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A review by felixsanchez
Who Is Rich? by Matthew Klam
1.0
I couldn't even get past page 50. I usually don't rate books unless I've read about 50%, but you'll see why I feel so strongly about this.
Firstly, there were transphobic comments on page five. "Nick, the trans kid, said his father had thrown him out of the house and that he - or she - lived in her car.”. Come on, Matthew Klam, if you really think you can get away with misgendering and transphobic comments in literature these days, you're living in the past. This is capital-F fucked up. I considered stopping there, but I persevered with bated breath.
The humour was subpar, try-hard and quite frankly, the typical middle-aged guy trying desperately to be funny - i.e. “Solito was young enough to be my son, if I’d had a son at fourteen.” (pg.10). Was that supposed to be funny? Why was that an included detail? It's such a daft piece of information that I just sat there, rolled my eyes and thought for a solid minute, why, Matthew Klam, why?.
I only just got into Rich's (unhealthy) relationship with married life, but this gem came out fairly early: "Bad sex was better than nothing, and Beanie [their son] effectively ended the badness. Fuckless weeks..." (pg.20). So not only are we transphobic, we're also sex-obsessed, self-centred and not at all considerate of women or children's needs? This made me sigh and just wish I got my $30 back (how did I waste that much money on such a piece of garbage?)
There was vague racism up until this point, in describing Indian or non-descript 'Asian' characters (which abided by cultural stereotypes, i.e. Asians being nerds), but the real kicker was "Obama as a jug-eared mullah." (pg.35). So, alongside the transphobia and misogyny, we're also racist. Congrats, Matthew Klam, you got the unholy trinity.
That just highlighted how much of an overgrown schoolboy Rich is. He is an unlikeable character - which isn't necessarily bad - but had no redeeming qualities, or, in any stretch of the imagination, interesting. It's a typical example of an egotistical man who got a glimpse of fame and glory, but was always too far from his grasp. He whinges about how good he's got it, and how privileged he is, and it never comes off as a commentary on society. It comes of self-interested, boring and irritating.
So, this is a complete flop, and is definitely not directed at younger audiences. It's for middle-aged men who lament about their unstable position in today's world, and the non-event that was their lives.
Firstly, there were transphobic comments on page five. "Nick, the trans kid, said his father had thrown him out of the house and that he - or she - lived in her car.”. Come on, Matthew Klam, if you really think you can get away with misgendering and transphobic comments in literature these days, you're living in the past. This is capital-F fucked up. I considered stopping there, but I persevered with bated breath.
The humour was subpar, try-hard and quite frankly, the typical middle-aged guy trying desperately to be funny - i.e. “Solito was young enough to be my son, if I’d had a son at fourteen.” (pg.10). Was that supposed to be funny? Why was that an included detail? It's such a daft piece of information that I just sat there, rolled my eyes and thought for a solid minute, why, Matthew Klam, why?.
I only just got into Rich's (unhealthy) relationship with married life, but this gem came out fairly early: "Bad sex was better than nothing, and Beanie [their son] effectively ended the badness. Fuckless weeks..." (pg.20). So not only are we transphobic, we're also sex-obsessed, self-centred and not at all considerate of women or children's needs? This made me sigh and just wish I got my $30 back (how did I waste that much money on such a piece of garbage?)
There was vague racism up until this point, in describing Indian or non-descript 'Asian' characters (which abided by cultural stereotypes, i.e. Asians being nerds), but the real kicker was "Obama as a jug-eared mullah." (pg.35). So, alongside the transphobia and misogyny, we're also racist. Congrats, Matthew Klam, you got the unholy trinity.
That just highlighted how much of an overgrown schoolboy Rich is. He is an unlikeable character - which isn't necessarily bad - but had no redeeming qualities, or, in any stretch of the imagination, interesting. It's a typical example of an egotistical man who got a glimpse of fame and glory, but was always too far from his grasp. He whinges about how good he's got it, and how privileged he is, and it never comes off as a commentary on society. It comes of self-interested, boring and irritating.
So, this is a complete flop, and is definitely not directed at younger audiences. It's for middle-aged men who lament about their unstable position in today's world, and the non-event that was their lives.