Challenge Corner discussion

A big and big-hearted novel—one enthralling, transformative year in the life of a child actor coming of age in a bygone Manhattan, from the critically acclaimed author of Mr. Peanut (“A brilliant, powerful, and memorable book” —The New York Times)

“In the fall of 1980, when I was fourteen, a friend of my parents named Naomi Shah fell in love with me. She was thirty-six, a mother of two, and married to a wealthy man. Like so many things that happened to me that year, it didn’t seem strange at the time.”

Griffin Hurt is in over his head. Between his role as Peter Proton on the hit TV show The Nuclear Family and the pressure of high school at New York's elite Boyd Prep—along with the increasingly compromising demands of his wrestling coach—he's teetering on the edge of collapse.

Then comes Naomi Shah, twenty-two years Griffin’s senior. Unwilling to lay his burdens on his shrink—whom he shares with his father, mother, and younger brother, Oren—Griffin soon finds himself in the back of Naomi’s Mercedes sedan, again and again, confessing all to the one person who might do him the most harm.

Less a bildungsroman than a story of miseducation, Playworld is a novel of epic proportions, bursting with laughter and heartache. Adam Ross immerses us in the life of Griffin and his loving (yet disintegrating) family while seeming to evoke the entirety of Manhattan and the ethos of an era—with Jimmy Carter on his way out and a B-list celebrity named Ronald Reagan on his way in. Surrounded by adults who embody the age’s excesses—and who seem to care little about what their children are up to—Griffin is left to himself to find the line between youth and maturity, dependence and love, acting and truly grappling with life.

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RESTARTING JUNE 1ST, 2025


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RESTARTING SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2025


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okay, shuffle shuffle. lol
I hope to start in the first part of October.

Through Agony of Defeat (stopped at Double Fantasy) / 122 pages / 24%

great gods this one is boring lol
(view spoiler)[ I'm finding all the sexual stuff of a teenager just really gross
and I'm definitely finding both his childhood and day to day school activities equally boring. I'm not sure what all I should be getting from it except
He didn't want to act but his dad wanted him to
his wrestling coach guy is just absolutely disgusting - why is everyone aiming to abuse this kid
and that he really wants to wrestle and be good at it. . .

I think this is the second book where adult men are recounting their teenage days of weird sexual stuff. . .and I'm just not sure why men think we care. . . (hide spoiler)]

Oh no!!! And it's SO long! Let me know if it changes from boring to totally doable!

it's weird too!! another teenage kid bragging about sexual exploits even though they are actually child abuse. it's really terrible to read. . . . and really similar to one we both didn't like from earlier this year. . .

Oh no! I'm still going to read it since I paid for the book. I hate it when we totally dislike a book we're reading. Do you ever DNF a book?

it's pretty rare that I DNF, just because most of mine are either - arcs, so I'm going to finish it or BOTM/Aardvark and I've bought them so I want to finish it

but this one took my whole day yesterday - I both listened and read it and it was just. . .no fun. . .

Do you DNF?

I'm so sorry to hear that! I think I'll take my sweet time with it unless I feel differently. Or maybe that would be more torturous. lol IDK I guess we'll see.

Through The Agony of Defeat

The Prologue(view spoiler)[ Holy moly! Did I read that right? Jeez, a 36 year old and 14 year old? Disgusting! Even Griffin realizes that's totally inappropriate.

He seems to be trying to balance his life as a child actor, wrestling practice AND being a student. He's in a hard spot because his acting is really essential to his father and Griffin's school tuition. Typical boy (even men) lies about his "sexual conquest" trying to impress her. And she listens! Yeah, I would not be okay with that!

Obviously there's a danger to a child/adult relationship of their nature. And, as you said, who the heck wants to read about a 14 year old boy's sexual experiences! UGH (hide spoiler)]

Through Charles and Diana

(view spoiler)[I think Griffin's character is so sketch up to this point. He seems to see and sense far more than the adults assume he does. He's very aware of mood shifts, especially between his parents. Griffin is pretty good at actually interpreting events he witnesses.

I think the pacing is very slow but I think it's deliberate because of Griffin's inner processing so to speak. But it's DRAGGING.

I think one reason I'm not into this book too much is because it doesn't seem plot nor character driven to me. It's more reflective and literary. There doesn't seem to be big dramatic turns or twists of the nature I enjoy. While the world around Griffin looks glittery and stable, he's also really beginning to understand how messy, confusing, and fragile adulthood is. We all are SO anxious to get there whenn we're young! lol (hide spoiler)]

yay! it sounds like you are at least kind of liking ut more than me!

Not much more! 😂