Adelle Waldman has rewritten "Pride and Prejudice"; her Lady Catherine is a woman named Meredith, who is gunning for a promotion at a big box store in upstate NY.
Meredith attended FIT, but she dropped out to become a pop singer. When the music plan dried up, Meredith found herself back home, climbing the ladder at "Town Square," a kind of fancy Wal-Mart. Now, Meredith berates her employees, who struggle to live on part-time wages, and who walk to work on deadly highways at 3:30 am. Untroubled by a conscience, Meredith finds the employees irritating. When someone approaches with a hard-luck story--a need for a prison visit, or a complaint about asthma--Meredith becomes impatient. Her taxes contribute to welfare programs, so why should she wring her hands about other people?
Meredith is a fabulous monster--unique in contemporary American fiction. We have all worked for a Meredith--and we have all behaved like Meredith. In one scene, a white woman calls Town Square to complain that she has been saddled with expired organic baby food. "You're preying on underslept young parents!" The woman becomes intoxicated with rage--and the rep of the big box store has to bite his tongue. What he'd like to say is: "Expired baby food sneaks onto our shelves because we can't afford staff anymore. We can't afford staff because people like you have taken your money and sprinkled it on Amazon, which is killing communities here in New York, and beyond. You are the reason for your own expired baby food."
Waldman's novel is unsparing. It's uncomfortable to read. It's also a work of art--meaning it is populated with memorable human beings. I was especially fond of Val, who endangers her own job by kicking a trash can after having failed to win the title "Employee of the Month." I also felt for Milo, who is valued for his "throwing" skill; he throws the boxes from the truck onto the loading dock. Milo struggles with wounded pride, and he compensates via humblebrag: "Other stores use multiple throwers, but I guess the team here just wants to rely on my own particular throwing ability....."
This ("Help Wanted") is a dazzling novel. Waldman took something like eleven years for the writing process--and she worked at a big box store, at 4 am. I hope her next book arrives before 2030.
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