As part of Lit Society’s Book Review Program, members are reading and reviewing books by independent writers we think deserve more attention. This review reflects one reader’s honest experience and aims to spotlight exciting new voices.
Big Take? Through the perspective of its main character Graham Katz, Great Disasters offers commentary on universal human experiences: ruminating on alternate paths, reckoning with change, supporting a cause or protest, and finding camaraderie in male friendships.
- Would You Recommend It? Yes
- Book Club Worthy? Yes
- Would You Read This Author Again? Yes
- Did It Change How You See Something? Yes
- Is It More Plot or Ideas? Ideas
- Pace: Slow
- Emotional Impact: Lingering
- Best For: Thought-provoking coming of age read; perfect for solitude reading in the park, outdoors, or your favorite reading nook
- Skimmable or Demands Attention? Skimmable; the structure of the book lets you dive in to read at your own leisure; similar to reading a book of short stories
- Would You Reread It? No
Great Disasters, published last year by Tin House, will resonate with readers at any stage—whether you’re in your twenties, forties, or sixties. Grady Chambers’ debut novel is a poignant and protagonist-driven story that weaves together the lives of six boyhood friends navigating a dynamic geopolitical landscape as they also move through the growing pains of stepping into adulthood. Graham, the story’s narrator, captures and evokes a sense of longing and nostalgia for the joie de vivre of early youth, those intense early memories and shared first experiences. Set in Chicago, the novel begins in the early 2000s and then jumps through time as Graham reflects on the lives of his six closest male friends as they collectively experience the political aftermath of 9/11, antiwar protests, and the 2008 financial crisis. Ultimately, it is a moving exploration of how friendship dynamics inevitably change as we grow apart, morph against the march of time, or naturally drift due to geographical distance. All six characters experience and overcome feelings of loneliness and various levels of uncertainty about the direction in which their lives are progressing. On the surface, it’s a political novel set against the backdrop of wartime America in the early 2000s, but at its core, it is about the beauty of human connection.
Character-wise, Graham is depicted as introverted and quiet; he’s a loyal friend and is not boisterous or openly opinionated unless it’s with the assistance of a little too much alcohol during one of his many misadventures or housewarming bashes hosted by his girlfriend Samantha or a close buddy. Through his firsthand perspective, we see how he often internalizes his experiences with a level of uncertainty, as we’re offered a sense of him as someone who is prone to processing life and figuring things out as he passes through life stages, sometimes feeling like a passive observer in his friend group. Each chapter is devoted to a different setting, like an episode arc, and there are a multitude of callbacks to movies and film references throughout, which I particularly enjoyed. Such contextual clues help dictate how Graham is actively processing a life event and allow the reader to be integrated into his intimate portrait of growing into adulthood.
The key messaging and lesson that I took away from Great Disasters is the importance of showing empathy toward others and acting with kindness to better recognize when people in our lives may need a helping hand. Without providing any spoilers, Graham frequently reflects on a regretful incident he was involved in with one of his childhood friends during high school. The novel serves as a reminder that we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves—whether it’s circumstances that we can’t control or the unprecedented global pressures we experience in the twenty-first century. At its core, the key takeaway from this book is about caring for one another in times of political unrest or personal challenge and lending tangible support to our wider community, which is ultimately a political statement in its own right.
Favorite Lines? “I guess that’s what this story is: Ryan’s cuff links in my drawer, when I haven’t heard his voice for years”
“When she thought about what happened between them, she didn’t see it as a tragedy. ‘It’s just what happened,’ she said. ‘It’s just something that happened.’”
“We were young enough that we’d never seen it before: someone so good at the thing they did that a kind of silence took hold of everyone in the auditorium, the reverence – whether you truly understood what you were looking at or not – of people witnessing something rare, or holy.”
Recommended Media?
Song wise, “Last Nite” by The Strokes (2001), “Holiday” by Green Day (2005), and “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service (2003). Film wise, Almost Famous (2000) and Stand by Me (1986).
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