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Alan Opts Out
For readers of Rufi Thorpe and Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the story of an ad exec who bombs the biggest pitch of his career and decides to forgo capitalism and live off the land of his suburban Connecticut home--a timely and comedic take on ambition, consumerism, and the sticker price of happiness from an author known for her stealth, comedic satires of the industrial happiness complex.
Alan Anderson is a powerful advertising executive who has built a successful life and thriving business by making people buy stuff they don’t actually need. He’s up for the biggest pitch of his career and the account everyone wants, US cow’s milk sales are plummeting, and the C-Suite wants to see trendy oat milk kicked to the curb. But when an anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation, Alan bombs the pitch but ends the day with an epiphany. No longer will he exploit the insecurities of others in the service of capitalism. Alan is opting out.
This development is anathema to his wife, Vivian. She’s just a few positive affirmations, a swimming pool, and an exacting series of social tests away from finally becoming part of the elite women’s club, the Queen Annes, in their adopted town of Greenwich, Connecticut. As if contending with a daughter who wants to write plays (!) and another who has an unnatural empathy with animals isn’t enough to manage, she can only watch as Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land and—worse—spend time with the family. But instead of shocking the neighbors, Alan’s commitment to a less-is-more lifestyle seems to be catching on. Could everyone want what Alan’s not selling?
Funny, sexy, intelligent, and poignant, Alan Opts Out is the most ambitious novel to date by celebrated author Courtney Maum, acclaimed for her stories that tackle big, chewy subjects of our post-modern America with wit and heart.
Alan Anderson is a powerful advertising executive who has built a successful life and thriving business by making people buy stuff they don’t actually need. He’s up for the biggest pitch of his career and the account everyone wants, US cow’s milk sales are plummeting, and the C-Suite wants to see trendy oat milk kicked to the curb. But when an anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation, Alan bombs the pitch but ends the day with an epiphany. No longer will he exploit the insecurities of others in the service of capitalism. Alan is opting out.
This development is anathema to his wife, Vivian. She’s just a few positive affirmations, a swimming pool, and an exacting series of social tests away from finally becoming part of the elite women’s club, the Queen Annes, in their adopted town of Greenwich, Connecticut. As if contending with a daughter who wants to write plays (!) and another who has an unnatural empathy with animals isn’t enough to manage, she can only watch as Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land and—worse—spend time with the family. But instead of shocking the neighbors, Alan’s commitment to a less-is-more lifestyle seems to be catching on. Could everyone want what Alan’s not selling?
Funny, sexy, intelligent, and poignant, Alan Opts Out is the most ambitious novel to date by celebrated author Courtney Maum, acclaimed for her stories that tackle big, chewy subjects of our post-modern America with wit and heart.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 2, 2026
About the author
Courtney Maum
10 books747 followersCourtney Maum is the author of the novels Costalegre (a GOOP book club pick and one of Glamour Magazine’s top books of the decade), I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You and Touch (a New York Times Editor’s Choice and NPR Best Book of the Year selection), and the handbook Before and After the Book Deal: A writer’s guide to finishing, publishing, promoting, and surviving your first book, out now from Catapult. Her writing has been widely published in such outlets as the New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, and Poets & Writers. She is the founder of the collaborative retreat program, The Cabins, and she also has a writing-advice newsletter, “Get Published, Stay Published,” that you can sign up for at CourtneyMaum.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews
June 3, 2026
Ad exec Alan and wife Vivian (née Valerie)—a compulsive shopper, manifester, and social climber—are movin' on up to exclusive Bellemont. Alan has known he'd be in the business of selling things his entire life—he's a natural and his ad company is a success. But what happens when his dairy pitch is commandeered by a farmer who doesn't actually want to sell more dairy? He learns that less is more!
Suddenly, he's moved into the giant playhouse in the yard, contemplating his life and wearing pirate blouses, much to the dismay of Vivian who's trying to become a Queen Anne and his daughters worried about his "menty b." But, soon the whole neighborhood is following his lead (he's THAT good!) and finding enjoyment in the simpler things.
What a funny and heartwarming story about discovering what really matters. Thanks to Little Brown and Company, via NetGalley, for this ARC!
Suddenly, he's moved into the giant playhouse in the yard, contemplating his life and wearing pirate blouses, much to the dismay of Vivian who's trying to become a Queen Anne and his daughters worried about his "menty b." But, soon the whole neighborhood is following his lead (he's THAT good!) and finding enjoyment in the simpler things.
What a funny and heartwarming story about discovering what really matters. Thanks to Little Brown and Company, via NetGalley, for this ARC!
June 6, 2026
this is one of the funniest books I have ever read 😭😭 rich people drama at its core but with a pet lobster?!
this follows alan, who just lost the biggest deal of his career, which causes him to completely SPIRAL. him and his family, live a very luxurious lifestyle so when he comes home and tells his wife that he lost a ton of money, her first thought is that she should hire men to build a pool in their backyard 😂 she's trying to get into the local country club with all the other rich ladies and thinks this will help her. however alan has quite literally decided to OPT OUT of life and is starting to make a fool of her while she's trying to impress herself to these women. he even starts living in the backyard because "less is more" and wants to live off the land now that his career is tanking.
while all of this is happening, their two kids are also disrupting everything she's trying to build at the country club. one of the daughters now thinks she can speak to animals, hence why she decided to steal a lobster and keep it as a pet 😂🦞
this whole book was so chaotic in the best way. I also loved that it takes place in a real town that's like 50 minutes from me, it made it feel so realistic
this follows alan, who just lost the biggest deal of his career, which causes him to completely SPIRAL. him and his family, live a very luxurious lifestyle so when he comes home and tells his wife that he lost a ton of money, her first thought is that she should hire men to build a pool in their backyard 😂 she's trying to get into the local country club with all the other rich ladies and thinks this will help her. however alan has quite literally decided to OPT OUT of life and is starting to make a fool of her while she's trying to impress herself to these women. he even starts living in the backyard because "less is more" and wants to live off the land now that his career is tanking.
while all of this is happening, their two kids are also disrupting everything she's trying to build at the country club. one of the daughters now thinks she can speak to animals, hence why she decided to steal a lobster and keep it as a pet 😂🦞
this whole book was so chaotic in the best way. I also loved that it takes place in a real town that's like 50 minutes from me, it made it feel so realistic
Did Not Finish
May 21, 2026This review documents my real-time reading of Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum. I received an advance copy through Goodreads Giveaways, so all quoted material is subject to change prior to publication. The book is slated for publication in June 2026. My goal is to read and review this book before its publication.
Real-time review will conclude with a final verdict on the book as a whole.
5/16/26—Pages 3-10
Book Blurb:
An ad executive quits capitalism—and accidentally makes it fashionable.
Opening Line:
“In the post-pandemic era, Americans weren’t drinking enough milk.”—CH.1 pg.3
The opening line uses deadpan satire to frame consumerism as a cultural crisis, blending comedy with social critique. It’s an effective hook that immediately establishes the novel’s absurdity.
Opening Scene:
Alan is meeting Tucker, the dairy farmer selected as his campaign’s representative for US dairy.
“The penile shafts of the grain silos shining silver against the sky, the humped shapes of the milk cows in the distance, chewing, shitting, chewing; there was something primordial about the land here, something essential and pure and nearly monastic, and Alan was going to bottle it and share it with the world.”—CH.1 pg.4
The opening scene balances poetic reverence with blunt physical reality, and the contrast drives the comedy. However, the effect is short-lived due to an overwhelming amount of exposition (pg.5-9).
Here is where the narrative lost my interest due to its lack of focus.
“The whole thing left Alan fantasizing about the commercials his agency would direct when they won dairy…”—CH.1 pg.6
The scene delays Alan’s meeting with Tucker until page 6 (3 pages later!), only to reduce the encounter to a single sentence before returning to Alan’s inner dialogue, background, and other info dumps. Then the narrative abruptly shifts to Alan’s flight home without resolving the meeting.
On the flight home, more exposition is given, much of which seemed trivial beyond Alan’s fear of losing relevance and managing his energy as a man over fifty. Yet his age and insecurities clashed with his self-assured persona and youthful inner dialogue.
I was not impressed with the opening scene.
5/18/26—Pages 10-65
Dialogue Notes:
Chapter 2 was basically a one-sided dialogue from Alan during his pitch meeting. The dialogue served more as exposition than real exchange. (Again, not a very grounded or balanced scene.)
On page 11, Alan’s dialogue used empathic spelling saying, “Verrrry dramatic” which I found jarring to read.
Later in Chapter 4 on page 24, ALL CAPS were used in dialogue.
And often, dialogue would end in “…” to indicate trailing thought:
“‘You asked him…Sunny, let’s be careful about the way we phrase things.’”—CH.4 pg.29
More repeated punctuation and empathic spelling created dialogue emphasis:
“?!”— “!!”— “??!”— “Bigger. Picture. Thinking!”—"Yayyy”
These dialogue quirks felt like “text lingo” substituting for prose. A bit cringe, maybe fitting for the book’s unserious tone, but still a lazy way to convey attitude and emotion IMHO…
Oh. My. Word. Is it rubbing off on meeee??!
New Characters:
The silliness continues while Alan’s wife, Vivian, is introduced listening to a motivational podcast.
“‘Dreaming is for losity-losers who sleep past six a.m. I want my strivers out there physically grabbing their damn goals.’
‘I’m a grabber!’ Vivian cried, flushed with sudden triumph.”—CH.3 pg.15
It seems all the adults in this novel are cartoonishly performative.
Short chapters, long eye-rolls.
Vivian is an approval-seeking mother trying to belong in Belleport’s status-conscious world. Her teenage daughter, Bailey, pushes against her mother’s expectations and seems less interested in pleasing others. And then there’s the younger sister, Sunny.
