Download PDF The Spectators A Novel Jennifer duBois Books
Download As PDF : The Spectators A Novel Jennifer duBois Books
A shocking crime triggers a media firestorm for a controversial talk show host in this provocative novel—a story of redemption, a nostalgic portrait of New York City, and a searing indictment of our culture of spectacle.
One of the The New York Times’s “10 Books to Watch for in April” • “Jennifer duBois is a brilliant writer.”—Karen Russell, author of Vampires in the Lemon Grove
Talk show host Matthew Miller has made his fame by shining a spotlight on the most unlikely and bizarre secrets of society, exposing them on live television in front of millions of gawking viewers. However, the man behind The Mattie M Show remains a mystery—both to his enormous audience and to those who work alongside him every day. But when the high school students responsible for a mass shooting are found to be devoted fans, Mattie is thrust into the glare of public scrutiny, seen as the wry, detached herald of a culture going downhill and going way too far. Soon, the secrets of Mattie’s past as a brilliant young politician in a crime-ridden New York City begin to push their way to the surface.
In her most daring and multidimensional novel yet, Jennifer duBois vividly portrays the heyday of gay liberation in the seventies and the grip of the AIDS crisis in the eighties, alongside a backstage view of nineties television in an age of moral panic. DuBois explores an enigmatic man’s downfall through the perspectives of two spectators—Cel, Mattie’s skeptical publicist, and Semi, the disillusioned lover from his past.
With wit, heart, and crackling intelligence, The Spectators examines the human capacity for reinvention—and forces us to ask ourselves what we choose to look at, and why.
Praise for The Spectators
With The Spectators, duBois is staking out larger literary territory. The new novel is full of small pleasures that accumulate as proof that this writer knows her stuff. . . . DuBois’s mastery of . . . details earns our trust as she expands The Spectators into a billowing meditation on the responsibility of public figures to contribute something worthwhile to the culture. Although her book takes place decades ago, duBois’s message has a contemporary urgency as well.”—The New York Times
“Heart-rending and visceral . . . DuBois’s language is dexterous, and her pacing impressive. . . . The Spectators is a treatise on the media’s power and a finely wrought example of intimate pain.”—USA Today
Download PDF The Spectators A Novel Jennifer duBois Books
"Pretentious much? duBois wants you to know that she took a SAT prep class and remembers those vocabulary words.
Joking aside - I bailed at 25%. The Spectators reads like two different books slammed together by one tiny thread. I enjoyed the present day story a bit more and wish that was the focus of this book."
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The Spectators A Novel Jennifer duBois Books Reviews :
The Spectators A Novel Jennifer duBois Books Reviews
- Brilliant! The Spectators exerts a kind of gravitational pull that lingers long after reading, combining breadth of plot (gay liberation, the AIDS crisis, the birth of voyeuristic media) with depth of character (the perspective of Semi a particular revelation, containing multitudes). Powerful, relevant and brimming with wit and with humanity.
- The Spectators is literary fiction but the two portions of the plot make strange bedfellows.
Mattie M. is a talk show host (think Jerry Springer) in the late 1990s. When a horrific school shooting is determined to be by hard-core fans of Mattie’s show, it opens a national discussion on the pros and cons of sensational television. It also reveals Mattie’s history as a disgraced NYC politician. In separate chapters, Mattie’s former lover, Semi, tells the story of the carefree 1970s NYC gay culture and how the 1980s’ AIDS crisis effected that culture.
I’m not sure who would be the perfect reader of this clearly divided book. The discussion on the talk show phenomenon appeals to me but not the gay culture portion of the book. Others will feel the other way, I’m sure. The Spectators was not for me but perhaps it will be for you. 3 stars!
Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review. - I hate the feeling of dread you get when you are reading about the 70s and 80s and you know what is coming for the characters. That’s not to say I hated this book. I quite enjoyed it. We have a back and forth between Semi and Cel. With Semi we get to watch as he goes from free young gay man finding his way during a sexual revolution to man dealing with AIDS and watching his friends die, to man living and aging in a world he wasn’t sure he’d ever see as we see his journey from the 70s to the 90s. Cel is living in the 90s as a young, fresh from college woman trying to navigate a job she hates.
The tie that binds the two is Matthew, or Mattie, depending on the time and place. Is he an idealistic lawyer, a progressive politician, or a hack shock TV host on one of the millions of talk shows that permiated the early 90s?
I loved the way the flashbacks moved forward to the other storyline and we started to see connections and understand characters. I loved that we got to see both narrators through the eyes of the other. The story was moving and thought provoking. It takes you back to two different times in our recent history and reminds of how far we have come and yet how little progress we have made.
I did find some of the repetition to be annoying at times, but it served its purpose. It WAS repetitive and it WAS and endless circle at times. - I adored this novel--it's the most moving, smartest book I've read in ages. It's one of the rare dual POV books where I loved each voice and plotline equally Semi's beautiful lyricism about New York and his circle of friends in the 70s before the community is devasted by the AIDS crisis as well as during and after, and Cel's wry humor and insight into the world of 90s trash TV talk shows. At the heart of the book is Mattie M, Semi's former lover and Cel's current boss, and we join our POV characters in only being spectators, watching Mattie but never getting inside his head. It's an amazing exploration of the levels of spectating, what it does to both the viewer and the viewed. Jennifer duBois is the rare, rare writer that can break your heart, make you laugh, and make you see aspects of the world in new ways, all at the same time.
- Alternately narrated by Cel, his producer, and Semi, his former lover, this is the story of Mattie Miller, an obnoxious talk show host who is dealt a blow when school shooters are revealed as devotees. Cel's part of the story is set in 1993, when the event occurs. Frankly, she's a less compelling narrator/character than Semi. Semi chronicles not only his relationship wth Mattie, but also the changes and challenges to the gay community, most notably AIDS. At times, Semi's chapters include other voices (which can be a bit of a challenge to sort out.). DuBois has a lot to say in this perhaps overly ornate novel which might have been even better had it only focused on Semi. Nonetheless, an interesting read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
- Pretentious much? duBois wants you to know that she took a SAT prep class and remembers those vocabulary words.
Joking aside - I bailed at 25%. The Spectators reads like two different books slammed together by one tiny thread. I enjoyed the present day story a bit more and wish that was the focus of this book. - This one was not for me. I couldn’t connect with the story or the characters. Ended up skimming quite a bit just to finish.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC. - Jennifer duBois is among the best writers writing today, and ever since her brilliant debut, A Partial History of Lost Causes, I've eagerly awaited everything she writes. And her novels just keep getting better and better! The Spectators is superb hilarious and moving and brainy and sensitive and thrilling and above all compassionate. From the first revelation of the crime that sets everything in motion, I couldn't put this book down. I was consistently surprised in that deliciously satisfying way--I didn't see developments coming, but they always felt inevitable. As in Cartwheel, Jennifer duBois's use of real life events is thoughtful and inventive. This is a writer whose curiosity and generosity toward her characters is profound.
