The Odyssey
A Novel
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2.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by The Millions • A Best Book to Read in April by Town & Country and The AV Club • One of 2022’s Best Beach Reads by Southern Living
From the prize-winning author of Supper Club—a debut novel that Vogue called “Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter meets Donna Tartt's The Secret History"—comes The Odyssey, a fresh twist on the epic journey and an unapologetic takedown of capitalism and "lifestyle" that will appeal to fans of Melissa Broder and Ottessa Moshfegh (Molly Young, New York Times)
Ingrid works on a gargantuan luxury cruise liner where she spends her days reorganizing the gift-shop shelves and waiting for long-term guests to drop dead in the aisles. That is, until the day she is selected by the ship’s enigmatic captain and self-appointed lifestyle guru, Keith, for his mentorship program.
Encouraging her to reflect on past mistakes, Keith pushes Ingrid further than she ever thought possible. But it isn’t long before Ingrid’s unwavering devotion forces her to reckon with the dark underbelly of life on the sea, and the surrealist absurdity of work itself.
“A serious vibe . . . a slyly poignant satire.” —Cosmopolitan
“Tantalizing.” —Booklist
“Deliciously unpredictable.” —Mateo Askaripour, author of Black Buck
“Startlingly unique and beautifully written.” —Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face
“Deeply unsettling and unexpectedly moving.” —Lydia Kiesling, author of Mobility
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A young British woman employed on a surreal cruise ship is at the center of Williams's stylish if cold latest (after Supper Club). The protagonist, Ingrid, is devoted to her work aboard the WA, a gargantuan vessel with a "surf simulator, ice-skating rink, outdoor zip line," and floating restaurant, helmed by the mysterious Keith, a guru-like figure preoccupied by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi. Ingrid shuffles through many onboard jobs, from working in a gift shop to the ship's nail salon, and, in the book's final third, to lifeguarding (ironic, since she can't swim). Early on she is inducted into a shadowy inner circle called "the program" in which she meets periodically with Keith to discuss wabi-sabi and recall traumatic memories from her past. Soon, she is promoted to a managerial role, a development that alienates her two closest friends. The prose is generally excellent and occasionally razor-sharp (describing Ingrid's pre-WA void, "The getting never really felt as good as the wanting, but the not-getting felt fucking catastrophic"); unfortunately, the plot is meagre and overly self-conscious. Ingrid belongs to a particular breed of disaffected, Moshfeghian narrator, but here there's more affect than substance. In the end, this feels eccentric for eccentricity's sake.
