McGhee first hit my radar with this piece in the Guardian on class and debt. The PR machine for this book zeroed in on me and for a few weeks it seemed like McGhee was everywhere on the internet. I was worried that this would be another debut by an MFA that didn’t live up to the promise.

Happy to report I was wrong. Believe the hype.

It seems like it will hit different depending on your age. Younger me might have hated it, but present me loved it. I could imagine the this being polarizing in the same way a Nathan Fielder show or A Confederacy of Dunces is.

It’s funny and sad, and full of anger at our capitalist system. I didn’t always know what was going on, and that’s by design. McGhee does such an excellent job of putting us in Abernathy’s head that I’m sure some will find it infuriating. Parts of this story are excruciating in their awkwardness. His naivete was as relatable and nearly unbearable, and sometimes the book was painful in its familiarity.

The writing is terrific. It’s funny and engaging at first, and reminded me of Vonnegut or Saunders writing a John Scalzi novel. But it changes with the tone of the book, getting more cynical, sinister and disorienting to match Abernathy’s circumstances.

It’s another book I can’t wait to re-read. I can’t wait to see what the author does next.