This series of interconnected short stories is possibly one of the most effective and brilliant satires I have read recently. Rejection is both the theme and the object of obsession for each character. Tulathimutte's incredible grasp of hyper-specific neurotic behaviors allows him to portray the most unsympathetic people in the most nuanced of ways. Let me give you a snapshot of some of the characters that populate Rejection. First, we have a white Nice Guy™️ who is a proud Feminist but also furious that no woman will sleep with him. Second, we have a selfish, entitled white woman who gives too much significance to a one-night stand to the point where she becomes quite unhinged. Third, we have a deeply introverted gay Thai-American man whose very niche fetishes keep him from being able to connect in real life. Fourth, we have a hyper-positive white entrepreneur dudebro who is constantly optimizing his life. Fifth is a nonbinary Thai-American prolific Internet troll who gives us their entire backstory... Or do they? And sixth we have Tony Tulathimutte himself in a very meta passage where he imagines this book being rejected by publishers.

If you like cultural criticism and satirical fiction, then you absolutely must read this book.

Thank you very much to @netgalley & @williammorrowbooks for the advanced reader copy of Rejection in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.