2020 Booker Prize Longlist: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

This thread is for discussion of Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid; no unhidden spoilers, please.

An easy read, almost chicklit, but without the fluffiness because racism is everywhere in this book, with a lot of different truths about it. It’s hard to take sides and it made me wonder how I’d behave in the circumstances. So in the end the plot is just a tool to make you think about racial issues and character development in millennial times. Clever.

>2 Simone2: I felt the same way about this book -- I was expecting a fluffy story and was surprised how much it made me think.

Yeah, I'm pretty surprised this made the Booker long list. It's fine...but it's merely fine. This novel touches on a number of important racial topics and I wonder if it's purposely marketed as chick lit: it's strategic, right, to get a certain swathe of white lady book clubs that never talk about race to actually think about race for a minute. But for the Booker, I don't know, it feels like it isn't quite enough. It pales in comparison to Real Life which I also just read.

The book's plot also hinges on a pretty serious coincidence that I found hard to accept in a city as large as Philadelphia...so I had some suspension of disbelief problems.

*Edit to fix typo

>4 sparemethecensor: The book's plot also hinges on a pretty serious coincidence

Would you mind sharing more specifics about this, behind a spoiler tag? I've read the book but need my memory refreshed.

>6 sparemethecensor: Thanks for that. I agree some of the points you made add up to a lot of coincidences.

I live in Philadelphia, so I often found myself trying to spot actual "Philly things" in the book. For example, the grocery store reminded me of a certain Whole Foods that attracts customers from a wider radius than just the immediate neighborhood.

I didn't think it was all that unusual for two people from Allentown to end up living in Philly, or for them to be in the same Whole Foods. But I agree the Thanksgiving meetup was contrived.

>7 lauralkeet: Good to know about Allentown and Philadelphia (and that Whole Foods)! I defer to your experience here.

>8 sparemethecensor: LOL. I see you're in NYC. I've also talked to folks from Allentown-ish who considered The City their go-to place. I guess it just depends on how much "big city" you're looking for.