The Moral Offset: A Novel

by Julius Taranto

Audiobook

Published September 12, 2023

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

How I Won a Nobel Prize is a satirical look at the separation of the worker and the work -- how to handle great things done by not so great people. Although it is firmly rooted in academia and scientific research, the parallels are definitely there to more visible cancel culture elements in musicians, actors, politicians, businesspeople, etc.

Helen, a researcher working on superconducting materials, follows her disgraced mentor to an island enclave full of academics exiled from the mainstream for various sins great and small -- many caught by cultural changes that rendered what was acceptable or at least tolerated by previous generations (sexual relationships with students and use of racially-charged language, for example) now seen as unforgivable.

These folks live and work in a phallus-shaped skyscraper termed the "Endowment" with wonderful double entendre -- for an extremely wealthy patron. They are ostensibly free to focus on their work without the noise of cultural mores, but of course set up their own systems within their microcosm.

All the while, Helen's relationship with her husband strains as he also has to live in this bizarro world; and he becomes involved with radical groups bent on exposing the island (and it's Endowment!).

This is a great look at our social constructs while also being very entertaining.

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't finish this fast enough when I got the audiobook from NetGalley so it took me longer to read it. This book is SMART, and it takes longer to read something with this many ideas.
Some reviewers complained about how hard the physics was but that wasn't really the point. The main character, Helen, lives in a world of ideas instead of regular social relationships. She moves to a school where she can carry out her research under a brilliant scientist. This school, instead of supporting stereotypical liberal causes, welcomes the people who violate all those codes, including some Nazis. It turns out that some people aren't even honest about how bad they are because they want to take advantage of the resources in this unusual environment.
It might come off differently if it wasn't obviously satire. But written as is, this book is hilarious. I will probably read it again because it had SO MANY ideas, and I know I missed many of the jokes. I hope this writer does more.

[Alanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally enjoyed this book which is a satirical look at the general left-wing leaning educational institutions in North America. The book was humorous and I found it to be clever in its execution, as long as you don't get too bogged down with the physics talk. I did find the book dragged a little in the middle and might have been able to be a little shorter if some of that were to be condensed or shortened. I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook and found the narrator to be easy to listen to and engaging.

I received an advanced copy of the audiobook from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one took me a while to finish. It was a reasonably fine story, but did not grip me in the ways that I had hoped based on the description. The plot itself was fine, but many chapters did not go very far in terms of story progression, and there was quite a bit of physics jargon that did not help to elevate the setting. The protagonist often suffers from "female character written by a man" syndrome, and I felt myself disconnected from her thoughts and actions quite often. Despite these pitfalls, I will say it's a unique premise with a timely and relevant story to tell.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Kait · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected at all. Some humor, lots of feminism (yay!), but the direction it took was heavy and interesting. I still think about the ending to this day. I found myself asking “what?!” numerous times throughout this novel. The narrator was amazing, but I had to reread it twice to make sure I understood where all the story went and why. Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!