Jillian
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- 3,99 €
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- 3,99 €
Publisher Description
From the author of the 'great' (Dolly Alderton), 'terrific' (Zadie Smith) The New Me, comes a subversive, hilarious portrait of two colleagues, each more like the other than they would care to admit.
'Wretchedly riveting' Jia Tolentino, New Yorker
'Butler is an essential contemporary voice' Literary Hub
'A master of writing about work and its discontents' The Millions
Megan is only twenty-four but her life feels like a dead end. Working as a gastroenterologist's receptionist and resenting the success and happiness of her friends, the only thing that makes her feel better is obsessively critiquing the behaviour of her colleague, Jillian. A grotesquely optimistic thirty-five-year-old single mother, Jillian's chirpy positivity obscures her mounting struggles - until her downfall is precipitated by the purchase of a dog . . .
'Outrageous and amusing ... reads like rubbernecking or a junk-food binge, compelling a horrified fascination and bleak laughter' Kirkus
'The funniest book I've read in a long time, but also one of the most important ones' The Rumpus
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eternal optimist Jillian, 35, works in a gastroenterologist's office in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Chicago. New coworker Megan, 24, arrives in a state of permanent resentment: at having to work in such a stupid job, at Jillian and her much larger desk and chipper attitude. The duo's total lack of self-awareness makes them the perfect yin and yang for Butler's sly comedy of modern manners. When Jillian dreams of getting a cute dog, Megan is quick to cite the high cost of vet bills. Megan suffers from a handful of minor, but unpleasant, maladies and alienates her friends; Jillian blithely follows her own misguided bliss, leading her to neglect Adam, her young son. Heedless of outside advice, both women follow the paths they have chosen. As both women fray, this poison pill of a novel moves to its arch conclusion. Butler's aim is perfect, and her touch deft.
