Jean Hanff Korelitz

I can’t tell you the book-jam-happy-dance I did when I saw The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz as an August selection for Macmillan Audio Influencer Program. Appropriately named, the book is a sequel to The Plot (2021). This is a dark take on ‘books about books’ and I’m here for every single bit of it. An edgy, sardonic dive into plagiarism, theft of idea, writers, publishing, wrapped in a layered, complex family drama that plays out both in the book and writing within the book.

It’s not often that a sequel can live up to the first book. Jean Hanff Korelitz manages to pick up from the Plot, weave in the original storyline making it fresh, while giving us an entirely new perspective, a new view we didn’t know was missing. My strong recommendation is to go in with as little information as possible. Inherently The Sequel spoils certain plot points for the first book (The Plot), it’s unavoidable.

Audiophiles take note, The Sequel is narrated by Julia Whelan. Her intonation, sarcasm, pacing is second to none. I’d longed for Korelitz and Whelan to team up again after The Latecomer (5/22, also recommend!). I listened to this at 1x speed just to make it last longer. I know I’m not the only one that follows narrators in the same way I do authors so was thrilled to see her narrating this. It made the difference between grabbing this in print and audio. I will eventually get the ebook and print versions of The sequel as well, but if you have to choose one I strongly suggest audio!

**Do I need to read The Plot first?**
Rarely to I highly recommend reading the first book before the second. Usually there’s enough context to get the gist for the second book to stand on its own…and it does…but… I’m still bringing this to you a month before publication (10/1) so you have time to read the first in preparation. These books are so layered, so twisty, nuanced, that I truly feel you miss out on a huge part if you haven’t read the first book.… (mais)

In "The Plot," by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Jacob Bonner has fallen on hard times. His first book, "The Invention of Wonder," received positive notices, but his subsequent efforts were failures that, Jake fears, may have spelled the end of his writing career. To pay the bills, he teaches creative writing to adults in Vermont, but dreams about writing another novel that will wow the critics and earn him the recognition he craves. Back in the real world, one of Jake's students, Evan, is an obnoxious fellow who boasts that he has a sure-fire idea for a novel. Jake reads a sample of Evan's work and, notwithstanding his dislike of this young man, he is impressed with Evan's natural talent.

Two-and-a-half years pass, and Jake makes a fateful decision—to borrow details from his former student's unfinished manuscript and use this material to write a novel of his own. Jake's new book, "Crib," is so successful that everyone, it seems, is reading this page-turner that is slated to be made into a major motion picture. Jake's fortunes have vastly improved, and everything is going swimmingly until, one day, someone threatens to reveal that he is a literary thief.

This fast-paced and engrossing tale has a grim story within a story about a contentious mother and daughter whose relationship is, at best, distant, and at worst, hostile. As for Jake, although he rationalizes his misdeeds, he earns our pity, since he is basically a decent but weak-willed man whose troubles stem from his appallingly bad judgment. "The Plot" is a clever mystery as well as a scathing satire that pokes fun at the pretentiousness and greed of writers and publishers. In addition, Korelitz raises a thought-provoking question: Who owns the rights to an idea that has not yet found its way into print? The twist at the end is not entirely surprising, but it serves as a fitting coda to this unsettling and entertaining thriller.… (mais)