a character, especially an unlikeable one, being paid to go into people's dreams and, like, fix them.
3. The author makes some enlightening statements about sleep, like: Abernathy watches her. She is thirtysix, he realizes, but she is very young. They are both very young. Maybe people are young forever, but it’s only in sleep that we can see. loc. 2037
4. Abernathy is Little Orphan Annie meets Monk. He's hilarious. Awkward to the point of destruction, but completely optimistic and driven!
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. So this narrative did not do what I expected it to do. It kind of took an INCEPTION meets THE MATRIX vibe, minus all the fighting. I'm not sure I hung in there with it.
2. I love both the beginning and end of this one, but the middle gets a little thick for me.
Rating: 💤👀💤.5 vision naps
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Oct 18 '23
Format: Digital, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
⏳️ creative timelines
🤠 ordinary extraordinary heroes
🦶 big twists
💇♀️ women's coming of age
😏 irreverence
December 11, 2023
Review to come.
September 25, 2023
On my blog.
Rep: lesbian side character, gay side character
Galley provided by publisher
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is the sort of book where I wish I had the brain cells to review it in depth. If only I had studied English lit after GCSE, but alas! I did not. So, this review is what you’re going to get.
With this story, we follow the eponymous Jonathan Abernathy who is, to put it bluntly, quite pathetic. Further, through no fault of his own, he’s stuck at the bottom of society, debt ridden and unable to get out of it. It’s a vicious circle: every time he might make it out, the anchor of his debt and the lien that comes with it pulls him back down. So, when he’s offered a job that frees him of said debt, you can see why he would jump at the chance and dismiss any concerns that it’s too good to be true.
Ultimately, this is a book examining capitalism and debt and desperation. About the lies people tell themselves so as not to sink under its weight. You empathise with Abernathy even as he makes shitty decisions because, at the end of the day, all of the options he has are shitty in their own way. He’s so desperate to longer be desperate, he tells himself that he’s not deserving of the situation he finds himself in, that he is deserving of this better opportunity that appears to come this way, even as everyone warns him against it. Even as things start to go wrong.
I think this book, then, is also a critique of the American Dream. That someone can drag themselves up by the bootstraps and make something of themselves through sheer hard work. Because Abernathy tries, he spends the entire book just trying, and finds himself getting nowhere. I mean, the only chance he even has of doing so is to fully immerse himself in it, to believe that he’s getting somewhere, when he gets this job which, ultimately, is about exploiting people. Abernathy’s own desperation is exploited, so that he’s thankful for the job, thankful that he can finally rise up out of everything, and doesn’t question what they’re actually doing. And the job itself is about the enhancement of a capitalist system, where workers have no concerns except work.
It’s interesting to have chosen Abernathy to take the role of main character here. As a character, he is sympathetic, but also he might tempt you into thinking that, in his situation, you would do better. You would stick to your guns, your morals, and not fall into the trap that he does. But, until you find yourself as desperate as he is, there’s no way of knowing that. This is a book that makes you examine your own preconceptions and biases, in an entirely human way. You feel for Abernathy, and Rhoda and Timmy, and you want them all to make it out. You want there to be a good kind of fairy godmother showing up to save them because, following Abernathy’s affirmations, they deserve it. But at the same time, you know that that’s not going to happen, that the more likely outcome sees them chewed up by the capitalist maw.
What I hope I’ve got across here is that this is a book everyone should read, one that I highly recommend. It’s a book about impossible choices, about relationships formed under those conditions, and an entirely human one at that.
Rep: lesbian side character, gay side character
Galley provided by publisher
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is the sort of book where I wish I had the brain cells to review it in depth. If only I had studied English lit after GCSE, but alas! I did not. So, this review is what you’re going to get.
With this story, we follow the eponymous Jonathan Abernathy who is, to put it bluntly, quite pathetic. Further, through no fault of his own, he’s stuck at the bottom of society, debt ridden and unable to get out of it. It’s a vicious circle: every time he might make it out, the anchor of his debt and the lien that comes with it pulls him back down. So, when he’s offered a job that frees him of said debt, you can see why he would jump at the chance and dismiss any concerns that it’s too good to be true.
Ultimately, this is a book examining capitalism and debt and desperation. About the lies people tell themselves so as not to sink under its weight. You empathise with Abernathy even as he makes shitty decisions because, at the end of the day, all of the options he has are shitty in their own way. He’s so desperate to longer be desperate, he tells himself that he’s not deserving of the situation he finds himself in, that he is deserving of this better opportunity that appears to come this way, even as everyone warns him against it. Even as things start to go wrong.
I think this book, then, is also a critique of the American Dream. That someone can drag themselves up by the bootstraps and make something of themselves through sheer hard work. Because Abernathy tries, he spends the entire book just trying, and finds himself getting nowhere. I mean, the only chance he even has of doing so is to fully immerse himself in it, to believe that he’s getting somewhere, when he gets this job which, ultimately, is about exploiting people. Abernathy’s own desperation is exploited, so that he’s thankful for the job, thankful that he can finally rise up out of everything, and doesn’t question what they’re actually doing. And the job itself is about the enhancement of a capitalist system, where workers have no concerns except work.
