Book Review: "Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind" by Molly McGhee

Often I will skip over looking at the comedy section of the bookstore, I am not one for a laugh while I am reading and very rarely are authors actually funny in any way. (Let's also therefore, skip over how difficult it is to make me laugh - it's like getting blood from a stone). The book Jonathan Abernathy, You Are Kind was advertised to me as a dark comedy that was, according to the reviews (and I paraphrase) as if 'George Saunders had infiltrated the Severance writing room'. I was initially interested because I am one of those poor souls who became obsessed to the point of no return with the TV show Severance, and thus anything with any reference to it whatsoever gets a express-pass to the top of the 'to be read' list. So, here it goes - let's see what I really thought of this book.

The book begins with the reader meeting someone named Jonathan Abernathy. He is described as a 'loser' but chances are, this guy is suffering from quite a bit of depression and would benefit from maybe seeing a doctor. He lives in a basement of a house and is paying rent only god knows how because he has no job (though he held a number of them that he did not like). He talks to a tatooed woman across the fence; she has a daughter who is obsessed with the woodlands.

Jonathan Abernathy applies for a job and when he gets it, he falls asleep. As a dream auditor, he needs to look out for anything related to depression and anxiety that happens in a dream. A service that employers pay for to keep their employees' productivity high, Abernathy is happy to be free of debt and in a job but the true work is only just beginning.

As we move through the book we meet other characters like the sharp-tongued but well-meaning Kai. She is a fire-haired admin employee who shows Jonathan Abernathy something really important in the Dream Archives about a few things: a) what she gets paid, b) where he is currently at and c) why they both can't leave. A terrifying mixture of dark comedy and horror, this book proves as almost essential reading for us to learn about the future of Sci-Fi and how it could possibly blend with other genres. This is an early but fine example of such things.

A character I thought was fairly nice was Rhoda. Rhoda lives next door to Jonathan and she is about the only character who does not hide a weird secret about something. An open woman with an interesting premise, she represents (I believe) the normal woman working things out and being screwed over by the system. She has a child and is a single mother. The father is sporadic and seems like an asshole. It is a perfect mixture of a woman trying to do her best being screwed over by the men around her and a person trying to make it and being squashed by a bigger system. However, she tries hard for her child and the child of the woodlands is a brilliantly smart character. Her namy is Timmy and she is a well-written and rounded character with niche interests and an overactive imagination.

As we continue into the book we find that the writing in consistent with one of those dark comedy shows on Apple TV. Of course there is Severance which can be a perfect comparison because of the critique of modern capitalism, but there are also shows like Hello Tomorrow where I think this book edges into comparison with the whole 'we're not really telling you everything' atmosphere. I think that if this trend continues then we are likely to see many great books in the near future. I am looking forward to it (and of course, more from this particular author).

Many people describe this book as a parable of debt and capitalism and how people are treated by the system. I think it is something more than that. I think that this book might even be a warning. What are we really selling our souls to and, in the long run, is it all really worth it? Probably... But also, probably not.