“Sunny had always been an animal lover, but as of late, things were getting out of hand.”—CH.4 pg 27
Sunny is found talking to a raven in the middle of the school parking lot. Her strange introduction, though, is quickly overtaken by Vivian. Seemingly in denial that her daughter could be such a freak show, Vivian hurriedly shuffles the girls home, leaving little narrative spotlight to learn more about Sunny.
***Sunny has been the most interesting character to me so far. This gave me hope that perhaps the story would get more enjoyable. I was beginning to warm up to the writing style around this point (chapter 4).
Later, Alan arrives home from work after Vivian and the girls are home from school, giving us our first look at his dynamics with the family.
With his daughters, Alan feels “like strangers”—CH.5 pg.33, and with his wife, Alan lives by the motto “happy wife, happy life.”—CH.6 pg.41
In chapter 6 from page 36-39, we get Alan and Vivian’s backstory. I still don’t think all these backstories do much for the actual story. Though, Alan and Vivian’s backstory was the best one yet.
This is what their backstory accomplishes. Alan reflects on how Vivian transformed from a supportive partner into someone increasingly driven by status and social belonging, while their marriage shifts into tension between her aspirations and his insecurity to keep up with her.
None of what their backstory accomplished added anything new to their characterization aside from one minor detail: Vivian’s name used to be Valerie. She left the name behind as a symbolic way of leaving behind her past.
Inciting Incident:
The storyline remained very linear. Chapters 1-9 only covered a single day (same day I think) from two perspectives, Alan and Vivian. Vivian’s inciting incident came first while Alan’s has yet to come.
On that same night when Alan gets home from work (chapter 6), Vivian reveals to her husband her inciting incident: a Queen Annes candidacy invitation.
Queen Annes is Belleport’s elite women, driven by status, tradition, and quiet social power.
Of course, Vivian is desperate to get accepted and is giddy with excitement. By contrast, Alan’s cautious reaction highlights their disconnect, ending their conversation—and the chapter—with Vivian dousing him in a perfume Alan hates: frankincense.
First Story Arc (Part One: April):
The story began with Alan, but Vivian soon took the driver’s seat for the first arc of the story. The beginning was weak, but it gained momentum and finally captured me by chapter 8.
I was pleasantly surprised to finish Part One wanting to keep reading.
Though the story feels sloppy, I can see the appeal—not in its absurdity or "satire", but in its unique cast and secrets of the Queen Anne Club. I liked the little "twist" Vivian discovered after her inciting incident. That will make things interesting, I hope.
5/21/26—Pages 65-76
AMY OPTS OUT!
“‘Well, this is a waste of a Thursday,’ said the marketing director, sheathing his laptop.”—CH.11 pg.76
That was the last line I read from this novel. I agree. This is a waste of my Thursday.
DNF.
Chapter 10 Opening Scene (Part Two: May):
Pitch day begins poorly for Alan as a series of frustrations and disruptions undermine his carefully controlled routine. While preparing to present O+A’s highly engineered milk campaign, Alan learns that Tucker Brannigan—the dairy farmer central to the pitch—is drunk…or something. Then comes Daniel Ellery, an unconventional “cowboy” as Tucker’s replacement.
*I noticed at this point a repeating “twist”. Replacing characters with other unconventional characters was interesting at first, but doing it twice failed my continued intrigue.
“What in the fuckity fuck of all the fucks was going on?”—CH.10 pg.67
From the blurb, we are told that this “anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation to US dairy” which is why I don’t consider it a spoiler and am mentioning it my review.
Chapter 10 was about this disruption in the short span of 3 pages.
Chapter 11 rolls straight on from this, so why the new chapter?
Chapter 11 Opening Scene (continued):
Chapter 11 follows O+A’s US dairy pitch as Alan attempts to manage the last-minute spokesperson change, only for Daniel Ellery to derail the presentation by condemning advertising and consumer culture, turning the carefully crafted campaign into a public clash over authenticity and excess.
“He wished the pitch were taking place a decade earlier when admen still did coke.”—CH.11 pg.70
*It made sense that this guy did coke.
“Behind jumbo espresso machines, waifish baristas dripped pour overs from on high as if it were the Arabian Peninsula in 600 CE instead of Abbot Kinney.”—CH.11 pg.72
*But it doesn’t make sense to use obscure cultural humor and think it will land.
Final Verdict:
I had planned to read this book to its entirety (no matter how bad) but it really is that bad. Reading 258 more pages of this would be like swallowing a gallon of expired milk.
Choosing milk was a bad choice for this story. It was uninteresting, slandered vegans left and right, was used to make a few racial comments (with everyone in the room being white as milk), and was, frankly, a stupid execution.
I know I probably quit “right before it got good!”. But I’ve seen enough. This isn’t funny, the writing is very immature, and even if the story got better, it wouldn’t be worth reading. Judging by the cover with Alan walking a lobster on a leash, I’m afraid this story is going to try being funny using Sunny’s weird ability and other silly things to “impress” its audience. I’m sorry, but my 5-year-old nephew can come up with better stories on the spot.
This was my first real-time review and a bit of an experiment. I definitely need a tighter format next time. Thanks for reading all this if you came this far!
Don’t buy this book unless you still think fart jokes are funny!
Real-time review will conclude with a final verdict on the book as a whole.
5/16/26—Pages 3-10
Book Blurb:
An ad executive quits capitalism—and accidentally makes it fashionable.
Opening Line:
“In the post-pandemic era, Americans weren’t drinking enough milk.”—CH.1 pg.3
The opening line uses deadpan satire to frame consumerism as a cultural crisis, blending comedy with social critique. It’s an effective hook that immediately establishes the novel’s absurdity.
Opening Scene:
Alan is meeting Tucker, the dairy farmer selected as his campaign’s representative for US dairy.
“The penile shafts of the grain silos shining silver against the sky, the humped shapes of the milk cows in the distance, chewing, shitting, chewing; there was something primordial about the land here, something essential and pure and nearly monastic, and Alan was going to bottle it and share it with the world.”—CH.1 pg.4
The opening scene balances poetic reverence with blunt physical reality, and the contrast drives the comedy. However, the effect is short-lived due to an overwhelming amount of exposition (pg.5-9).
Here is where the narrative lost my interest due to its lack of focus.
“The whole thing left Alan fantasizing about the commercials his agency would direct when they won dairy…”—CH.1 pg.6
The scene delays Alan’s meeting with Tucker until page 6 (3 pages later!), only to reduce the encounter to a single sentence before returning to Alan’s inner dialogue, background, and other info dumps. Then the narrative abruptly shifts to Alan’s flight home without resolving the meeting.
On the flight home, more exposition is given, much of which seemed trivial beyond Alan’s fear of losing relevance and managing his energy as a man over fifty. Yet his age and insecurities clashed with his self-assured persona and youthful inner dialogue.
I was not impressed with the opening scene.
5/18/26—Pages 10-65
Dialogue Notes:
Chapter 2 was basically a one-sided dialogue from Alan during his pitch meeting. The dialogue served more as exposition than real exchange. (Again, not a very grounded or balanced scene.)
On page 11, Alan’s dialogue used empathic spelling saying, “Verrrry dramatic” which I found jarring to read.
Later in Chapter 4 on page 24, ALL CAPS were used in dialogue.
And often, dialogue would end in “…” to indicate trailing thought:
“‘You asked him…Sunny, let’s be careful about the way we phrase things.’”—CH.4 pg.29
More repeated punctuation and empathic spelling created dialogue emphasis:
“?!”— “!!”— “??!”— “Bigger. Picture. Thinking!”—"Yayyy”
These dialogue quirks felt like “text lingo” substituting for prose. A bit cringe, maybe fitting for the book’s unserious tone, but still a lazy way to convey attitude and emotion IMHO…
Oh. My. Word. Is it rubbing off on meeee??!
New Characters:
The silliness continues while Alan’s wife, Vivian, is introduced listening to a motivational podcast.
“‘Dreaming is for losity-losers who sleep past six a.m. I want my strivers out there physically grabbing their damn goals.’
‘I’m a grabber!’ Vivian cried, flushed with sudden triumph.”—CH.3 pg.15
It seems all the adults in this novel are cartoonishly performative.
Short chapters, long eye-rolls.
Vivian is an approval-seeking mother trying to belong in Belleport’s status-conscious world. Her teenage daughter, Bailey, pushes against her mother’s expectations and seems less interested in pleasing others. And then there’s the younger sister, Sunny.
“Sunny had always been an animal lover, but as of late, things were getting out of hand.”—CH.4 pg 27
Sunny is found talking to a raven in the middle of the school parking lot. Her strange introduction, though, is quickly overtaken by Vivian. Seemingly in denial that her daughter could be such a freak show, Vivian hurriedly shuffles the girls home, leaving little narrative spotlight to learn more about Sunny.
***Sunny has been the most interesting character to me so far. This gave me hope that perhaps the story would get more enjoyable. I was beginning to warm up to the writing style around this point (chapter 4).
Later, Alan arrives home from work after Vivian and the girls are home from school, giving us our first look at his dynamics with the family.
With his daughters, Alan feels “like strangers”—CH.5 pg.33, and with his wife, Alan lives by the motto “happy wife, happy life.”—CH.6 pg.41
In chapter 6 from page 36-39, we get Alan and Vivian’s backstory. I still don’t think all these backstories do much for the actual story. Though, Alan and Vivian’s backstory was the best one yet.
This is what their backstory accomplishes. Alan reflects on how Vivian transformed from a supportive partner into someone increasingly driven by status and social belonging, while their marriage shifts into tension between her aspirations and his insecurity to keep up with her.
