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The Disappointment
Not yet published
Expected 3 Mar 26Set during a doom-fated vacation to the Oregon coast, The Disappointment follows a couple trying to hold close to one another while a bent reality—warped by personal losses and an ever-increasing drift toward the surreal—threatens to unravel them
It’s the night before a much-needed vacation, and Jack—a former playwright mourning his failed career—catches his husband, Randy, packing his mother’s urn. They had agreed: no mother on this trip. Parents, living or otherwise, aren’t the ideal guests for romantic getaways. But Randy has been carrying his mother’s remains everywhere since her death, and he isn’t ready to let go now.
Despite its natural beauty and kitschy charm, the Oregon coast does not provide the respite the couple seeks. Instead, their surroundings and encounters with locals grow increasingly surreal as the days pass. An overly -dedicated Method actor, tantra-obsessed neighbors, and a child environmentalist who may be able to communicate with the dead are but a few of the characters whose presence exposes long-simmering tensions that threaten to undo Jack and Randy’s marriage—to say nothing of their hold on reality.
Told with sly, irreverent humor, and shot through with dark currents of envy and longing for something other than what one has, The Disappointment explores the mutual exhilaration and terror of being placed center stage in one’'s own life.
It’s the night before a much-needed vacation, and Jack—a former playwright mourning his failed career—catches his husband, Randy, packing his mother’s urn. They had agreed: no mother on this trip. Parents, living or otherwise, aren’t the ideal guests for romantic getaways. But Randy has been carrying his mother’s remains everywhere since her death, and he isn’t ready to let go now.
Despite its natural beauty and kitschy charm, the Oregon coast does not provide the respite the couple seeks. Instead, their surroundings and encounters with locals grow increasingly surreal as the days pass. An overly -dedicated Method actor, tantra-obsessed neighbors, and a child environmentalist who may be able to communicate with the dead are but a few of the characters whose presence exposes long-simmering tensions that threaten to undo Jack and Randy’s marriage—to say nothing of their hold on reality.
Told with sly, irreverent humor, and shot through with dark currents of envy and longing for something other than what one has, The Disappointment explores the mutual exhilaration and terror of being placed center stage in one’'s own life.
- GenresFictionContemporary
320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 3, 2026
437 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 27, 2025
I wrote this book and will be internalizing every negative review I see so pick your words carefully 😍
November 17, 2025
More like The Satisfaction.
Top-to-bottom terrific.
Top-to-bottom terrific.
December 2, 2025
Brilliant. I genuinely feel so devastated to say goodbye to Jack and Randy, and so incredibly moved by this book. Scott writes about grief and desire and all the intricacies of being a human in such a gorgeous and affecting way. And the chapters are titled brilliantly! Looking forward to rereading again and again.
August 22, 2025
From the first lines, in which a man packs his mother’s ashes into a suitcase while preparing for a romantic getaway on the Oregon coast with his husband, The Disappointment pulses with an innate sensitivity, humor, and strangeness, unraveling as the couple encounters the offbeat inhabitants of the small town. With each new encounter with the townspeople, a clearer picture of the couple comes into view, drawing an elaborate portrait of their struggles, their art, and the buzzing tension between them. Scott handles these characters with such care and fierce intelligence, mining each encounter with an irreverence and pulling grief into a dexterous, unignorable sadness as the couple drifts back and forth from each other— an invisible, magnetic force keeping them tethered as waves of discontent crash against them.
Scott perfectly captures the liminal state grief conjures and the ripple effects it has on those close to you. The novel descends, spiraling into a surreal pit into which the characters fall.
Scott perfectly captures the liminal state grief conjures and the ripple effects it has on those close to you. The novel descends, spiraling into a surreal pit into which the characters fall.
September 23, 2025
I can't remember the last book I read where I felt so painfully connected to two characters... To their faults, their desires, their selfishness, their edges. It felt like a beautiful mirror and so unbelievably unlike anything I've read before. Scott is simply a genius. Read this book!!
September 17, 2025
Long-held frictions between married couple Jack and Randy become sparks after Randy's mother dies and his grief threatens to send the loving but tenuous relationship the couple has brokered up in flames. Will their love survive an increasingly bizarre trip to the Oregon Coast with Randy's mother's ashes, Jack's needy desire to be desired, and Randy's acute sorrow over the loss of his mother? The Disappointment is full of eccentric characters, messy intimacy, hilariously witty dialogue, and is paced to perfection. If you love the sexy insight of Bryan Washington's novels and Annie Hartnett's quirky and endearing characters, read this book!
November 6, 2025
A disappointment this book is not! Broker's novel is a deep dive into long-term relationships and the grief of loneliness, even when we are together. Both relatable and disturbing, protagonist Jack's thoughts hold a mirror to the most vulnerable (selfish, desperate, joyful) parts of ourselves. Every sentence in Broker's novel is a gut-punch. If you're looking for an authentic, liminal, beautifully strange book-- look no further. Broker is an author to watch!
September 28, 2025
it’s! so! good!
October 12, 2025
Broker perfectly puts words to what it actually like in our internal worlds to be in relationship with others. Very relatable, deeply funny, absurd in the best ways, incredibly smart. Excited to see what Broker does next!
Just exactly the kind of book I love to get lost in. And I’m so sad it’s over. Could have read so many more pages of their story, and I’ll be thinking of Jack and Randy for a long time.
Just exactly the kind of book I love to get lost in. And I’m so sad it’s over. Could have read so many more pages of their story, and I’ll be thinking of Jack and Randy for a long time.
September 26, 2025
An absolute triumph. Broker is a master of articulating the harrowing undercurrents that bubble beneath every complex human relationship. The way he tackles Jack and Randy's tempestuous love for one another, while also exploring the ways that art can both sustain and destroy us, is truly something spectacular to behold. Do not sleep on this book!
November 8, 2025
Steamy, hilarious, irreverent, reverent, surprising, juicy, devastating. Broker's mind is singular, capturing assorted forms of grief and absorption more sharply than most. An absolute smash of a debut novel and unlike anything I've ever read!
Review of advance copy received from Author
A mysterious, strange, and totally compelling novel of surreal encounters, and a relationship on the brink of collapse. It reminded me of so many favorite writers, mostly because of the feelings it evoked. For fans of Joy Williams, Kafka, Jane Bowles, even Laura van den Berg. Wonderful!
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December 28, 2025life is a play, i'm the sole audience
*thank you to Catapult for the ARC*
*thank you to Catapult for the ARC*
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews