Long Island Compromise, the eagerly-awaited novel by Taffy Brodesser – Akner is about unresolved trauma following the kidnapping of mega wealthy Carl Fletcher. Though satisfactorily resolved, the effects of the kidnapping rendered the Fletchers crippled for years. Son Beamer spends Thursday afternoons with his dominatrix. His elder brother Nathan a lawyer suffers paralyzing anxiety whenever he enters the inside of a courtroom. Daughter Jenny floats in a puddle of emotional confusion.
Ostentatiously wealthy, Carl, son of Holocaust survivor, Zelig Fletcher made a fortune manufacturing polystyrene (Styrofoam) molds; Mom Phyllis a community leader and doyenne of civic and synagogue activism, with Zelig’s help, raised Carl and sister Marjorie to believe wealth will insulate them from harm. Fact is, the perpetrators were caught and punished. The family retrieved most of the ransom money for Carl’s return. Carl’s kidnapping was never discussed among the Fletchers. They behaved exactly as they did post Holocaust--- the family repressed both of the distressing events. After Carl’s safe return, Phyllis put it this way, “Listen to me boychick. This happened to your body. This did not happen to you.” Neither the kidnapping nor the Holocaust were ever mentioned, inside the Fletcher homes. The family continued to live their post- Holocaust dream amassing incredible wealth suppressing both the “dybbuk” of the Holocaust and the specter of Carl’s 1980 kidnapping. Deceptively deluding themselves that wealth would bring them security, ignoring the past the family convinced themselves money would protect them!
Fast-forward four decades. Life for the Fletchers has gone off the rails. Carl’s son Nathan lives in constant state of apprehension, a neurotic with feelings of danger lurking in every corner. He takes out insurance for everything from bedbugs to earthquakes, lives on a diet of beta-blockers, and spirals into personal financial bankruptcy. Married to the lovely Noelle, another son, Beamer, at forty-two, “buckling under the pressure of adulthood,” inhales Ambien and uppers, and licks carpets in hotel rooms on demand from his hired dominatrix. Confused, daughter, Jenny runs away from the family. Where did these pathologies originate? Why was the family so scarred?
Based on a factual incident, author Taffy Brodesser-Akner gets into the weeds of a prominent Long Island family and burrows deeply into their messed-up lives. Witty wise and deliciously satirical, Long Island Compromise will make you giggle or blush over some cringe-worthily parts. Overall, insanely good! Typically Taffy!