None of what their backstory accomplished added anything new to their characterization aside from one minor detail: Vivian’s name used to be Valerie. She left the name behind as a symbolic way of leaving behind her past.
Inciting Incident:
The storyline remained very linear. Chapters 1-9 only covered a single day (same day I think) from two perspectives, Alan and Vivian. Vivian’s inciting incident came first while Alan’s has yet to come.
On that same night when Alan gets home from work (chapter 6), Vivian reveals to her husband her inciting incident: a Queen Annes candidacy invitation.
Queen Annes is Belleport’s elite women, driven by status, tradition, and quiet social power.
Of course, Vivian is desperate to get accepted and is giddy with excitement. By contrast, Alan’s cautious reaction highlights their disconnect, ending their conversation—and the chapter—with Vivian dousing him in a perfume Alan hates: frankincense.
First Story Arc (Part One: April):
The story began with Alan, but Vivian soon took the driver’s seat for the first arc of the story. The beginning was weak, but it gained momentum and finally captured me by chapter 8.
I was pleasantly surprised to finish Part One wanting to keep reading.
Though the story feels sloppy, I can see the appeal—not in its absurdity or "satire", but in its unique cast and secrets of the Queen Anne Club. I liked the little "twist" Vivian discovered after her inciting incident. That will make things interesting, I hope.
5/21/26—Pages 65-76
AMY OPTS OUT!
“‘Well, this is a waste of a Thursday,’ said the marketing director, sheathing his laptop.”—CH.11 pg.76
That was the last line I read from this novel. I agree. This is a waste of my Thursday.
DNF.
Chapter 10 Opening Scene (Part Two: May):
Pitch day begins poorly for Alan as a series of frustrations and disruptions undermine his carefully controlled routine. While preparing to present O+A’s highly engineered milk campaign, Alan learns that Tucker Brannigan—the dairy farmer central to the pitch—is drunk…or something. Then comes Daniel Ellery, an unconventional “cowboy” as Tucker’s replacement.
*I noticed at this point a repeating “twist”. Replacing characters with other unconventional characters was interesting at first, but doing it twice failed my continued intrigue.
“What in the fuckity fuck of all the fucks was going on?”—CH.10 pg.67
From the blurb, we are told that this “anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation to US dairy” which is why I don’t consider it a spoiler and am mentioning it my review.
Chapter 10 was about this disruption in the short span of 3 pages.
Chapter 11 rolls straight on from this, so why the new chapter?
Chapter 11 Opening Scene (continued):
Chapter 11 follows O+A’s US dairy pitch as Alan attempts to manage the last-minute spokesperson change, only for Daniel Ellery to derail the presentation by condemning advertising and consumer culture, turning the carefully crafted campaign into a public clash over authenticity and excess.
“He wished the pitch were taking place a decade earlier when admen still did coke.”—CH.11 pg.70
*It made sense that this guy did coke.
“Behind jumbo espresso machines, waifish baristas dripped pour overs from on high as if it were the Arabian Peninsula in 600 CE instead of Abbot Kinney.”—CH.11 pg.72
*But it doesn’t make sense to use obscure cultural humor and think it will land.
Final Verdict:
I had planned to read this book to its entirety (no matter how bad) but it really is that bad. Reading 258 more pages of this would be like swallowing a gallon of expired milk.
Choosing milk was a bad choice for this story. It was uninteresting, slandered vegans left and right, was used to make a few racial comments (with everyone in the room being white as milk), and was, frankly, a stupid execution.
I know I probably quit “right before it got good!”. But I’ve seen enough. This isn’t funny, the writing is very immature, and even if the story got better, it wouldn’t be worth reading. Judging by the cover with Alan walking a lobster on a leash, I’m afraid this story is going to try being funny using Sunny’s weird ability and other silly things to “impress” its audience. I’m sorry, but my 5-year-old nephew can come up with better stories on the spot.
This was my first real-time review and a bit of an experiment. I definitely need a tighter format next time. Thanks for reading all this if you came this far!
Don’t buy this book unless you still think fart jokes are funny!
April 17, 2026
I had such a good time reading this!
A campy, satirical, whacky adventure about an advertising CEO “opting out” of consumerism and reevaluating his entire existence as his wife is trying to buy her way into a WASP-y upper class elite friend group.
Alan is a CEO of an advertisement company. He has a huge multi-million dollar advertisement presentation comping up to essentially….well….MAKE MILK GREAT AGAIN!!!! However, after a series of unfortunate events that don’t go according to plan he loses that deal and has, what his daughter refers to as, a “menty b” and “opts out” of capitalism and becomes one with nature again.
As this is happening, his wife, Vivian, is desperately trying to “Desperate Housewives” herself into an elite group of upper class woman in her neighborhood. No matter the cost. Literally.
They are new money and absolutely ridiculous and trying desperately to fit in and figure out what will make them happy in life. Are any of the characters really that likeable? Not really and also hell yes. (There’s also a daughter who talks to animals who kinda runs circles around everyone else in this book.)
I really enjoyed the world we were in and the writing style of the author. The pacing was perfect and I never felt like the story was dragging, I was engaged the entire time in the shenanigans.
At the end of the day this is a novel that does not take itself seriously intentionally. It is supposed to be absurd and ridiculous. But it does have a lot of heart in it and I was happy with the overall message.
I really ended up enjoying this and I hope you do too.
Thanks so much to Little, Brown and Co and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
A campy, satirical, whacky adventure about an advertising CEO “opting out” of consumerism and reevaluating his entire existence as his wife is trying to buy her way into a WASP-y upper class elite friend group.
Alan is a CEO of an advertisement company. He has a huge multi-million dollar advertisement presentation comping up to essentially….well….MAKE MILK GREAT AGAIN!!!! However, after a series of unfortunate events that don’t go according to plan he loses that deal and has, what his daughter refers to as, a “menty b” and “opts out” of capitalism and becomes one with nature again.
As this is happening, his wife, Vivian, is desperately trying to “Desperate Housewives” herself into an elite group of upper class woman in her neighborhood. No matter the cost. Literally.
They are new money and absolutely ridiculous and trying desperately to fit in and figure out what will make them happy in life. Are any of the characters really that likeable? Not really and also hell yes. (There’s also a daughter who talks to animals who kinda runs circles around everyone else in this book.)
I really enjoyed the world we were in and the writing style of the author. The pacing was perfect and I never felt like the story was dragging, I was engaged the entire time in the shenanigans.
At the end of the day this is a novel that does not take itself seriously intentionally. It is supposed to be absurd and ridiculous. But it does have a lot of heart in it and I was happy with the overall message.
I really ended up enjoying this and I hope you do too.
Thanks so much to Little, Brown and Co and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
March 30, 2026
Fast-paced, witty, yet poignant—this novel has it all.
When an ad-exec decides to “opt out” of consumerism after a bad pitch, his wife (the very definition of consumerism) must try to hold their perfect life together lest the neighbors think anything is amiss. It’s laugh-out-loud funny at times, but I also found myself caring about every character—even the ones I loathed at the beginning. Maum is a fantastic writer, and I’ll read anything she puts out there.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an early copy of this book to read and review.
When an ad-exec decides to “opt out” of consumerism after a bad pitch, his wife (the very definition of consumerism) must try to hold their perfect life together lest the neighbors think anything is amiss. It’s laugh-out-loud funny at times, but I also found myself caring about every character—even the ones I loathed at the beginning. Maum is a fantastic writer, and I’ll read anything she puts out there.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an early copy of this book to read and review.
June 16, 2026
So stupidly funny yet amazing. Like "Lost Lambs" but with a pet lobster 🦞
Did Not Finish
June 19, 2026DNF at 13%. I wanted to make it to the actual “opt out” part, because that’s the whole reason I picked up the book, but I just can’t. I’m so bored and have no desire to keep going.
June 7, 2026
Funny…enough
Interesting…enough
Characters…enough…huh?
Ending…not quite enough
3.75 rounded up.
Interesting…enough
Characters…enough…huh?
Ending…not quite enough
3.75 rounded up.
June 20, 2026
Courtney Maum is the best at satire in my opinion. I’ve loved everything she’s written in that department and Alan Opts Out is another winner. Alan is a pro in the advertising world but when he experiences a constructed sort of epiphany, he says 🎶 bye bye bye 🎶 to consumerism. It’s funny and over the top in a way that almost matches real life these days lol. I loved it.
Read
April 7, 2026Thank you to Courtney Maum, Alyssa Flori, and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC!
Alan, a rich ad exec living in Greenwich, CT, goes through a "menty b" after losing possibly the biggest account of his career (US Dairy). An anticapitalist dairy farmer becomes the inspiration behind his next move — which is to stop going to work, move into the backyard playhouse, and live by the motto "less is more." His wife, Vivian, who can't let go of her current life of abundance and overconsumption, thinks he's gone batshit. It doesn't help that this occurs right around the same time as she becomes recruited to possibly join the elite women's club of their affluent neighborhood, the Queen Annes. Think Real Housewives of WASP-y Connecticut. While Alan walks the neighborhood barefoot, bathes in the bird bath, and fends off mosquitoes, Vivian is going to tablesetting classes and planning her end-of-summer bash meant to impress the queen bee of the Queen Annes.
The tension between these two worlds (existing on the same property) is palpable. Vivian's situation is particularly anxiety-inducing, what with the guerilla-style activities of the Queen Annes, the things she's keeping from Alan, and the pressure she feels to fit in. She's spiraling just like Alan, it just looks a little different.
I think what Courtney Maum does the best in "Alan Opts Out" is make unlikable characters likable. I don't normally need my characters to be likable, but at first, I was worried I would never sympathize with or root for them. That changed in the last third of the book.
I did like Sunny, one of Alan and Vivan's daughters, the whole time, though. She's hands down my favorite character. I don't want to spoil why, but she brings some magical realism into this white-picket-fence world that provides some levity.
Underneath the absurdity of the plot is a message I like, which is to think about what matters most — fitting in vs. cultivating authentic relationships, money vs. people, overconsumption vs. appreciating the little things. While that sums up what Alan talks about for most of the book, in my opinion, this message was muddled by what happens at the very end.
"Alan Opts Out" is funny and totally unexpected. Give it a shot when it comes out in June!
Alan, a rich ad exec living in Greenwich, CT, goes through a "menty b" after losing possibly the biggest account of his career (US Dairy). An anticapitalist dairy farmer becomes the inspiration behind his next move — which is to stop going to work, move into the backyard playhouse, and live by the motto "less is more." His wife, Vivian, who can't let go of her current life of abundance and overconsumption, thinks he's gone batshit. It doesn't help that this occurs right around the same time as she becomes recruited to possibly join the elite women's club of their affluent neighborhood, the Queen Annes. Think Real Housewives of WASP-y Connecticut. While Alan walks the neighborhood barefoot, bathes in the bird bath, and fends off mosquitoes, Vivian is going to tablesetting classes and planning her end-of-summer bash meant to impress the queen bee of the Queen Annes.
The tension between these two worlds (existing on the same property) is palpable. Vivian's situation is particularly anxiety-inducing, what with the guerilla-style activities of the Queen Annes, the things she's keeping from Alan, and the pressure she feels to fit in. She's spiraling just like Alan, it just looks a little different.
I think what Courtney Maum does the best in "Alan Opts Out" is make unlikable characters likable. I don't normally need my characters to be likable, but at first, I was worried I would never sympathize with or root for them. That changed in the last third of the book.
I did like Sunny, one of Alan and Vivan's daughters, the whole time, though. She's hands down my favorite character. I don't want to spoil why, but she brings some magical realism into this white-picket-fence world that provides some levity.
Underneath the absurdity of the plot is a message I like, which is to think about what matters most — fitting in vs. cultivating authentic relationships, money vs. people, overconsumption vs. appreciating the little things. While that sums up what Alan talks about for most of the book, in my opinion, this message was muddled by what happens at the very end.
"Alan Opts Out" is funny and totally unexpected. Give it a shot when it comes out in June!
June 3, 2026
Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum is a humorous satire about a workaholic advertising executive and his wife who is aspiring to be a socialite. This book is a fun and quick read. Overall, I recommend it. However, none of the characters in the book were likeable which made it difficult to stay invested in the story at times.
Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 18, 2026
Vivian (nee Valerie) is focused on joining an elite social club in their elite neighborhood when her husband Alan has a crisis of self-- has his lifelong career in marketing actually been bad for the world? His searching and her striving made for a hilarious (seriously, I laughed out loud a lot) read on consumption, community, and family ties.
June 25, 2026
It takes a long time for Alan to opt out and frankly, Alan is not even really the main character in the story. Once he actually opts out the book is great. Some silly isolated incidents but struggles to commit to comedy or consumerism critique. Light read for the beach and silly moments, a less developed version of Lost Lambs
June 21, 2026
4.25 stars! Hands down best surprise of the year so far! I hadn’t planned to read this book. Each month I plan about 90 percent of my reading TBR and always leave a little room for the unexpected fun read to get added to the list and this one was it!! I had a ton of people tell me it was great! The premise sounded fun and I’d been reading a bunch of heavier tenser reads so I was game for a fun palette cleanse! This was so so enjoyable! Basically a rich family has a few unexpected things happen in different directions and every member of the family deals with the dilemmas in dramatically different ways! It was funny and just the right amount of crazy chaotic! I loved it! Highly recommend!
Read
June 22, 2026Not for me - at the nearly half way point I realized I didn’t want to spend any more time with the disillusioned ad man and his desperately status-climbing wife.
June 25, 2026
Really enjoyed this. Probably just under 5 stars but definitely one of my favorite fiction reads this year. Reminded me of the best of Annie Hartnett or Taffy B-A.
Read
January 5, 2026 it was very good
June 12, 2026
2.5/5. I was expecting the book to be more about alan actually opting out of traditional life (hence the title), and what he did hour to hour and the consequences of said actions on the relationships with his family. The book was like 20% of that and the rest was about Vivian and her housewife shenanigans with the fellow rich women of their town. I feel a little deceived by the description. There were some really funny moments, but if I wanted what the book supplied I would just force myself to finally finish Desperate Housewives (why is season 7 impossible to get through?!?)
June 13, 2026
Alan Opts Out is sharp, satirical, and perfectly heartfelt.
When advertising executive Alan spectacularly implodes the biggest pitch of his career, he has a revelation: he's spent his entire life convincing people to buy things they don't need in order to feel better about themselves. So he does the unthinkable… he opts out. No shopping, no shoes, no showers, and a retreat to the absurdly extravagant playhouse sitting in his suburban Connecticut garden.
What follows is an entertaining, laugh-out-loud skewering of consumerism, capitalism, and our endless obsession with more. At times it's completely over the top and delightfully ridiculous, but that's part of its charm. Beneath all the farce is a surprisingly tender family story filled with flawed, recognizable characters trying to figure out what actually matters.
This one is wonderfully paced and easy to read. And that ending? I genuinely didn't see it coming. I could totally see it being adapted into a television series!
What I enjoyed most was its message. While Alan's experiment starts as a rejection of capitalism and material ambition, it gradually becomes something much more meaningful. It's a reminder that happiness is rarely found in wealth, exclusive clubs, or the next thing we're told we need to buy. Family, community, connection, and purpose definitely matter far more. If you've ever wondered whether all of our striving for more is actually making us happier, Alan Opts Out is well worth picking up.
When advertising executive Alan spectacularly implodes the biggest pitch of his career, he has a revelation: he's spent his entire life convincing people to buy things they don't need in order to feel better about themselves. So he does the unthinkable… he opts out. No shopping, no shoes, no showers, and a retreat to the absurdly extravagant playhouse sitting in his suburban Connecticut garden.
What follows is an entertaining, laugh-out-loud skewering of consumerism, capitalism, and our endless obsession with more. At times it's completely over the top and delightfully ridiculous, but that's part of its charm. Beneath all the farce is a surprisingly tender family story filled with flawed, recognizable characters trying to figure out what actually matters.
This one is wonderfully paced and easy to read. And that ending? I genuinely didn't see it coming. I could totally see it being adapted into a television series!
What I enjoyed most was its message. While Alan's experiment starts as a rejection of capitalism and material ambition, it gradually becomes something much more meaningful. It's a reminder that happiness is rarely found in wealth, exclusive clubs, or the next thing we're told we need to buy. Family, community, connection, and purpose definitely matter far more. If you've ever wondered whether all of our striving for more is actually making us happier, Alan Opts Out is well worth picking up.
April 7, 2026
So admittedly I am in a reading rut. Life is a little crazy right now, I started a new (and fantastic) job last week, I have a fun and crazy 1 year old on my hands, and I’m tired. Never to tired to read books (never once in my life have I been too tired to read a book) but books just aren’t hitting for me right now. All that to say - I truly don’t know if ALAN OPTS OUT is a good book or not.
My instinct is to say, it doesn’t really have a plot and a book with no plot better have great characters right? Eh, this one not so much either. It’s about really really rich people and that also bores me right now, and I find it hard to care about a multi-millionaire ad exec who decides he wants to “opt out” of the real world despite his wife’s longing to be part of the elite crowd in their rich and fancy neighborhood. The best characters are their two high school daughters, one of whom does 1 woman plays and the other seemingly talks to animals? I wanted a whole book about them instead!
So yeah, book rut or not this book did not hit for me at all and maybe sleep deprivation didn’t help so I’m curious to hear what others may think of it.
My instinct is to say, it doesn’t really have a plot and a book with no plot better have great characters right? Eh, this one not so much either. It’s about really really rich people and that also bores me right now, and I find it hard to care about a multi-millionaire ad exec who decides he wants to “opt out” of the real world despite his wife’s longing to be part of the elite crowd in their rich and fancy neighborhood. The best characters are their two high school daughters, one of whom does 1 woman plays and the other seemingly talks to animals? I wanted a whole book about them instead!
So yeah, book rut or not this book did not hit for me at all and maybe sleep deprivation didn’t help so I’m curious to hear what others may think of it.
June 4, 2026
THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR THE ARC: this is my honest opinion
Alan Opts Out was one of the hilarious and sardonic stories I’ve read in such a long time.
Alan, an adman who has done exceptionally well with his own company he began with his college roommate, is in the marketing industry where he and his fellow workers convince consumers to buy their products they represent and are excessively motivated by materialistic and financial gains both for their business, their clientele and also within their own lives.
Alan had been married to his wife, formally known as Valerie but when they moved from Philadelphia to an upscale Connecticut suburb that is one of the most expensive in the entire country with school and educational facilities that are also astronomical, Valerie became VIVIAN, and she has done everything within her power to dress as her neighbors and club members, enroll her girls, a tween and a teen into all the popular extracurriculars, she dresses them according to uniforms and dress preferences and she has spent the last four year yearning to be invited into the centuries old QUEEN ANNE society for women where she would need a regnant and also a vote for her to compete against 3 other contenders and if she makes it, after her summers end party, she will be accepted into their secret elite club which she has dreamt about her whole life.
