The Smash-Up A Delicious Satire from a Breakout Voice in Literary Fiction

<p><b>AN OF-THE-MOMENT NOVEL FOR READERS OF <i>FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE</i></b><br> <b><i><br> '</i>Timely, risky and dazzling' Polly Clark, author of <i>Tiger</i><br> <br> 'Sharply funny, perceptive, and surprising at every turn, <i>The Smash-Up</i> is a story that's acid-etched and full of heart, intimate, and relevant' Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of <i>White Houses</i> and <i>Away</i><br> <br> 'Every woman should read this book. Every woman, every feminist, every activist' Jane Harris, author of Orange Prize shortlisted <i>The Observations</i></b><br> <br> <br> After years spent in the city, working with his business partner Randy on Bränd media, Ethan finds himself in the quiet, closed-off town of Starkfield. His wife Zenobia is perpetually distracted by the swirling #MeToo politics, the Kavanaugh hearings, and her duties to the feminist activism group she formed: All Them Witches. Ethan finds himself caught between their regular meetings at his home and the battle to get his livewire daughter Alex to sleep.<br> <br> But the new, stilted rhythm of his life is interrupted when he receives a panicked message. Accusations. Against Randy. A slew of them. And Ethan is abruptly forced to question everything: his past, his future, his marriage, and what he values most.<br> <br> <b>Unrelenting in its satire, <i>The Smash-up</i> jolts you into the twisted psyche of successful brand advertising, where historic exploitation is only ever a panicked phone-call away. With magnetic energy and doses of comic wit, Benjamin creates a world of social media algorithms, extreme polarization, the collapsing of identity into tweet-sized spaces, and the spectre of violence that can be found even in the quietest places.</b></p>