Lucinda, Denise, Bedwin and Matthew have a band that's on the cusp of making it big. The four have been friends for years and Lucinda and Matthew have been lovers on and off. They are off at the moment with Lucinda having just broken up with him again. To free themselves up for the band, all work part time or dead end jobs that are just enough to keep them going.
Lucinda's latest job is to answer phones in an art galley for an exhibit about complaining. The complaint number has been widely advertised and Lucinda and others take complaint calls from anyone complaining about anything, making notes about type of complaint, time of day, frequency, etc. Lucinda starts to get a caller who calls every day and entrances her with his philosophical complaints. When she meets him in person, Carl is as intriguing as he was on the phone.
Lucinda and Carl start an affair but there's a problem. The more Lucinda is around Carl, the more phases of his start to creep into the band's songs. Once Carl finds that out, he wants to join the band and it's hard to say no. What will happen?
Jonathan Lethem has captured the essence of Gen Z; fresh out of college, still looking for their identity, in and out of relationships and jobs and everything else that ties them down. His portraits of the characters, especially Lucinda, will stay with the reader for quite some time as will his portrayal of the intimacy between various characters. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.
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