It’s interesting to have chosen Abernathy to take the role of main character here. As a character, he is sympathetic, but also he might tempt you into thinking that, in his situation, you would do better. You would stick to your guns, your morals, and not fall into the trap that he does. But, until you find yourself as desperate as he is, there’s no way of knowing that. This is a book that makes you examine your own preconceptions and biases, in an entirely human way. You feel for Abernathy, and Rhoda and Timmy, and you want them all to make it out. You want there to be a good kind of fairy godmother showing up to save them because, following Abernathy’s affirmations, they deserve it. But at the same time, you know that that’s not going to happen, that the more likely outcome sees them chewed up by the capitalist maw.
What I hope I’ve got across here is that this is a book everyone should read, one that I highly recommend. It’s a book about impossible choices, about relationships formed under those conditions, and an entirely human one at that.
May 21, 2024
I’m going to give a mean review for a book I actually kinda liked. See, the thing is: the idea is good. The late stage capitalism of it all, in the form of your employer paying (out of the goodness of their heart) to remove your nightmares, literally, so you wake up refreshed and productive, sure, nice idea. The problem is that McGhee doesn’t have enough of the theoretical background to make it work.
For starters, you gotta get deep into Freud and dream psychology if you want to sell that dreams have such a big impact on your psyche. McGhee writes about dreams as if they’re just slightly distorted memories, but that’s not how it works AT ALL. I was legitimately wondering if the author ever had a dream in her life.
Next, she wanted to go full Severance, but that just straight up failed. As Severance showed, corporate culture is ripe for absurdist takes because it’s so, well, fucking absurd. Corporate titles, corp speak, soulless offices, Machiavellian bosses, doing bad things for the sake of profit, we all know it. I don’t think McGhee gets it though. The absurdity behind her main character aspiring to a life of a corporate drudgery never made sense because we never actually saw the corporate side of his job. The job was just kinda there.
As a follow-on from that, the main conflict ends up centring around one of Abernathy’s bosses using his evil dream powers to interfere in his own divorce. If you want to go full late stage capitalism critique, don’t make it so small scale and melodramatic.
Lastly, as other reviewers have said, main character Abernathy is an idiot of immense proportions. He’s just stupendously dumb. But I didn’t mind as much as I usually do, because he’s clearly written that way on purpose; at one point his evil boss basically breaks the fourth wall by saying, “you’re so incredibly stupid, but so incredibly stupidly optimistic at the same time” which, yeah.
The only bad writing on the main character’s part came when McGhee couldn’t resist and had to make him an avid reader of classic books in childhood. Hon, no. You created a stupid character who’s clearly never had an intelligent thought in his life, on purpose. A person like that cannot have read Wuthering Heights.
It ended up being way more of a classic self absorbed millennial novel than I originally thought it would be, which was a shame. There is a good concept hidden here and I was weirdly engrossed reading this book, maybe because I’m super stressed at my job at the moment and that kind of Severance-ish dystopia just hit right. But using the vestiges of an absurdist setting alone isn’t enough - the book just wasn’t deep enough in the end.
For starters, you gotta get deep into Freud and dream psychology if you want to sell that dreams have such a big impact on your psyche. McGhee writes about dreams as if they’re just slightly distorted memories, but that’s not how it works AT ALL. I was legitimately wondering if the author ever had a dream in her life.
Next, she wanted to go full Severance, but that just straight up failed. As Severance showed, corporate culture is ripe for absurdist takes because it’s so, well, fucking absurd. Corporate titles, corp speak, soulless offices, Machiavellian bosses, doing bad things for the sake of profit, we all know it. I don’t think McGhee gets it though. The absurdity behind her main character aspiring to a life of a corporate drudgery never made sense because we never actually saw the corporate side of his job. The job was just kinda there.
As a follow-on from that, the main conflict ends up centring around one of Abernathy’s bosses using his evil dream powers to interfere in his own divorce. If you want to go full late stage capitalism critique, don’t make it so small scale and melodramatic.
Lastly, as other reviewers have said, main character Abernathy is an idiot of immense proportions. He’s just stupendously dumb. But I didn’t mind as much as I usually do, because he’s clearly written that way on purpose; at one point his evil boss basically breaks the fourth wall by saying, “you’re so incredibly stupid, but so incredibly stupidly optimistic at the same time” which, yeah.
The only bad writing on the main character’s part came when McGhee couldn’t resist and had to make him an avid reader of classic books in childhood. Hon, no. You created a stupid character who’s clearly never had an intelligent thought in his life, on purpose. A person like that cannot have read Wuthering Heights.
It ended up being way more of a classic self absorbed millennial novel than I originally thought it would be, which was a shame. There is a good concept hidden here and I was weirdly engrossed reading this book, maybe because I’m super stressed at my job at the moment and that kind of Severance-ish dystopia just hit right. But using the vestiges of an absurdist setting alone isn’t enough - the book just wasn’t deep enough in the end.
July 25, 2023
As a person who comes from the pyramid scheme capital of the US, I’m always interested in a good fraud story—especially one with lots to say about debt and late-stage capitalism. The use of a speculative dream world here was a good choice that made the commentary feel un-commentary-ish and separated from the real world, and yet the conclusions were all too applicable. I think this is a story that will resonate with a lot of people. And the dream world was fun to read about (if sometimes lacking in spelled out rules). Also, Timmy. <3
But more than the story itself, the writing was the star of this book. I’m not a person who usually likes omniscient point of view, but the voice of the narrator drew me in compulsively. On an even more particular level, I loved how much attention the author paid to rhythm and punctuation. But especially punctuation. I really believe that punctuation (and breaking punctuation “rules”) can be an art form, and that art form was showcased on every page here. There were so many embedded parentheses (and just regular parentheses), “incorrect” colons, over-hyphenated compounds, periods in place of question marks, and generally many em dashes and ellipses. Every time there was a straight ellipsis as its own line of dialogue I screamed. Also there were some particular capitalization choices (like “OK. Ok. ok.”) that I just loved. Is it weird to say I wish I copy edited this book? Idk. But every tiny comma and period felt placed with such intention, and as someone who cares a lot about these things, I appreciated it.
But more than the story itself, the writing was the star of this book. I’m not a person who usually likes omniscient point of view, but the voice of the narrator drew me in compulsively. On an even more particular level, I loved how much attention the author paid to rhythm and punctuation. But especially punctuation. I really believe that punctuation (and breaking punctuation “rules”) can be an art form, and that art form was showcased on every page here. There were so many embedded parentheses (and just regular parentheses), “incorrect” colons, over-hyphenated compounds, periods in place of question marks, and generally many em dashes and ellipses. Every time there was a straight ellipsis as its own line of dialogue I screamed. Also there were some particular capitalization choices (like “OK. Ok. ok.”) that I just loved. Is it weird to say I wish I copy edited this book? Idk. But every tiny comma and period felt placed with such intention, and as someone who cares a lot about these things, I appreciated it.
February 17, 2024
2.5 stars. The premise of this book--George Saunders x Severance, a dystopian satire about late-stage capitalism, middle managers sucking up dreams of the worker bees--instantly snagged my, dark, literary-spec-fic heart. Unfortunately, it ended up being a type of novel I think of as "Millennial dread," which is basically an episode of depression passing as an existential statement about Life. Like many contemporary novels, the first 30-50 pages do deliver on the promise of sharp, dark humor weirdness. But once Abernathy gets his dream gig (pun, hah!), it all falls flat. None of the characters ever feel real, the settings are predictably bland and not in a good way (even the dreamscapes are basic and repetitive), and the plot felt like a random series of events. I found myself skimming to the end to see how it would finish, and it went right where I expected. This might have been a solid novella or short story, but at this length it is, much like the dream of muck Abernathy keeps encountering, just a slog.
June 2, 2024
This is probably one of the worst books I have read in a while. It’s full of interesting concepts but the author decided to make the main character an idiot. And I am not being unkind. Several people in the book call him dumb. Sometimes I wonder how he can function as an adult with his lack of understanding logic.
At one point a character tells the story of how her son died. She talks about the mushrooms in their yard and how her son was allergic. A person with a brain that works would assume the son ate the mushroom and had an allergic reaction. Jonathon thinks the son was allergic to the soil.
I am sure there was a narrative reason to make the character an idiot, but it undercuts the plot and themes. If the main character doesn’t even know what’s going on how is the reader going to be able to understand the plot. I am talking about basic information is relayed to the audience in small pieces that Johnathon can’t put together. It’s very frustrating for the reader. It would have helped to have a few chapters from the perspective of other characters.
Also the book wants to talk about capitalism, crushing student loan debt, and how people are drowning financially. It wants to touch on how hard it is to get out of poverty and the choices people will make to have a chance to get some breathing room. Part of the plot is Jonathon taking a terrible job that causes real harm to people in order to try and escape poverty. He advances up through the system and causes more harm but is making more money than he could ever imagine. Great material to work with and explore. Except Johnathon literally doesn’t understand what is going on in his job. He has heard it’s bad stuff but doesn’t understand. So the moral quandary of taking this job to ease his own life and the expense of others is gone. What was the point of making him not understand if you wanted to explore these themes?
The book also wants to talk about how people get trapped in poverty and how it’s hard to claw your way out for the average person. Presumably so the reader has sympathy for people in this position who work hard but can’t get anywhere in life. But Johnathon is where he is at in life because he is dumb and lazy. (By his own admission! He admits that he doesn’t work hard and he doesn’t understand what’s going on most of the time.) How does this help the author make her point?
I am truly baffled by the choices this author made. This books is almost unreadable.
At one point a character tells the story of how her son died. She talks about the mushrooms in their yard and how her son was allergic. A person with a brain that works would assume the son ate the mushroom and had an allergic reaction. Jonathon thinks the son was allergic to the soil.
I am sure there was a narrative reason to make the character an idiot, but it undercuts the plot and themes. If the main character doesn’t even know what’s going on how is the reader going to be able to understand the plot. I am talking about basic information is relayed to the audience in small pieces that Johnathon can’t put together. It’s very frustrating for the reader. It would have helped to have a few chapters from the perspective of other characters.
Also the book wants to talk about capitalism, crushing student loan debt, and how people are drowning financially. It wants to touch on how hard it is to get out of poverty and the choices people will make to have a chance to get some breathing room. Part of the plot is Jonathon taking a terrible job that causes real harm to people in order to try and escape poverty. He advances up through the system and causes more harm but is making more money than he could ever imagine. Great material to work with and explore. Except Johnathon literally doesn’t understand what is going on in his job. He has heard it’s bad stuff but doesn’t understand. So the moral quandary of taking this job to ease his own life and the expense of others is gone. What was the point of making him not understand if you wanted to explore these themes?
The book also wants to talk about how people get trapped in poverty and how it’s hard to claw your way out for the average person. Presumably so the reader has sympathy for people in this position who work hard but can’t get anywhere in life. But Johnathon is where he is at in life because he is dumb and lazy. (By his own admission! He admits that he doesn’t work hard and he doesn’t understand what’s going on most of the time.) How does this help the author make her point?
I am truly baffled by the choices this author made. This books is almost unreadable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up to 4, because this was so fanciful and weird. Jonathan Abernathy is caught up in a spiralling debt cycle and excitedly jumps at the opportunity to become a “dream auditor” of corporate employees to take away their nightmares and make them happier.
I loved that there were no neat and happy sequences to this story, and the writing was ironic and sad and funny at times.
Although the premise is preposterous (corporations pay to have the humanity sucked out of their workers to make them more efficient), IT TOTALLY REMINDS ME OF THE COMPANY I CURRENTLY WORK FOR. Like, if they could do this, you wanna BET they would be first in line to not only implement it in the organisation but then sell it to our clients, make a killing, all the while saying it’s helping to further their global aims of “getting back to being merit-based.”
I literally spend my days staring into the abyss of my timesheet and wondering if teenage Lisa would be totally disappointed in adult Lisa.
So yes, this book is a scotch dystopian, but the vibe is eerily spot-on.
I loved that there were no neat and happy sequences to this story, and the writing was ironic and sad and funny at times.
”[Abernathy’s] hand is pretty much all the way healed except for a small black speck. But the same is not true for his other injuries. Abernathy has only been at the stand for a year and yet his lower forearm is covered in burn marks that look like crosses. The still-healing scars pucker like ass skin so that his arms look as if they’re covered in tiny butthole crosses of the Lord.”
Although the premise is preposterous (corporations pay to have the humanity sucked out of their workers to make them more efficient), IT TOTALLY REMINDS ME OF THE COMPANY I CURRENTLY WORK FOR. Like, if they could do this, you wanna BET they would be first in line to not only implement it in the organisation but then sell it to our clients, make a killing, all the while saying it’s helping to further their global aims of “getting back to being merit-based.”
I literally spend my days staring into the abyss of my timesheet and wondering if teenage Lisa would be totally disappointed in adult Lisa.
So yes, this book is a scotch dystopian, but the vibe is eerily spot-on.
September 10, 2023
Unfortunate cover… I mean, I think it’s beautiful, but it does not match the tone of the story at all!
I was all over the place with this one. I thought it was 3 stars, 4 stars, and 5 stars all at different points. I’m going with a 3.5 rounded up because I did really enjoy the themes, the imagination of it, and even the bleakness.
This is the story of Abernathy, a young man with huge debts, and the job he takes out of desperation - removing all the “bad” things from workers’ dreams. It’s worse than it seems, of course, and gets out of hand. Another major part of the story is Abernathy’s relationship with Rhoda, a woman he wants to help but doesn’t know how.
There’s initially a lot of humor in this, and I wasn’t sure it would be for me. But it turns dark, and I found myself pretty invested in Abernathy, Kai, and Rhoda a little ways in.
I really enjoyed all of the commentary on capitalism, but it is *depressing* and Abernathy’s naïveté is rough to watch.
As I got to the middle, I started to get bored, and I found the story to be too repetitive. Rhoda’s situation felt cliche, which isn’t always a bad thing, her situation does exist in reality. But it didn’t always manage to expand beyond cliche, so her story wasn’t super successful for me.
I also felt as dumb as Abernathy many times, but I feel like I was supposed to see more clearly than he did 😂 I mean, I knew working for this org was a bad idea, but I was not picking up on what was going on with Kai or Rhoda sometimes. I’m dense, too, what can I say. I feel like the book faults Abernathy a lot for not communicating better, but NO ONE is using their words.
The ending got interesting for me again as some reveals start to happen and the plot picks up. This was thought provoking and memorable enough for me to want to round up.
Lots of really great lines in here - often very witty and smart. And biting 😬
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
I was all over the place with this one. I thought it was 3 stars, 4 stars, and 5 stars all at different points. I’m going with a 3.5 rounded up because I did really enjoy the themes, the imagination of it, and even the bleakness.