Her children are struggling making friends, her youngest Sunny, who was very invested in riding horses, has since become adamant that the horses no longer want to be ridden with their harnesses etc and she’s also become quite the spectacle at school when at pick up Sunny was in the middle of chaos with a raven on her arm and appeared to speaking to it. Bailey her eldest daughter finds all of these tangents hilarious as it takes away from her misery. She is vying to go to public school to continue her love of writing and making plays yet her mother refuses to allow her to attend. Bailey starts to sell some things she finds around her house that’s full of excess to pay for her own play without any of her patents or teachers help.
While Vivian is pledging her Queen Anne days, her husband tanks his huge pitch that he was so looking forward to getting as it would’ve made a great difference for the company. Instead, the man he paid and coached to show up for the pitch and speak about how important milk was to the farmers family another man came in his stead and basically told all the advertising marketing agents they are what’s wrong with the county and they are materialistic and monetary motivated, They have ruined the Earth and are never satisfied with enough they also want more and more. The man continues to tell them LESS IS MORE AND MORE IS LESS. Somehow, Alan has a psychotic crack on the way home and begins to take on Daniel, the substitute for original farmer and decides he won’t go to work, he’ll live in his daughters play house that is a small replica of his own house without the electrical and running water. He stops showering and wears the same white pants and loose blouse looking shirt for the 6 weeks he decides to take a hiatus. He takes to wearing no shoes, he bathed in the sound, he was seen washing his hair in one of the neighbors bird baths and Vivian is losing her mind, This is her biggest most important summer event of her life and she’s got a daughter, Sunny, who is telling people she speaks to animals, she has been seen up close with an elk, several deer, bunnies, birds, and has her horse standing on its hind legs doing tricks, it’s more than he mother can handle. Not to mention many neighbors are questioning Alan’s no shoes, his white pirate sort of clothing, the topless stretching in the yard, the lobster he has made his pet as Sunny said Lenny the lobster was devastated after seeing his whole family being boiled alive and to Vivian’s shock, her crazy neighbors are all encouraging Alan’s new world sabbatical, his stretch yoga, his bare foot regiment and his credo of LESS IS MORE. Some begin to have swap meets and other unprecedented levels of chaos are happening within their neighborhood.
By the time it Vivian’s dinner and judgement night, her theme couldn’t be any more perfect than it is for her family and the way they have been acting all summer. Needless to say, as Alan begins to recognize it’s his own fault for allowing and encouraging and pushing Vivian to fit into his upper crust world, he also realizes that after 6 weeks he’s going stir crazy and would very much like to busy his brain and get back to work. He may change his overall credo anx take on more meaningful roles but one thing he doesn’t regret is spending the quality time he had spent with his girls and his wife and got to know his neighbors as well as his neighborhood,
Just as Alan and Vivian come to conclusions that they don’t need an enormous house filled with excess and materialistic things and awe striking life altering tragedy happens and though I was surprised they handled it the way that they did, I was thrilled to see the ending and the revelation turn into what the author cleverly had choose such a brilliant ending that really saw this through.
THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY ARC AND TO LITTLE BROWN AND COMPANY.
#Netgalley #ARC AlanOptsOut #COURTNEYMaum #LittleBrownAndCompany
Alan Opts Out was one of the hilarious and sardonic stories I’ve read in such a long time.
Alan, an adman who has done exceptionally well with his own company he began with his college roommate, is in the marketing industry where he and his fellow workers convince consumers to buy their products they represent and are excessively motivated by materialistic and financial gains both for their business, their clientele and also within their own lives.
Alan had been married to his wife, formally known as Valerie but when they moved from Philadelphia to an upscale Connecticut suburb that is one of the most expensive in the entire country with school and educational facilities that are also astronomical, Valerie became VIVIAN, and she has done everything within her power to dress as her neighbors and club members, enroll her girls, a tween and a teen into all the popular extracurriculars, she dresses them according to uniforms and dress preferences and she has spent the last four year yearning to be invited into the centuries old QUEEN ANNE society for women where she would need a regnant and also a vote for her to compete against 3 other contenders and if she makes it, after her summers end party, she will be accepted into their secret elite club which she has dreamt about her whole life.
Her children are struggling making friends, her youngest Sunny, who was very invested in riding horses, has since become adamant that the horses no longer want to be ridden with their harnesses etc and she’s also become quite the spectacle at school when at pick up Sunny was in the middle of chaos with a raven on her arm and appeared to speaking to it. Bailey her eldest daughter finds all of these tangents hilarious as it takes away from her misery. She is vying to go to public school to continue her love of writing and making plays yet her mother refuses to allow her to attend. Bailey starts to sell some things she finds around her house that’s full of excess to pay for her own play without any of her patents or teachers help.
While Vivian is pledging her Queen Anne days, her husband tanks his huge pitch that he was so looking forward to getting as it would’ve made a great difference for the company. Instead, the man he paid and coached to show up for the pitch and speak about how important milk was to the farmers family another man came in his stead and basically told all the advertising marketing agents they are what’s wrong with the county and they are materialistic and monetary motivated, They have ruined the Earth and are never satisfied with enough they also want more and more. The man continues to tell them LESS IS MORE AND MORE IS LESS. Somehow, Alan has a psychotic crack on the way home and begins to take on Daniel, the substitute for original farmer and decides he won’t go to work, he’ll live in his daughters play house that is a small replica of his own house without the electrical and running water. He stops showering and wears the same white pants and loose blouse looking shirt for the 6 weeks he decides to take a hiatus. He takes to wearing no shoes, he bathed in the sound, he was seen washing his hair in one of the neighbors bird baths and Vivian is losing her mind, This is her biggest most important summer event of her life and she’s got a daughter, Sunny, who is telling people she speaks to animals, she has been seen up close with an elk, several deer, bunnies, birds, and has her horse standing on its hind legs doing tricks, it’s more than he mother can handle. Not to mention many neighbors are questioning Alan’s no shoes, his white pirate sort of clothing, the topless stretching in the yard, the lobster he has made his pet as Sunny said Lenny the lobster was devastated after seeing his whole family being boiled alive and to Vivian’s shock, her crazy neighbors are all encouraging Alan’s new world sabbatical, his stretch yoga, his bare foot regiment and his credo of LESS IS MORE. Some begin to have swap meets and other unprecedented levels of chaos are happening within their neighborhood.
By the time it Vivian’s dinner and judgement night, her theme couldn’t be any more perfect than it is for her family and the way they have been acting all summer. Needless to say, as Alan begins to recognize it’s his own fault for allowing and encouraging and pushing Vivian to fit into his upper crust world, he also realizes that after 6 weeks he’s going stir crazy and would very much like to busy his brain and get back to work. He may change his overall credo anx take on more meaningful roles but one thing he doesn’t regret is spending the quality time he had spent with his girls and his wife and got to know his neighbors as well as his neighborhood,
Just as Alan and Vivian come to conclusions that they don’t need an enormous house filled with excess and materialistic things and awe striking life altering tragedy happens and though I was surprised they handled it the way that they did, I was thrilled to see the ending and the revelation turn into what the author cleverly had choose such a brilliant ending that really saw this through.
THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY ARC AND TO LITTLE BROWN AND COMPANY.
#Netgalley #ARC AlanOptsOut #COURTNEYMaum #LittleBrownAndCompany
April 16, 2026
3.5. Advance copy provided by net galley. Laugh out loud funny with underlying moral about what is happiness. A little too ‘cute’ but definitely entertaining. Recommend as light read
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I can't decide whether this is a cautionary tale, a man becoming an X-File, affluent suburban mass hysteria, or the funniest midlife crisis I’ve read in years. Either way, I had an AMAZING time with it.
Alan Anderson's a successful advertising executive whose Big Dairy presentation implodes “because some fucking anarchist who wasn’t even supposed to be there had just exploded Alan’s life,” which prompts him to look around at modern society and go, “Was there a purpose to Alan’s life? Had he got his purpose wrong?” before immediately detonating his own life in the most spectacularly chaotic way possible.
And when I say detonate, I mean DETONATE 🧨
Alan opts out (TITLE DROP!!!!) of capitalism, social norms, employment, footwear, personal hygiene, and eventually reality-adjacent behaviour altogether. He abandons his family to live in the back garden playhouse and starts trying to survive suburban Connecticut like he’s on a low-budget survival show nobody asked for.
This quote perfectly captures the reading experience: “What in the fuckity fuck of all the fucks was going on?”
Meanwhile, his wife Vivian's desperately trying to claw her way into an elite society club populated entirely by rich women who would have thrived during the Salem witch trials. Which means Alan choosing this exact moment to transform into a feral anti-consumerist backyard goblin is VERY VERY VERY inconvenient for everyone involved.
There isn't a single likeable person anywhere in this book.
Vivian/Valerie is social climbing so aggressively she’s basically excavating the family bank account just to cosplay wealth and fit in with this cursed Desperate Housewives-esque clique. The oldest kid's a kleptomaniac. The youngest believes she's Doctor Dolittle and can communicate with animals. Alan (pre-breakdown) is so emotionally checked out he’d rather answer spam emails on a Sunday afternoon than acknowledge his own family. His closest emotional connection is Lenny the Lobster, who's “shedding his outer shell slowly and disgustingly in Alan’s beverage tub.” And the supporting cast are every possible variation of malice, delusion, passive aggression, repression, instability, and wealthy suburban insanity.
I loved every single one of them. No notes.
I also loved all the little snippets of life in Connecticut. The neighbourhood Slack/group chats full of petty arguments. The competitive parenting. The social politics. The passive-aggressive rich people behaviour that feels more threatening than actual physical violence. The book nails that specific brand of affluent suburban dysfunction where everyone's smiling while trying to destroy each other psychologically.
This book is SATIRE satire. Like the author took one look at wellness culture, luxury branding, performative wealth, fake sustainability, LinkedIn personalities, corporate jargon, and rich people who own 17 beige candles and said “absolutely the fuck not.”
