Title: The Hazards of Good Fortune
Author: Seth Greenland
Publisher: Europa Editions
ISBN: 978-1609454623
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 624
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars
I loved Seth Greenland’s “I Regret Everything”. It was witty, sharp and biting and his latest book is no different. Thank God for that! “The Hazards of Good Fortune” while being hilarious and often witty, does not stop being profound or showing us what the author wants us to see, one which is thinly veiled and not exposed to all. He explores big themes, big emotions and a big landscape in this book – New York and the Obama presidency.
Jay Gladstone is the kind of aware and ‘woke’ man I would love to meet. He makes his errors and he is aware of them to the point that he tries to make amends as well. He does not try and absolve himself of his silly ways, so to say. He sees himself a moral man, who doesn’t want to repeat his father’s mistakes. He is born to privilege and checks it at all times. Till life, circumstance and other people happen to him and everything spirals out of control or so it seems.
Greenland looks at uncomfortable topics unflinchingly – race, class and gender. He doesn’t mince his words. The book reminded me so much of “The Bonfire of the Vanities”. Some things were so similar – a man caught in circumstances beyond his control, the element of race and how it works in the Obama presidency and the question of morals and what place they hold in our lives.
“The Hazards of Good Fortune” is never light (though it may come across that way sometimes). It is an extremely appropriate read for our times and the kind that makes you sit up and take notice of what is going on. The writing is incisive and sharp. The characters play out urban angst fantastically and the author doesn’t hide their weaknesses for one single minute. The plot is layered, the book runs at a break-neck speed and still manages to find some humour in all of this. Read it and find out.
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