This is the story of Abernathy, a young man with huge debts, and the job he takes out of desperation - removing all the “bad” things from workers’ dreams. It’s worse than it seems, of course, and gets out of hand. Another major part of the story is Abernathy’s relationship with Rhoda, a woman he wants to help but doesn’t know how.
There’s initially a lot of humor in this, and I wasn’t sure it would be for me. But it turns dark, and I found myself pretty invested in Abernathy, Kai, and Rhoda a little ways in.
I really enjoyed all of the commentary on capitalism, but it is *depressing* and Abernathy’s naïveté is rough to watch.
As I got to the middle, I started to get bored, and I found the story to be too repetitive. Rhoda’s situation felt cliche, which isn’t always a bad thing, her situation does exist in reality. But it didn’t always manage to expand beyond cliche, so her story wasn’t super successful for me.
I also felt as dumb as Abernathy many times, but I feel like I was supposed to see more clearly than he did 😂 I mean, I knew working for this org was a bad idea, but I was not picking up on what was going on with Kai or Rhoda sometimes. I’m dense, too, what can I say. I feel like the book faults Abernathy a lot for not communicating better, but NO ONE is using their words.
The ending got interesting for me again as some reveals start to happen and the plot picks up. This was thought provoking and memorable enough for me to want to round up.
Lots of really great lines in here - often very witty and smart. And biting 😬
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
February 18, 2024
I heard about Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind via Cory Doctorow's blog. I was expecting some twist on the commoditisation-of-dreams concept, akin to Red Dust, White Snow and Sweet Dreams but with greater focus on debt and satire on corporate labour. To my surprise, I did not find the dream elements that interesting. McGhee's writing unfortunately doesn't capture the visceral weirdness of dreaming - which to be fair hardly any fiction manages. (Boy in Darkness and Other Stories and The Unconsoled are rare exceptions.) Moreover, the corporate satire was not as sharp and clever as, say, Lakewood's and the third person omniscient narration a bit irritating.
What distinguished Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind for me was something totally different. Imagine for a moment a fictional character. This person is young, naïve, sweet, vulnerable, and sincere. Their attractiveness and clothing are often commented on by the narration, but they are adorably unaware of how hot they are. They are socially awkward and klutzy, continually negged by their boss of the opposite sex, and in love with an older person of the opposite sex. They get on well with kids and have a complicated crafting hobby that involves making pretty things as gifts. You've come across this character before, right? Did you, by any chance, think of this hypothetical as a woman written by a man? Because I was describing a Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype that I've spotted in XX (The Girlfriend) and Black Moon (The Wife), to give only the most egregious examples.
Shockingly, I was also describing Jonathan Abernathy, the main character of this book. He is the first example I've ever come across of a genuine Manic Pixie Dream Boy - I thought they were mythical! I can only imagine that McGhee is deliberately and amusingly satirising the concept, as Abernathy struck me as no more plausible than the Manic Pixie Dream Girls. There is no indication that he is trans or otherwise gender non-conforming, but somehow he hasn't an iota of toxic masculinity. The narration even refers to him as 'our sweet boy', which is weirder once you realise exactly who the third person omniscient narrator is. All this fascinated and entertained me, especially after just reading Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia, in which Samuel Delany dissected the psychology of misogyny with extraordinary subtlety. Towards the end of the book, Abernathy (he goes by his surname) does briefly act like an asshole rather than a sweetheart, but is deliberately copying his female former boss when he does so. Truly a male character unlike any I have previously come across in fiction, which is saying something!
Despite finding Abernathy the Manic Pixie Dream Boy hilarious, I did also appreciate moments of astute commentary on how work is hell:
The concept of indebted workers editing other workers' unconscious minds in order to make them more productive is certainly chilling. Indeed, the ideas in Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind are undoubtedly arresting, but their execution could have been scarier. The writing style may not be to everyone's taste, as I wasn't keen on it. Despite this, I will not soon forget encountering an actual Manic Pixie Dream Boy protagonist. Incredible.
What distinguished Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind for me was something totally different. Imagine for a moment a fictional character. This person is young, naïve, sweet, vulnerable, and sincere. Their attractiveness and clothing are often commented on by the narration, but they are adorably unaware of how hot they are. They are socially awkward and klutzy, continually negged by their boss of the opposite sex, and in love with an older person of the opposite sex. They get on well with kids and have a complicated crafting hobby that involves making pretty things as gifts. You've come across this character before, right? Did you, by any chance, think of this hypothetical as a woman written by a man? Because I was describing a Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype that I've spotted in XX (The Girlfriend) and Black Moon (The Wife), to give only the most egregious examples.
Shockingly, I was also describing Jonathan Abernathy, the main character of this book. He is the first example I've ever come across of a genuine Manic Pixie Dream Boy - I thought they were mythical! I can only imagine that McGhee is deliberately and amusingly satirising the concept, as Abernathy struck me as no more plausible than the Manic Pixie Dream Girls. There is no indication that he is trans or otherwise gender non-conforming, but somehow he hasn't an iota of toxic masculinity. The narration even refers to him as 'our sweet boy', which is weirder once you realise exactly who the third person omniscient narrator is. All this fascinated and entertained me, especially after just reading Trouble on Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia, in which Samuel Delany dissected the psychology of misogyny with extraordinary subtlety. Towards the end of the book, Abernathy (he goes by his surname) does briefly act like an asshole rather than a sweetheart, but is deliberately copying his female former boss when he does so. Truly a male character unlike any I have previously come across in fiction, which is saying something!