EVERYONE and EVERYTHING gets dragged.
But underneath all the chaos, secondhand embarrassment, marital warfare, and upper-middle-class psychological collapse, there’s real emotional depth. Vivian especially surprised me. I started out judging her and quickly ended up emotionally invested in her need to reinvent herself and win approval from women who seem legally prohibited from experiencing joy.
The whole thing feels like watching someone slowly remove one Jenga block after another from the structure of modern society while screaming “YOU ARE ALL SHEEP” and everyone else screams back “PLEASE GOD PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON.”
It’s bizarre, funny, uncomfortable, oddly moving, and very accurate about modern identity and consumer culture. But this is not a quiet literary meditation and you won't find a neat redemption arc here.
What you will find: rich people behaving terribly, existential crises escalating in real time, anti-capitalist meltdowns, social climbing, emotional repression, public humiliation, children becoming Snow White, and at least one man spiritually devolving into a neighbourhood cryptid while emotionally bonding with a lobster.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
Alan Anderson's a successful advertising executive whose Big Dairy presentation implodes “because some fucking anarchist who wasn’t even supposed to be there had just exploded Alan’s life,” which prompts him to look around at modern society and go, “Was there a purpose to Alan’s life? Had he got his purpose wrong?” before immediately detonating his own life in the most spectacularly chaotic way possible.
And when I say detonate, I mean DETONATE 🧨
Alan opts out (TITLE DROP!!!!) of capitalism, social norms, employment, footwear, personal hygiene, and eventually reality-adjacent behaviour altogether. He abandons his family to live in the back garden playhouse and starts trying to survive suburban Connecticut like he’s on a low-budget survival show nobody asked for.
This quote perfectly captures the reading experience: “What in the fuckity fuck of all the fucks was going on?”
Meanwhile, his wife Vivian's desperately trying to claw her way into an elite society club populated entirely by rich women who would have thrived during the Salem witch trials. Which means Alan choosing this exact moment to transform into a feral anti-consumerist backyard goblin is VERY VERY VERY inconvenient for everyone involved.
There isn't a single likeable person anywhere in this book.
Vivian/Valerie is social climbing so aggressively she’s basically excavating the family bank account just to cosplay wealth and fit in with this cursed Desperate Housewives-esque clique. The oldest kid's a kleptomaniac. The youngest believes she's Doctor Dolittle and can communicate with animals. Alan (pre-breakdown) is so emotionally checked out he’d rather answer spam emails on a Sunday afternoon than acknowledge his own family. His closest emotional connection is Lenny the Lobster, who's “shedding his outer shell slowly and disgustingly in Alan’s beverage tub.” And the supporting cast are every possible variation of malice, delusion, passive aggression, repression, instability, and wealthy suburban insanity.
I loved every single one of them. No notes.
I also loved all the little snippets of life in Connecticut. The neighbourhood Slack/group chats full of petty arguments. The competitive parenting. The social politics. The passive-aggressive rich people behaviour that feels more threatening than actual physical violence. The book nails that specific brand of affluent suburban dysfunction where everyone's smiling while trying to destroy each other psychologically.
This book is SATIRE satire. Like the author took one look at wellness culture, luxury branding, performative wealth, fake sustainability, LinkedIn personalities, corporate jargon, and rich people who own 17 beige candles and said “absolutely the fuck not.”
EVERYONE and EVERYTHING gets dragged.
But underneath all the chaos, secondhand embarrassment, marital warfare, and upper-middle-class psychological collapse, there’s real emotional depth. Vivian especially surprised me. I started out judging her and quickly ended up emotionally invested in her need to reinvent herself and win approval from women who seem legally prohibited from experiencing joy.
The whole thing feels like watching someone slowly remove one Jenga block after another from the structure of modern society while screaming “YOU ARE ALL SHEEP” and everyone else screams back “PLEASE GOD PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON.”
It’s bizarre, funny, uncomfortable, oddly moving, and very accurate about modern identity and consumer culture. But this is not a quiet literary meditation and you won't find a neat redemption arc here.
What you will find: rich people behaving terribly, existential crises escalating in real time, anti-capitalist meltdowns, social climbing, emotional repression, public humiliation, children becoming Snow White, and at least one man spiritually devolving into a neighbourhood cryptid while emotionally bonding with a lobster.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I am a subscriber to Courtney Maum's Substack, Before and After the Book Deal. I first became aware of her when I read her book of the same title, which I sincerely believe to be one of the top five writing craft books I have read. Although her Substack is geared more toward fiction, much of what she offers (especially given her nonfiction oeuvre) works for the nonfiction writer.
I have to admit that I was hesitant when offered the opportunity to read this before its scheduled release date of June 2. I haven't read fiction for at least 20 to 25 years, since I finished "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron. When I started this book, I soon found myself engrossed not only in Maum's writing style, which can best be described as breezy (never a bad thing for a novelist), but by the intricacies of the story itself. Working as a journalist, I knew people like ad agency owner Alan Anderson and his wife, Vivian. Of course, given that I am not a parent, I had to take Maum's word for how Alan and Vivian's daughters, Bailey and Sunny, were. As I got further into the book, I could see that Maum's characters were realistic and sharply drawn and never cartoonish, which can be a hazard for a less-talented writer.
After a horrendous meeting with a dairy promotion council, where a radical "spokesman" that Alan was not expecting (the dairy farmer he hired didn't show up), sabotaged his presentation, Alan began to take stock of his life and soon started seeing his life and purpose differently, much to the consternation of his socially-ambitious wife, who before marrying Alan was brought up in a trailer by an single mother abandoned by her husband who seemed more interested in her cats than in her daughter. Vivian, who is equally prominent in the story as Alan, soon realizes that to get ahead (as she understands it) sometimes life requires compromises. Unable to understand what Alan is going through, because she is laser-focused on being invited to join a woman's club in their Connecticut hometown, Vivian keeps moving forward (so she thinks) even as life with Alan, Bailey, and Sunny continues to spiral out of control.
I liked the characters of Bailey and Sunny, who I imagine are typical of young girls their age. I especially like that Sunny insists she can talk with animals and that they talk back to her. Maum takes what could be viewed by some as nonsensical and makes it into something one could imagine a young woman doing.
After the disastrous presentation, the remainder of the story explores how Alan and Vivian appear at odds in handling what life hands to them. Obviously, I don't want to give anything away, but one of the reasons I don't read fiction is that I feel that sometimes authors rely on cheap tricks to reach the payoff of the story. There is absolutely none of that here. Maum's conclusion is not only realistic but is definitely something the reader will not see coming.
When this book is finally released in June, it will be well worth your time to read. I now want to read Maum's memoir, "The Year of the Horses." It's on my list at the library.
I have to admit that I was hesitant when offered the opportunity to read this before its scheduled release date of June 2. I haven't read fiction for at least 20 to 25 years, since I finished "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron. When I started this book, I soon found myself engrossed not only in Maum's writing style, which can best be described as breezy (never a bad thing for a novelist), but by the intricacies of the story itself. Working as a journalist, I knew people like ad agency owner Alan Anderson and his wife, Vivian. Of course, given that I am not a parent, I had to take Maum's word for how Alan and Vivian's daughters, Bailey and Sunny, were. As I got further into the book, I could see that Maum's characters were realistic and sharply drawn and never cartoonish, which can be a hazard for a less-talented writer.
After a horrendous meeting with a dairy promotion council, where a radical "spokesman" that Alan was not expecting (the dairy farmer he hired didn't show up), sabotaged his presentation, Alan began to take stock of his life and soon started seeing his life and purpose differently, much to the consternation of his socially-ambitious wife, who before marrying Alan was brought up in a trailer by an single mother abandoned by her husband who seemed more interested in her cats than in her daughter. Vivian, who is equally prominent in the story as Alan, soon realizes that to get ahead (as she understands it) sometimes life requires compromises. Unable to understand what Alan is going through, because she is laser-focused on being invited to join a woman's club in their Connecticut hometown, Vivian keeps moving forward (so she thinks) even as life with Alan, Bailey, and Sunny continues to spiral out of control.
I liked the characters of Bailey and Sunny, who I imagine are typical of young girls their age. I especially like that Sunny insists she can talk with animals and that they talk back to her. Maum takes what could be viewed by some as nonsensical and makes it into something one could imagine a young woman doing.
After the disastrous presentation, the remainder of the story explores how Alan and Vivian appear at odds in handling what life hands to them. Obviously, I don't want to give anything away, but one of the reasons I don't read fiction is that I feel that sometimes authors rely on cheap tricks to reach the payoff of the story. There is absolutely none of that here. Maum's conclusion is not only realistic but is definitely something the reader will not see coming.
When this book is finally released in June, it will be well worth your time to read. I now want to read Maum's memoir, "The Year of the Horses." It's on my list at the library.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Alan Anderson was well on his way to his tenth Cannes Lions Award, the most prestigious trophy an ad campaign could win. He had his pitch ready for American Dairy that would burnish the image of milk from old and uncool to real food itself, as American as one could get. His absolute brainstorm for this presentation was an old Wisconsin dairy farmer named Turner. Alan would interview Turner, who would wear his own overalls and John Deere hat, and instead of the expected Powerpoint, the client would get the real story of milk straight from the farmer's mouth. It can't miss.
The day of the pitch everything was tracking on plan-the team had worked hard and Alan was ready to go. But at the last minute, his assistant had bad news-Turner was too intimidated to attend and sent another farmer in his place. Not great, but Alan could work with it. The guy replacing Turner was named Daniel, and he looked like a Hollywood movie star dressed as a cowboy. As Alan began his questions, Daniel started a diatribe about how corporations were hurting the small farms by forcing the cows to provide more milk than they were comfortably able to produce. When Alan tried to direct him back to the points of the presentation, Daniel stayed on his "less is more" rant-it was a disaster.
