Rejection
Tony Tulathimutte"Rejection is unrelentingly brutal and gut-bustingly funny and spares no one—not you, not me. Tulathimutte is a pervert & a madman & a stone-cold genius." —Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties
From the Whiting & O. Henry–winning author of Private Citizens (“the first great millennial novel,” New York Magazine), an electrifying novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives & relationships into chaos. Sharply observant & outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the touchiest problems of modern life. The seven connected stories seamlessly transition between the personal crises of a complex ensemble & the comic tragedies of sex, relationships, identity, & the internet.
In “The Feminist,” a young man’s passionate allyship turns to furious nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that it isn’t getting him laid. A young woman’s unrequited crush in “Pics” spirals into borderline obsession & the systematic destruction of her sense of self. And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,” a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship leads to a life-upending mistake.
As the characters pop up in each other’s dating apps & social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars & bedrooms, they reveal the ways our delusions can warp our desire for connection. These brilliant satires explore the underrated sorrows of rejection with the authority of a modern classic & the manic intensity of a manifesto. Audacious & unforgettable, Rejection is a stunning mosaic that redefines what it means to be rejected by lovers, friends, society, & oneself.