Despite finding Abernathy the Manic Pixie Dream Boy hilarious, I did also appreciate moments of astute commentary on how work is hell:
Jonathan Abernathy resolves to think of his work like so: he will try his best to use it without letting it use him. Like every American, he believes this is feasible, and like every American, he is wrong.
The concept of indebted workers editing other workers' unconscious minds in order to make them more productive is certainly chilling. Indeed, the ideas in Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind are undoubtedly arresting, but their execution could have been scarier. The writing style may not be to everyone's taste, as I wasn't keen on it. Despite this, I will not soon forget encountering an actual Manic Pixie Dream Boy protagonist. Incredible.
November 1, 2023
Jonathan Abernathy...
you are kind.
You are loved.
You are a valued member of this community.
That's what Jonathan Abernathy, all of 25 years, tells himself whenever he is filled with doubt and insecurity. Just like you and me, he repeats affirmations to himself, to brainwash himself into believing that he's good enough, and he has what it takes to get through life without falling apart.
Except that it doesn't do much to help him erase his crushing student loan debt and his bleak employment prospects. He has nobody who loves him, and no friends either. The future looks bleak.
The one night, he is visited in his dreams by two people in suits, who offer him a job. He will have to audit people's dreams, and remove the stressors or irritants to the dreamer in these dreams. This will result in happier and less stressful dreamers, ensuring better sleep, and when they are well-rested, this will enhance their performance at work. Happier people are just likely to make more money.
Abernathy is under the illusion, like all corporate minions are, that hard work and determination will help him climb up the ladder. His boss, Kai, just rolls her eyes at him and enlightens him that he's not on his way to achieving The Great American Dream, but rather, he's just a disposable cog in the wheel of government-sponsored indentured servitude.
Abernathy will struggle to clear his debt, struggle to earn enough to be able to afford groceries and pay his bills, he will form bonds and relationships, but struggle to maintain them. Abernathy will struggle to find meaning and balance in life, but he will fail. Abernathy will try, he will try, try and try some more, but in the end, what will it all be worth? Oooof. All a bit too bleak for me.
I know good writers give the reader a lot to think about and be enlightened by, but the writing just confounded me at times. Which is not to say that the writing was bad, just obscure, like the dreams that Abernathy often found himself in. Maybe that was the point? But as a reader, I don't enjoy being frustrated by the style of writing.
Apart from everything that actually happens, the reader is subjected to what could have happened, what should have happened, what Abernathy meant to say but didn't, what he wanted to say but actually said instead, and on and on. It gets a bit exhausting to read about everything that goes on in the mind of someone who lives in his own head so much.
At many times during (and also by the end of) this book, I felt like, 'Am I dumb? Why can't I understand EVERYTHING that's going on in this story? What is this part supposed to mean?' but I'm not beating myself up about it. Experience, context and exposure are very important elements when it comes down to the interpretation of the themes and meaning of a book, and it's okay that this didn't touch my heart and mind in places that it has for other people.
The audio narration by MacLeod Andrews is outstanding, and perhaps, if it hadn't been for his narration, that is to say, if I had been reading the book instead of listening to him narrate it, I might have abandoned it midway. Again, it's not because it's a bad book, it's just about how I relate to it (or don't). Not every book is meant for everybody.
Thank you to Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the ARC of this title in return for my honest review.
you are kind.
You are loved.
You are a valued member of this community.
That's what Jonathan Abernathy, all of 25 years, tells himself whenever he is filled with doubt and insecurity. Just like you and me, he repeats affirmations to himself, to brainwash himself into believing that he's good enough, and he has what it takes to get through life without falling apart.
Except that it doesn't do much to help him erase his crushing student loan debt and his bleak employment prospects. He has nobody who loves him, and no friends either. The future looks bleak.
The one night, he is visited in his dreams by two people in suits, who offer him a job. He will have to audit people's dreams, and remove the stressors or irritants to the dreamer in these dreams. This will result in happier and less stressful dreamers, ensuring better sleep, and when they are well-rested, this will enhance their performance at work. Happier people are just likely to make more money.
Abernathy is under the illusion, like all corporate minions are, that hard work and determination will help him climb up the ladder. His boss, Kai, just rolls her eyes at him and enlightens him that he's not on his way to achieving The Great American Dream, but rather, he's just a disposable cog in the wheel of government-sponsored indentured servitude.
Abernathy will struggle to clear his debt, struggle to earn enough to be able to afford groceries and pay his bills, he will form bonds and relationships, but struggle to maintain them. Abernathy will struggle to find meaning and balance in life, but he will fail. Abernathy will try, he will try, try and try some more, but in the end, what will it all be worth? Oooof. All a bit too bleak for me.