His wife, Vivian, was having her own problems. After many years of supporting Alan in his successful ad agency, she now had everything she wanted...almost. They had a beautiful house in Greenwich Connecticut, in Belleport, the most exclusive neighborhood in this most exclusive town. Her dream was to belong to the invitation-only town club, the Annes. If she was allowed admission to that club, her life would be complete. But she knew, to attain this honor, she, her husband, and their two girls would have to be perfect...and all of the neighbors were watching (and judging.) This was not the time for Alan to have a mid-life crisis/nervous breakdown.
Alan comes home and doesn't return to the agency. He wallows in misery in his bedroom, and won't come out. The more he thinks about what Daniel said, the more he becomes convinced that he had a point. The life he was leading was meaningless...could there really be another way? The more Vivian tries to social-climb her way to acceptance, the less Alan does to fit into their society until their lives literally explode.
This novel explores the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau in a very modern setting-can a man upend his whole persona and be a better human being for doing so? What would happen to his family and his livelihood if he turned inward and devoted himself to exploring the natural world?
Thoreau began his great experiment at Walden Pond almost two hundred years ago. He understood that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," and would approve of Alan's search for a new way of living..."simplify, simplify."
The day of the pitch everything was tracking on plan-the team had worked hard and Alan was ready to go. But at the last minute, his assistant had bad news-Turner was too intimidated to attend and sent another farmer in his place. Not great, but Alan could work with it. The guy replacing Turner was named Daniel, and he looked like a Hollywood movie star dressed as a cowboy. As Alan began his questions, Daniel started a diatribe about how corporations were hurting the small farms by forcing the cows to provide more milk than they were comfortably able to produce. When Alan tried to direct him back to the points of the presentation, Daniel stayed on his "less is more" rant-it was a disaster.
His wife, Vivian, was having her own problems. After many years of supporting Alan in his successful ad agency, she now had everything she wanted...almost. They had a beautiful house in Greenwich Connecticut, in Belleport, the most exclusive neighborhood in this most exclusive town. Her dream was to belong to the invitation-only town club, the Annes. If she was allowed admission to that club, her life would be complete. But she knew, to attain this honor, she, her husband, and their two girls would have to be perfect...and all of the neighbors were watching (and judging.) This was not the time for Alan to have a mid-life crisis/nervous breakdown.
Alan comes home and doesn't return to the agency. He wallows in misery in his bedroom, and won't come out. The more he thinks about what Daniel said, the more he becomes convinced that he had a point. The life he was leading was meaningless...could there really be another way? The more Vivian tries to social-climb her way to acceptance, the less Alan does to fit into their society until their lives literally explode.
This novel explores the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau in a very modern setting-can a man upend his whole persona and be a better human being for doing so? What would happen to his family and his livelihood if he turned inward and devoted himself to exploring the natural world?
Thoreau began his great experiment at Walden Pond almost two hundred years ago. He understood that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," and would approve of Alan's search for a new way of living..."simplify, simplify."
June 26, 2026
Alan Anderson is the exec of an advertising firm who has won awards for his campaigns and fully expects to be back on the podium at the industry's awards when he nails his pitch to "big milk" (whose sales have been flagging no thanks to trendy oat milk). Meanwhile, his wife Vivian, whose chief concern in life is fitting herself and her family into the socialite mold of their exclusive Connecticut town has already pre-spent the bonus that winning the pitch will net Alan, putting down a deposit for the backyard swimming pool she is sure they *need* to improve their standing among the ladies of the town. But things completely start to fall apart for the Anderson family when Alan bombs the pitch, and he goes a bit off the deep end, going in a mental about-face about consumerism and materialism, things that he made his career off of; he takes up residence in the backyard playhouse and eschews worldly things... internet and phones, wearing shoes, taking showers. Meanwhile, their eldest daughter goes rogue and rebellious, their younger daughter starts talking to animals, and Vivan is frantic that her application to the Bellport ladies' social society is in jeopardy.
You've got to be in the mood for a satire here because that's absolutely what this is. At first the characters don't seem to have any redeeming qualities as they are the most extreme versions of their respective roles in order to make a point about materialism, consumerism, ambition, social comparison, capitalism, our attempts to buy happiness. But as the characters actually start to grow and develop a bit (Vivian takes the longest, be warned, and certain ladies of the town remain caricatures) the points are illustrated with wit and heart and some hope for all of us in turning out okay despite the craziness of living in the modern world, even as the plot of the book gets a bit less real-life like and zany.
The reading experience reminded me a bit of Lost Lambs - though more satire and a bit less madcap, and I was endeared a bit less to the characters in Alan Opts Out - so I'd recommend Alan if you enjoyed Lost Lambs, but maybe just give a bit of space in between them or you might get tired of the farce of it all and not fully appreciate both. The publisher blurb mentions that it's for fans of Rufi Thorpe; the only book I've read of hers is Margot's Got Money Troubles, and I didn't find Alan Opts Out to have as much heart and warmth in addition to the quirkiness. But I can see how it could get a comparison to her, and maybe also Kevin Wilson and Annie Hartnett (though again, those lean less pure farcical feeling), and I was quite engrossed the whole way through. A fun/comedic yet timely/thought-provoking read.
You've got to be in the mood for a satire here because that's absolutely what this is. At first the characters don't seem to have any redeeming qualities as they are the most extreme versions of their respective roles in order to make a point about materialism, consumerism, ambition, social comparison, capitalism, our attempts to buy happiness. But as the characters actually start to grow and develop a bit (Vivian takes the longest, be warned, and certain ladies of the town remain caricatures) the points are illustrated with wit and heart and some hope for all of us in turning out okay despite the craziness of living in the modern world, even as the plot of the book gets a bit less real-life like and zany.
The reading experience reminded me a bit of Lost Lambs - though more satire and a bit less madcap, and I was endeared a bit less to the characters in Alan Opts Out - so I'd recommend Alan if you enjoyed Lost Lambs, but maybe just give a bit of space in between them or you might get tired of the farce of it all and not fully appreciate both. The publisher blurb mentions that it's for fans of Rufi Thorpe; the only book I've read of hers is Margot's Got Money Troubles, and I didn't find Alan Opts Out to have as much heart and warmth in addition to the quirkiness. But I can see how it could get a comparison to her, and maybe also Kevin Wilson and Annie Hartnett (though again, those lean less pure farcical feeling), and I was quite engrossed the whole way through. A fun/comedic yet timely/thought-provoking read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I am extremely grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the privilege of reviewing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
I was excited to request this ARC because I enjoy a good sendup of suburban living and consumer culture. There is some excellent dark satire here, but I wasn't expecting so much magical realism.
The titular Alan is a well-to-do advertising executive living in an uber-elite enclave in suburban Connecticut. Alan's wife, Vivian, has spent her lifetime reinventing herself and curating the perfect life and family so that she can finally gain entrance to the upper echelons of society. She especially yearns to become a member of the exclusive Queen Anne's, an invitation-only women's group that focuses on maintaining traditions of keeping the perfect home. Alan and Vivian have two daughters who struggle to find their own place in the private schools their mother has chosen for them. In fact, Vivian insists on micromanaging every aspect of their lives in an effort to elevate her own status.
When Alan loses a huge account, he experiences a humiliation that leaves him uncertain of his purpose. He soon begins to check out of life completely, giving up bathing, taking up residence in the children's playhouse, and befriending a rescue lobster. Alan suddenly turns on the world of capitalist greed that used to sustain him and his family and decides that the path to true bliss is "less is more." Vivian is gobsmacked by this sudden turn of events and is concerned that Alan's new lease on life might mean the end of her financial security and her dream of becoming a Queen Anne.
This was an entertaining read with plenty of humor and satire. Most of the characters are unlikeable, but I think that is to be expected, especially among the spoiled, coddled wealthy. It came across as a little preachy by the end, and it was hard for me to really care what Alan did or how his decisions impacted others when they started out so rich that it didn't really matter. I think it is challenging to make profound statements against consumer culture or "opting out" of the real world when the characters are already so stunningly wealthy that these decisions have little real effect on them. No one misses paying a bill, private school tuition is still covered, and lobster dinners are still eaten... what exactly did Alan opt out of? Then we have the leap into magical realism, and I was left somewhat confused by the end.
I can't exactly put my finger on it, but this book reminded me quite a bit of the film I Heart Huckabees—both deal with characters having existential crises and examining their own personal philosophies. If you enjoy explorations of the absurd, suburban drama/comedy, and rich-people shenanigans, I think this would be a good pick. It is a fast read and definitely a good escape from reality. 3.5 stars
I was excited to request this ARC because I enjoy a good sendup of suburban living and consumer culture. There is some excellent dark satire here, but I wasn't expecting so much magical realism.
The titular Alan is a well-to-do advertising executive living in an uber-elite enclave in suburban Connecticut. Alan's wife, Vivian, has spent her lifetime reinventing herself and curating the perfect life and family so that she can finally gain entrance to the upper echelons of society. She especially yearns to become a member of the exclusive Queen Anne's, an invitation-only women's group that focuses on maintaining traditions of keeping the perfect home. Alan and Vivian have two daughters who struggle to find their own place in the private schools their mother has chosen for them. In fact, Vivian insists on micromanaging every aspect of their lives in an effort to elevate her own status.
When Alan loses a huge account, he experiences a humiliation that leaves him uncertain of his purpose. He soon begins to check out of life completely, giving up bathing, taking up residence in the children's playhouse, and befriending a rescue lobster. Alan suddenly turns on the world of capitalist greed that used to sustain him and his family and decides that the path to true bliss is "less is more." Vivian is gobsmacked by this sudden turn of events and is concerned that Alan's new lease on life might mean the end of her financial security and her dream of becoming a Queen Anne.
