Fleishman Is in Trouble (by Taffy Brodesser-Akner)

This was the only way to get someone to listen to a woman—to tell her story through a man; Trojan horse yourself into a man, and people would give a shit about you.

I had a false start with this book last time it popped into my library loans list, but then I read this wonderful Tom Hanks article by Taffy Brodesser-Akner and on the strength of that, I decided I should give Fleishman another shot. Initially I dismissed it because I didn't want to read about another nebbishy man having problems (he is in the process of an acromonious divorce), but slowly this novel unfolds, and the Trojan horse (as referenced in the above quote) becomes apparent.

The narrator, we gradually learn, is a friend of Toby's named Elizabeth. As the novel progresses, we learn more about her and more about Rachel, Toby's wife, who initially is catalogued as a neglectful mother and a "total bitch." But what Brodesser-Akner ends up unfolding is a metatextual, compelling examination of the roles of men and women as workers, as parents, as upper middle-class New Yorkers. I ended up loving this in the end!

And as I was selecting my next book today, the shortlist came out! Fleishman indeed made it, as did four other books I've read: Golden State, The Testaments, Optic Nerve, and Trust Exercise.  I gave Optic Nerve my zombie vote, but Fleishman is great too, and is a last-minute contender for my top 5 books of the year.