Weather
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3.9 • 14 Ratings
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG FICTION READERS AWARD
An obligatory note of hope, in a world going to hell
Lizzie Benson, a part-time librarian, is already overwhelmed with the crises of daily life when an old mentor offers her a job answering mail from the listeners of her apocalyptic podcast, Hell and High Water. Soon questions begin pouring in from left-wingers worried about climate change and right-wingers worried about the decline of Western civilization. Entering this polarized world, Lizzie is forced to consider who she is and what she can do to help: as a mother, as a wife, as a sister, and as a citizen of this doomed planet.
"This is so good. We are not ready nor worthy" - Ocean Vuong
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A librarian becomes increasingly obsessed with doomsday preparations in Offill's excellently sardonic third novel (following Dept. of Speculation). Lizzie, a university librarian working in Brooklyn, already feels overwhelmed with guiding her son, Eli, through New York City's crowded elementary school system without the extra strain of dealing with her addict brother's constant crises. Mostly happily married to a computer game designer, Lizzie introduces anxiety into her marriage when she takes a second job answering emails for a former mentor who is now the host of a popular podcast about futurism. Fielding questions from both apocalypse truthers and preppers for the coming climate-induced "scarcity," Lizzies becomes convinced that doomsday is approaching. Her scattered, frenzied voice is studded with arresting flourishes, as when she describes releasing a fly: "Quiet in the cup. Hard to believe that isn't joy, the way it flies away when I fling it out the window." Set against the backdrop of Lizzie's trips to meditation classes, debates with a taxi driver, the 2016 presidential election, and constant attempts to avoid a haughty parent at Eli's school, Lizzie's apocalyptic worries are bittersweet, but also always wry and wise. Offill offers an acerbic observer with a wide-ranging mind in this marvelous novel.
Customer Reviews
Excellent weather
Author
American novelist, children's writer, and editor. Her career path was laid out from an early age considering both her parents were English teachers at private schools in Massachusetts. Her first novel Last Things (1999) recieved critical acclaim, but it took her 15 years to produce the second, Dept. of Speculation. That was named one of "The 10 Best Books of 2014" by the NY Times, and by me. She teaches in the MFA programs at Brooklyn College, Columbia University and Queens University.
Premise
Weather (noun): the state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time.
Weather (transitive verb): to come safely through a difficult period or experience
Plot
Plot threads rather than plot. Lizzie works in the library. Lizzie as mother and wife. Lizzie as support person for substance abusing brother. Lizzie as PA to old mentor turned self help guru. Lizzie reflects on the neighbourhood (Flatbush) as new waves of immigrants descend on it. Lizzie meets attractive stranger, and so on. It's about being busy, thinking you are still young but starting to realise you're getting older, existential anxiety, climate anxiety, and more. This is Ms Offill's shtick. If you've read Dept of Speculation, you'll recognise it immediately. There's an 'end of times' vibe lingering in the background that's exacerbated by a certain presidential election result, which is only ever alluded to, never discussed specifically.
Characters
Lizzie the protagonist holds centre stage. Supporting cast includes husband Ben, a Jewish philosopher turned educational software designer (he needs to be philosophical when dealing with his missus), personality disordered brother Henry (Lizzie isn't just over-invested in him, she's enmeshed), son Eli, sundry other relatives, friends, and neighbours.
Narrative
Third person with frequent chopping and changing told from Lizzie's POV.
Prose
Spare doesn't come close. An unconventional style executed to perfection. A funny (laugh-out-loud at times), witty, sardonic flight of ideas, which mimics how most if not all of us think, even though we don't think about the same things as Lizzie.
Bottom line
If Ms Offill cranked out one of these out each year, I might tire of it, but I was hungry for more after Dept of Speculation, and I feel the same way now.