This was an entertaining read with plenty of humor and satire. Most of the characters are unlikeable, but I think that is to be expected, especially among the spoiled, coddled wealthy. It came across as a little preachy by the end, and it was hard for me to really care what Alan did or how his decisions impacted others when they started out so rich that it didn't really matter. I think it is challenging to make profound statements against consumer culture or "opting out" of the real world when the characters are already so stunningly wealthy that these decisions have little real effect on them. No one misses paying a bill, private school tuition is still covered, and lobster dinners are still eaten... what exactly did Alan opt out of? Then we have the leap into magical realism, and I was left somewhat confused by the end.
I can't exactly put my finger on it, but this book reminded me quite a bit of the film I Heart Huckabees—both deal with characters having existential crises and examining their own personal philosophies. If you enjoy explorations of the absurd, suburban drama/comedy, and rich-people shenanigans, I think this would be a good pick. It is a fast read and definitely a good escape from reality. 3.5 stars
June 4, 2026
We spend a lot of time talking about the person who burns out.
The one who quits. Opts out. Walks away from the career, the marriage, the city, the ambition. The person who decides the whole thing isn’t worth it anymore.
Maybe that’s because their story is easier to tell. It’s dramatic. It has a clear before and after.
I’ve worked in education for nearly thirty years, and burnout is real. People leave every year. Entire online communities have sprung up around the fantasy of opting out and starting over. Even Substack can sometimes feel like a gathering place for people who have stepped away from one life in search of another.
What we talk about less is the person standing next to them.
The spouse who still has to pay the mortgage. The colleague who absorbs the work. The friend who remains committed to a life someone else has rejected.
That’s why Vivian stayed with me long after I finished Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum.
Alan’s decision to leave is the novel’s premise, but Vivian’s response gives the story its weight. While Alan searches for escape, Vivian is left to reckon with a more complicated question: What do you do when someone close to you abandons a future you were building together?
She’s sharp, observant, and grounded in realities that Alan can afford to ignore. Her pursuit of security isn’t simply practical; it’s shaped by her history. There is a wonderful irony in the fact that, as a young woman, she turned to women’s magazines to learn what a successful life looked like, only to grow up and marry an advertising executive. Alan is someone whose job is helping sell those aspirations back to the rest of us.
What begins as satire gradually becomes something more thoughtful. The novel is interested not only in burnout and reinvention, but in the unequal burdens those choices create. For every person who opts out, someone else is left deciding how to move forward.
Funny, timely, and unexpectedly perceptive, Alan Opts Out is a wonderful story to put on your summer reading list.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Co for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The one who quits. Opts out. Walks away from the career, the marriage, the city, the ambition. The person who decides the whole thing isn’t worth it anymore.
Maybe that’s because their story is easier to tell. It’s dramatic. It has a clear before and after.
I’ve worked in education for nearly thirty years, and burnout is real. People leave every year. Entire online communities have sprung up around the fantasy of opting out and starting over. Even Substack can sometimes feel like a gathering place for people who have stepped away from one life in search of another.
What we talk about less is the person standing next to them.
The spouse who still has to pay the mortgage. The colleague who absorbs the work. The friend who remains committed to a life someone else has rejected.
That’s why Vivian stayed with me long after I finished Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum.
Alan’s decision to leave is the novel’s premise, but Vivian’s response gives the story its weight. While Alan searches for escape, Vivian is left to reckon with a more complicated question: What do you do when someone close to you abandons a future you were building together?
She’s sharp, observant, and grounded in realities that Alan can afford to ignore. Her pursuit of security isn’t simply practical; it’s shaped by her history. There is a wonderful irony in the fact that, as a young woman, she turned to women’s magazines to learn what a successful life looked like, only to grow up and marry an advertising executive. Alan is someone whose job is helping sell those aspirations back to the rest of us.
What begins as satire gradually becomes something more thoughtful. The novel is interested not only in burnout and reinvention, but in the unequal burdens those choices create. For every person who opts out, someone else is left deciding how to move forward.
Funny, timely, and unexpectedly perceptive, Alan Opts Out is a wonderful story to put on your summer reading list.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Co for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Alan is a big time ad executive. He has built a picturesque life in a gated community in Connecticut.
Alan takes a chance by recruiting a working class farmer as a prop for the biggest pitch of his career, and as you may have guessed, it backfires spectacularly. Alan does not get the account! He has offended the powers that be! And worst of all, he is starting to question the state of advertising and capitalism all together. Alan is bereft! Alan is unmoored.
Luckily, Alan has both cushion and options. He retreats to the $30,000 play structure in his back yard and opts the hell out of life as he knows it. He adopts a pet lobster that he had planned to eat, bathes only in the ocean, connects with his children once he actually starts paying attention to them, and stops wearing shoes. He is selfish but he's also right. His wife. Vivian, wants—I cannot stress this enough—nothing more than a pool. She is a working class girl and she has finally made it! Does Vivian deserve a pool? As much as I am an anti-capitalist myself, I'd still like to see her have it.
This is a rich story about rich people! I don’t typically read about rich people without ten thousand eye rolls a second but I love Courtney Maum and I trust her vision. This book made me laugh! The characters were nothing like the people in my life but I found them relatable in small ways and I was generally sympathetic to them, even when they were being vapid (I'm lookin' at you, Vivian!). I think it is an incredible feat for a writer to make characters that are on paper unlikable but multi faceted enough to still find reader sympathy. This is a fun book and I'd say a perfect beach read. It didn't teach me anything I didn't already know but I think in the wider scheme of things, it will reach an audience that needs the message.
Alan takes a chance by recruiting a working class farmer as a prop for the biggest pitch of his career, and as you may have guessed, it backfires spectacularly. Alan does not get the account! He has offended the powers that be! And worst of all, he is starting to question the state of advertising and capitalism all together. Alan is bereft! Alan is unmoored.
Luckily, Alan has both cushion and options. He retreats to the $30,000 play structure in his back yard and opts the hell out of life as he knows it. He adopts a pet lobster that he had planned to eat, bathes only in the ocean, connects with his children once he actually starts paying attention to them, and stops wearing shoes. He is selfish but he's also right. His wife. Vivian, wants—I cannot stress this enough—nothing more than a pool. She is a working class girl and she has finally made it! Does Vivian deserve a pool? As much as I am an anti-capitalist myself, I'd still like to see her have it.
This is a rich story about rich people! I don’t typically read about rich people without ten thousand eye rolls a second but I love Courtney Maum and I trust her vision. This book made me laugh! The characters were nothing like the people in my life but I found them relatable in small ways and I was generally sympathetic to them, even when they were being vapid (I'm lookin' at you, Vivian!). I think it is an incredible feat for a writer to make characters that are on paper unlikable but multi faceted enough to still find reader sympathy. This is a fun book and I'd say a perfect beach read. It didn't teach me anything I didn't already know but I think in the wider scheme of things, it will reach an audience that needs the message.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2026
"The story of an ad exec who bombs the biggest pitch of his career and decides to forgo capitalism and live off the land of his suburban Connecticut home--a timely and comedic take on ambition, consumerism, and the sticker price of happiness from an author known for her stealth, comedic satires of the industrial happiness complex.
Alan Anderson is a powerful advertising executive who has built a successful life and thriving business by making people buy stuff they don’t actually need. He’s up for the biggest pitch of his career and the account everyone wants, US cow’s milk sales are plummeting, and the C-Suite wants to see trendy oat milk kicked to the curb. But when an anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation, Alan bombs the pitch but ends the day with an epiphany. No longer will he exploit the insecurities of others in the service of capitalism. Alan is opting out.
This development is anathema to his wife, Vivian. She’s just a few positive affirmations, a swimming pool, and an exacting series of social tests away from finally becoming part of the elite women’s club, the Queen Annes, in their adopted town of Greenwich, Connecticut. As if contending with a daughter who wants to write plays (!) and another who has an unnatural empathy with animals isn’t enough to manage, she can only watch as Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land and—worse—spend time with the family. But instead of shocking the neighbors, Alan’s commitment to a less-is-more lifestyle seems to be catching on. Could everyone want what Alan’s not selling?"
More of a fantasy than an actual modern-day novel. The plot is weak, and I failed to find the humor that I had hoped for. The changes which occur to the major characters were non-sensical. Clearly, I did not appreciate the themes.
Alan Anderson is a powerful advertising executive who has built a successful life and thriving business by making people buy stuff they don’t actually need. He’s up for the biggest pitch of his career and the account everyone wants, US cow’s milk sales are plummeting, and the C-Suite wants to see trendy oat milk kicked to the curb. But when an anarchist farmer tanks Alan’s presentation, Alan bombs the pitch but ends the day with an epiphany. No longer will he exploit the insecurities of others in the service of capitalism. Alan is opting out.
This development is anathema to his wife, Vivian. She’s just a few positive affirmations, a swimming pool, and an exacting series of social tests away from finally becoming part of the elite women’s club, the Queen Annes, in their adopted town of Greenwich, Connecticut. As if contending with a daughter who wants to write plays (!) and another who has an unnatural empathy with animals isn’t enough to manage, she can only watch as Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land and—worse—spend time with the family. But instead of shocking the neighbors, Alan’s commitment to a less-is-more lifestyle seems to be catching on. Could everyone want what Alan’s not selling?"
More of a fantasy than an actual modern-day novel. The plot is weak, and I failed to find the humor that I had hoped for. The changes which occur to the major characters were non-sensical. Clearly, I did not appreciate the themes.
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