I know good writers give the reader a lot to think about and be enlightened by, but the writing just confounded me at times. Which is not to say that the writing was bad, just obscure, like the dreams that Abernathy often found himself in. Maybe that was the point? But as a reader, I don't enjoy being frustrated by the style of writing.
Apart from everything that actually happens, the reader is subjected to what could have happened, what should have happened, what Abernathy meant to say but didn't, what he wanted to say but actually said instead, and on and on. It gets a bit exhausting to read about everything that goes on in the mind of someone who lives in his own head so much.
At many times during (and also by the end of) this book, I felt like, 'Am I dumb? Why can't I understand EVERYTHING that's going on in this story? What is this part supposed to mean?' but I'm not beating myself up about it. Experience, context and exposure are very important elements when it comes down to the interpretation of the themes and meaning of a book, and it's okay that this didn't touch my heart and mind in places that it has for other people.
The audio narration by MacLeod Andrews is outstanding, and perhaps, if it hadn't been for his narration, that is to say, if I had been reading the book instead of listening to him narrate it, I might have abandoned it midway. Again, it's not because it's a bad book, it's just about how I relate to it (or don't). Not every book is meant for everybody.
Thank you to Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for the ARC of this title in return for my honest review.
May 25, 2023
Jonathan Abernathy is unhappy. He is lonely and broke and lacking in any particular skill and tired of life (even though he sleeps 10 hours a night). He is presented with a very specific job opportunity. This does not happen the way job opportunities normally present themselves. No, Jonathan Abernathy is visited in a dream, not by God but by serious looking people in suits. And he is offered a way out of his misery.
While not in any direct way a horror novel, the almost post-apocalyptic capitalism that forms the basic framework for Earth anno Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is quite the horror. Abernathy's new job is to audit people's dreams, and suggest ways to improve them - to make them happier in order to improve their work performance. Actively unhappy people don't make as much money as people who are okay.
The entire book feels a little like a dream. Time passes slowly, sometimes, and then months will pass. The story itself takes quite a while to pick up pace, to start to grasp the way everything ties together in the end. Even though I really like how intentively stylised the writing was - and it fits the themes and settings of the book really well - it also kept me at a slight distance at all times. Jonathan Abernathy's head is not a kind place to be - it's heavy and sad and filled with as much longing as inertia. Jonathan Abernathy is kind. Or at least he tries to be.
I received a free ARC from Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
While not in any direct way a horror novel, the almost post-apocalyptic capitalism that forms the basic framework for Earth anno Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is quite the horror. Abernathy's new job is to audit people's dreams, and suggest ways to improve them - to make them happier in order to improve their work performance. Actively unhappy people don't make as much money as people who are okay.
The entire book feels a little like a dream. Time passes slowly, sometimes, and then months will pass. The story itself takes quite a while to pick up pace, to start to grasp the way everything ties together in the end. Even though I really like how intentively stylised the writing was - and it fits the themes and settings of the book really well - it also kept me at a slight distance at all times. Jonathan Abernathy's head is not a kind place to be - it's heavy and sad and filled with as much longing as inertia. Jonathan Abernathy is kind. Or at least he tries to be.
I received a free ARC from Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
May 27, 2025
5/25 reread: just shoot me in the head idc
1/24 OG review: I think everyone should get a little card they get to hand out that's a 'no questions asked' book rec, because this would be the book I'd want on that card. Don't look it up online; don't read reviews; don't ask questions. Just read it.
"But what's it about!?" Oh, you know! Just a silly little guy in a hot dog uniform reckoning with the intangibility of wanting, the crushing weight of debt, and the inevitability that capitalism will strip away everything that makes us human and happy and whole until there's nothing left! (Haha! Help!)
I think I feel devastated. I think I read this book at exactly the right time (or maybe exactly the wrong time, depending on whether or not you think I should read a book that unstitches my heart from my body). Every word of this book is deliberate; every sentence feels like a punch to the throat. I am still reeling, and I am feeling every emotion under the sun.
It's tragic and bittersweet and hilarious and terrifying. It's wonderful because it's wonderful to be seen, and awful because it's awful to be known.
Anyway - read this. Please.
1/24 OG review: I think everyone should get a little card they get to hand out that's a 'no questions asked' book rec, because this would be the book I'd want on that card. Don't look it up online; don't read reviews; don't ask questions. Just read it.
"But what's it about!?" Oh, you know! Just a silly little guy in a hot dog uniform reckoning with the intangibility of wanting, the crushing weight of debt, and the inevitability that capitalism will strip away everything that makes us human and happy and whole until there's nothing left! (Haha! Help!)
I think I feel devastated. I think I read this book at exactly the right time (or maybe exactly the wrong time, depending on whether or not you think I should read a book that unstitches my heart from my body). Every word of this book is deliberate; every sentence feels like a punch to the throat. I am still reeling, and I am feeling every emotion under the sun.
It's tragic and bittersweet and hilarious and terrifying. It's wonderful because it's wonderful to be seen, and awful because it's awful to be known.
Anyway - read this. Please.
