if you wanted a book with racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and surprisingly incest, rape, & pedophilia too…this is the one for you

 May We Be Forgiven begins with mediocre Nixon scholar Harold flirting with Jane, wife of his high- flying brother George, at Thanksgiving. Shortly thereafter George is involved in a traffic accident which sets in motion a train of events leading to the death of Jane, the unravelling of both men’s lives. Harold, at least, is eventually able to rebuild his life. He is initially fairly unlikeable and I was tempted to DNF when the book focussed a lot on his sexual hook-ups. I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. Harold’s redemption, his acts of genuine kindness and the caring community/ found family he became part of made it a worthwhile read for me. It’s a wild ride, sometimes funny, often dark and definitely uneven (the depiction of the Chinese American characters was jarring, especially on audio) but the overall theme stressing the importance of meaningful human connection really resonated. 

This book reminds me of Philip Roth, only better because it's actually funny at times.  It's a very dark comedy, covering a wide range of emotion, but is ultimately hopeful in its quest to urge us to value community over selfishness.