The Body Politic
A Novel
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
In the bestselling tradition of The Interestings and A Little Life, this “cleverly constructed and emotionally compelling” (Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation) novel follows four longtime friends as they navigate love, commitment, and forgiveness while the world around them changes beyond recognition—from the author of the “savvy, heartfelt, and utterly engaging” (Alice McDermott) Bed-Stuy Is Burning.
New York City is still regaining its balance in the years following September 11, when four twenty-somethings—Tess, Tazio, David, and Angelica—meet in a bar, each yearning for something: connection, recognition, a place in the world, a cause to believe in. Nearly fifteen years later, as their city recalibrates in the wake of the 2016 election, their bond has endured—but almost everything else has changed.
As freshmen at Cooper Union, Tess and Tazio were the ambitious, talented future of the art world—but by thirty-six, Tess is married to David, the mother of two young boys, and working as an understudy on Broadway. Kind and steady, David is everything Tess lacked in her own childhood—but a recent freak accident has left him with befuddling symptoms, and she’s still adjusting to her new role as caretaker.
Meanwhile, Tazio—who once had a knack for earning the kind of attention that Cooper Union students long for—has left the art world for a career in creative branding and politics. But in December 2016, fresh off the astonishing loss of his candidate, Tazio is adrift, and not even his gorgeous and accomplished fiancée, Angelica, seems able to get through to him. With tensions rising on the national stage, the four friends are forced to face the reality of their shared histories, especially a long-ago betrayal that has shaped every aspect of their friendship.
Elegant and perceptive, “The Body Politic is a book about many things—what it means to be unwell, what it means to heal, how deep and strange friendships can be, and how hidden things never stay hidden for long” (Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Platzer's uneven second novel (after Bed-Stuy Is Burning) traces the fates of four New Yorkers in the aftermath of President Trump's election. Tess and David, a married couple, are reeling from revelations of Tess's infidelity, the struggles of raising two adolescent boys, and the effects of an accident that left David with debilitating mental and physical symptoms. Their mutual best friend, Tazio, and his girlfriend, Angelica, step in to help Tess and David, but Tazio and Angelica are grappling with their own problems. Tazio is distraught after having worked for Hilary Clinton's unsuccessful campaign; Angelica, meanwhile, wants more of a romantic commitment than Tazio seems ready to give. The close proximity brings memories (both good and harmful) of Tess and Tazio's time together as art students. Readers are told these four love one another, but as past betrayals come to light and new ones are revealed, it becomes difficult to believe the strength of their bond. Platzer's prose, however, can be moving, particularly in the depictions of David's medical condition. But ultimately, this character-driven drama is hobbled by unbelievable and inconsistent characters.