December 19, 2023
ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the whole concept of this book! The male narrator did a wonderful job and made me feel like I was right there alongside Jonathan in this crazy story! It was clear and concise, and easy to listen to in a single sitting. The story captivated me right from the start. Who wouldn’t want a job where you can take people’s bad dreams away?? Some parts I found a little predictable but overall didn’t guess the outcome. If you’re into science fiction, you’ll probably enjoy this book as much as I did!
I really enjoyed the whole concept of this book! The male narrator did a wonderful job and made me feel like I was right there alongside Jonathan in this crazy story! It was clear and concise, and easy to listen to in a single sitting. The story captivated me right from the start. Who wouldn’t want a job where you can take people’s bad dreams away?? Some parts I found a little predictable but overall didn’t guess the outcome. If you’re into science fiction, you’ll probably enjoy this book as much as I did!
November 8, 2023
Starting from the David Graeber epigraph, this novel goes hard. It’s ambitious (sometimes overly so) but I admire that! Tldr: For the chance to absolve his debts and work his way out of poverty, Jonathan Abernathy takes a job as a “dream auditor,” clearing out people’s nightmares to make them more productive workers and boost the economy. Within the speculative fiction genre, I found this to be a truly fresh addition, and even if it’s not a hit with everyone, will certainly be thought provoking and worth reading.
The prose is extremely fun—almost like the literary equivalent of “Sorry to Bother You,” where elements are blatantly exaggerated and satirized. This “fun house” effect, however, doesn’t distract from the utter bleakness of late-stage capitalism that McGhee captures so well. I felt a persistent sense of dread and anxiety throughout the entire novel and wanted to scream: at Jonathan Abernathy’s stupidity (and relatability), at his unavoidable (yet complicit) participation in unethical systems, at the value and meaning he is conditioned to derive from exploitative work.
I highlighted so many lines that reminded me of other works. Graeber’s “Debt” is obvious (bc of the epigraph) but “Bullshit Jobs” fits nicely too. There’s a George Saunders-like voice in the narration, also some Jordan Peele horror elements. I recently watched the anime film “Paprika” by Satoshi Kon, about a machine that allows users to enter other dreams, and wondered if McGhee had seen it too. It’s impressive how all these elements work to enhance each other!
Despite veering into nihilistic and scary areas, there are some moments of genuine tenderness and care in the novel, and you can tell that this was written from a place of love. We are all Jonathan Abernathy, but we don’t have to be.
The prose is extremely fun—almost like the literary equivalent of “Sorry to Bother You,” where elements are blatantly exaggerated and satirized. This “fun house” effect, however, doesn’t distract from the utter bleakness of late-stage capitalism that McGhee captures so well. I felt a persistent sense of dread and anxiety throughout the entire novel and wanted to scream: at Jonathan Abernathy’s stupidity (and relatability), at his unavoidable (yet complicit) participation in unethical systems, at the value and meaning he is conditioned to derive from exploitative work.
I highlighted so many lines that reminded me of other works. Graeber’s “Debt” is obvious (bc of the epigraph) but “Bullshit Jobs” fits nicely too. There’s a George Saunders-like voice in the narration, also some Jordan Peele horror elements. I recently watched the anime film “Paprika” by Satoshi Kon, about a machine that allows users to enter other dreams, and wondered if McGhee had seen it too. It’s impressive how all these elements work to enhance each other!
Despite veering into nihilistic and scary areas, there are some moments of genuine tenderness and care in the novel, and you can tell that this was written from a place of love. We are all Jonathan Abernathy, but we don’t have to be.
June 30, 2023
The premise of this novel hooked me immediately, and I enjoyed the author's creativity in reimagining the process of debt repayment that is central to how the novel unfolds. But once I jumped into the narrative the tone quickly fell off for me. The story's poignant relevancy to most twenty- and thirty-somethings is palpable, but overall it lacks stakes and heart. Jonathan Abernathy's character is overshadowed by the narrator's voice, which felt patronizing (and that may very well be the author's intention), and I struggled to maintain interested in the plot. The world of the novel felt floaty and rootless--it didn't feel like the story was happening in a particular place and time, so all that happens was kind of ethereal (which might also be intentional). And it doesn't help that the formatting of this ARC ebook was bad.
Overall, wanted to like this one more than I did, but still glad I gave it a shot.
Overall, wanted to like this one more than I did, but still glad I gave it a shot.
January 7, 2025
My God. I will never stop thinking about this book. It was absolutely devastating in that you know the end and you know it’s coming but genuinely, genuinely for so long McGhee makes you think ‘this is his chance!’ And he disappoints you somehow in the same way you disappoint yourself, like you wrote that ending. You condemned Jonathan Abernathy. Man. I should not have listened to the audiobook at work, I’ll tell you that much, because now everything is going to be bitter for at least six months. I will read it again.
January 16, 2024
How are more people not talking about this book?! Beautiful. Adding it to the short list of books that made me cry. The voice of it and Jonathan himself are unlike anything I’ve read. A+++ for the audiobook narrator.
January 31, 2024
this was such a disappointment :/
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