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The New Earth
The New Earth | Jess Row
4 posts | 2 read | 4 to read
A globe-spanning epic novel about a fractured New York family reckoning with the harms of the past and confronting humanitys uncertain future, from award-winning author Jess Row For fifteen years, the Wilcoxes have been a family in name only. Though never the picture of happiness, they once seemed like a typical white Jewish clan from the Upper West Side. But in the early 2000s, two events ruptured the relationships between them. First, Naomi revealed to her children that her biological father was actually Black. In the aftermath, college-age daughter Bering left home to become a radical peace activist in Palestines West Bank, where she was killed by an Israeli Army sniper. Now, in 2018, Winter Wilcox is getting married, and her only demand is that her mother, father, and brother emerge from their self-imposed isolations and gather once more. After decades of neglecting personal and political wounds, each remaining family member must face their fractured history and decide if they can ever reconcile. Assembling a vast chorus of voices and ideas from across the globe, Jess Row explodes the saga from withinblows the roof off, so to speak, to let in politics, race, theory, and the narrative self-awareness that the form had seemed hell-bent on ignoring (Jonathan Lethem). The New Earth is a commanding investigation of our deep and impossible desire to undo the injustices we have both inflicted and been forced to endure.
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review
Addison_Reads
The New Earth | Jess Row
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Mehso-so

#tob24

This book was a bit of a mess. The ideas presented felt relevant and current, but the length of this book and the way the story is told does not do it justice. I never felt connected to any of the characters, and because of all the different POVs, I was confused a lot about who was talking.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do, but this book needed editing and polishing.

RebelReader I tried reading this earlier this year and bailed. I might revisit it if it makes the short list. 12mo
See All 11 Comments
squirrelbrain Another poor review - @Megabooks didn‘t like it either. It‘s one I can‘t get hold of easily so I‘m definitely waiting to see if it makes the short list. 12mo
Ruthiella I will also only read this if it makes the shortlist. Sounds like a lot of work (and not in a good way). 12mo
Suet624 Thanks for trying so we don‘t have to. 12mo
Megabooks It makes me feel validated that you saw the same flaws I did! This was really a squandered opportunity. 12mo
Addison_Reads @Megabooks I didn't read your review until after I finished, but yes, I agree with you completely. I think it only made the list because of the premise, not the writing. 12mo
Megabooks What did you think of the incest subplot? It didn‘t make sense to me at all. And that weird wheedling in the online forum. The author truly made some bizarre choices with this one!! 12mo
Addison_Reads @Megabooks I kept going back in the book, trying to figure out if I missed something when that came up. I have no clue why that was added, and I almost gave up on the book at that point. 🤷‍♀️ 12mo
Hooked_on_books Between your review and @Megabooks , I will be skipping this one if it doesn‘t make the shortlist. And perhaps even then. 12mo
43 likes11 comments
review
Megabooks
The New Earth | Jess Row
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Panpan

I believe this book was chosen for #tob24 because it revolves around a family‘s reaction to their American Jewish daughter‘s death at the hands of an IDF sniper in Palestine. Fantastic starting idea, but just wretched execution. This is a book that tells the family‘s story going back and forth in time with each chapter featuring a parent or sibling. Some authors can do this brilliantly, but I never felt I knew these characters. ⬇️ #tob24

Megabooks Perhaps the family‘s relationships were too disjointed but again I never understood why Bering‘s death caused this huge rift. At page 550, I still didn‘t know which parent was saying what when “he said” “she said” weren‘t used. That‘s just unacceptable to me in a character-driven novel. Really curious to see what others think! Also strong TW for child/child incest, which came from out of nowhere around p 200! (edited) 13mo
Hooked_on_books Yikes. Thanks for the heads up—I‘ll plan to skip this one if it doesn‘t make the shortlist. 13mo
squirrelbrain I can‘t get this one over here yet - it sounds like I won‘t bother, unless it makes the shortlist. 13mo
Megabooks @Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain I‘m really curious what other people will think, but this was a hugely interesting idea just squandered. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 12mo
79 likes4 comments
blurb
Megabooks
The New Earth | Jess Row
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It‘s always difficult to see this kind of fat phobia/weight shaming in print. While I realize it‘s sort of couched in neutrality, the overarching tone is negative imo. But I do agree scales are bad for the soul. #tob24

Otherwise, I‘m enjoying this.

Bklover 180=seismic?!?! Oh hell no. In fact , referring to any weight as seismic is unacceptable!! (edited) 13mo
Megabooks @Bklover I agree. I really don‘t appreciate any kind of weight/size shaming in literature. You can use words that describe a character that do not have negative connotations. I love seeing fat characters in books (I often feel there aren‘t enough), but they shouldn‘t have that size be disparaged! (edited) 13mo
Megabooks Note: I‘m one of those fat people who has reclaimed the word and doesn‘t feel uncomfortable with it. I realize there isn‘t always agreement about its use. My hair stylist is always shocked when I use it!! 🤣 13mo
See All 14 Comments
Bklover You be comfortable with who you are! At 63 years old and 180, I no longer give a hot damn what anyone else thinks! ❤️❤️ 13mo
squirrelbrain That‘s all kinds of wrong! 😬 13mo
mcipher Ewwww that‘s awful. Weight is not something anyone should be shamed about and things really need to change in this world…. I‘ve also reclaimed fat @Megabooks 🙌 13mo
BarbaraBB Agree 💯 13mo
5feet.of.fury I‘m within a few pounds of that & the ground is not bowing beneath me 😂 no tectonic plates are shifting 😂 I hate seeing this in books, I‘ve read Kay Scarpetta series book from 1990s Atkins/Special K diet heyday & they have a big huge woman at 140… I‘m 5 ft tall… any one taller than me I assure you that‘s a *thin* woman… 13mo
Megabooks @5feet.of.fury wow. Just wow. I‘ve tried to surround myself with authors and social media folks that have a more positive view of size, weight, and beauty, but things still slip through. I feel like it is worse reading novels from 20-30 years ago. (edited) 13mo
Megabooks @BarbaraBB 😘😘 13mo
jlhammar Wow, agree, very disappointing. 13mo
Suet624 Good Lord! Infuriating and false. 13mo
Megabooks @jlhammar @Suet624 exactly. I didn‘t think to check the jacket picture, and lo and behold the author is a man (shocker), who from the size of his face, is definitely over 200 lbs. smdh. The male gaze sucks. 13mo
64 likes14 comments
blurb
Megabooks
The New Earth | Jess Row
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Just picked up this slightly chunky #tob24 choice from the library on my way to thanksgiving grocery pickup! 📚🦃

squirrelbrain Ooh, another one I can‘t get hold of easily. I‘ll await your thoughts! 13mo
BarbaraBB Me too Meg, great you could pick it up! 13mo
Megabooks @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB rather surprised my library has this one, but I‘m looking forward to it! I think I‘ve looked through, and I‘ve read 17 and bailed on 5 of the longlist. I think I‘ll try to be a completist of the actual brackets this year, but trying to at least be a little picky about the longlist. 13mo
squirrelbrain I‘d be interested to know which you bailed on. 🤔 13mo
70 likes4 comments