The Topeka School

Abandoned at 45%.

Nonlinear stories are difficult for me. Especially one with very little story. The praise that I hear from this book has to do with the toxic masculinity/white privilege underlying messages. For that reason and that reason alone was what kept me reading for so long. The book was a mess and I wasn't able to get to know the characters except on a very superficial level. The events of one chapter had seemingly nothing to do with the surrounding chapters. I kept waiting for something to happen in the story, and from what I read in other reviews, nothing ever really happens or if it does at all, it is resolved quite disappointingly.

This book was not for me. I enjoyed the few lines and insights about toxic masculinity, which is why this is getting 2 stars instead of 1.

Quotes:

“that they are individuals, rugged even, but in fact they are emptied out, isolate, mass men without a mass, although they're not men, obviously, but boys, perpetual boys, Peter Pans, man-children, since America is adolescence without end, boys without religion on the one hand or a charismatic leader on the other”

“the real men—who are themselves in fact perpetual boys, since America is adolescence without end—had to differentiate themselves with violence,”

I don't know if I fully get this story. There seems to be no shortage of threads you could tug at to reveal something deeper. There is the repeated theme of language pushed past the point of understanding, dissolving into near gibberish, incapable of imparting any sort of understanding. Is that a reflection of our current political discourse or the acceleration of information through social media dissolving into noise? How about testosterone filled teenaged boys living in the white affluence of the 90's affecting gangster poses while singing along to hardcore hiphop, the simmering anger lying just underneath the surface. Maybe it's just auto-fiction, the story of a Kansas poet being raised by two psychologist parents, Lerner's mother notably famous in her field.

What I do know is that I'd read Lerner writing about his experience walking to the local CVS. Citing these diverse themes makes it seem like it's heavy literary fiction that needs deep analysis to understand when it's just an incredibly good read. Lerner's got a poet's ear for language and an assured sense of his subjects. Can't wait to check out more from him.

Just finished reading Ben Lerner's novel THE TOPEKA SCHOOL last night, and the more it sits with me, the more I like it. The book uses the experience of the nuclear Gordon family to dive into the framework of American masculinity, psychosexual insecurity, and ultimately physical violence that has come to frame our current political climate. That said, there are no straight, causal lines drawn between individual behaviors in this 1990's microcosm and today's national dilemma, but instead, the book ferments in the impact that male role playing, and all of its subconscious (and conscious) damage, has had on our ability to be good to one another, male and female and non-binary and beyond.

But, as importantly (and in parallel and again, dominated by male “need” and perceptions of “competition”), the book lays out the strategies of performative intellectual dishonesty as the fundament of anti-intellectual American discourse. Using High School debate competition strategy as the scaffolding, the book compellingly defines the idea of “the spread”- the tactic of splattering as much bullshit against your opponent's wall that, should they even dare to take any of it seriously and at face value, they will never be able to address all of it. And that's how you win, by spreading out your opponent's concern across so many fields of response, that a comprehensive response becomes impossible.

And just look at our country, where the politics of “the spread” mean that if you care about immigration and LGBTQIA+ rights and the environment and racism and gender inequality and income inequality and housing insecurity and corruption andandand, you, like me, may constantly battle the feeling of being completely helpless against the ongoing tsunami of bullshit– real life, actionable, obvious, transparent, strategic bullshit, taken seriously, reported with a wink as if it were the truth– that stands in the way of human progress. THE TOPEKA SCHOOL is the first novel I've read that captures this condition (albeit in the context of High School debate) and gives it meaningful articulation. I will say, I'll always see “the spread” now for what it is, and that is very empowering, to finally have words for the thing you see everywhere.

A very good book, won't be everyone's cup of tea, but what of personal value is? I think “not everyone's cup of tea” is my identity at this point! ha ... Anyway, if you're looking for thoughtful, contemporary fiction, give this one a look.