Acts of Service
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Rebecca Lowman
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Written by:
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Lillian Fishman
About this listen
A “bold and unflinchingly sexy” (Vogue) debut novel about a young woman who follows her desires into a world of pleasure, decadence, and privilege, unraveling everything she thought she knew about sex . . . and herself.
“One of the most entertaining books about sex I’ve ever read . . . The perfect read for fans of Raven Leilani and Ottessa Moshfegh, this is a book that will have people talking.”—BuzzFeed
“A sex masterpiece.”—The Guardian
A Kaia Gerber Book Club Pick • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New Yorker and The Hollywood Reporter
“Anytime I want, I can forsake this dinner party and jump into real life.”—Eve Babitz
Eve has an adoring girlfriend, an impulsive streak, and a secret fear that she’s wasting her brief youth with just one person. So one evening she posts some nudes online. This is how Eve meets Olivia, and through Olivia the charismatic Nathan. Despite her better instincts, the three soon begin a relationship—one that disturbs Eve as much as it enthralls her.
As each act of their complicated, three-way affair unfolds across a cold and glittering New York, Eve is forced to confront the questions that most consume her: What do we bring to sex? What does it reveal of ourselves, and one another? And how do we reconcile what we want with what we think we should want?
In the way only great fiction can, Acts of Service takes between its teeth the contradictions written all over our ideas of sex and sexuality. At once juicy and intellectually challenging, sacred and profane, Lillian Fishman’s riveting debut is bold, unabashed, and required reading of the most pleasurable sort.
©2022 Lillian Fishman (P)2022 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
“Extraordinary . . . a work of ferocious moral and sensual intelligence and a masterly defense of sex for its own sake.”—The Guardian
“A stylish, elegant piece of provocation that is also as sincere and searching as its heroine. Even if it pisses you off, it’s hard not to keep turning the pages. Acts of Service is a bold, promising debut.”—Mary Gaitskill
“Radical, daring and bracing . . . It is a book of exciting, provocative complexity, and, for me, it made the human creature feel like something new.”—Sheila Heti, author of Pure Color
What listeners say about Acts of Service
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kate
- 2022-10-11
Pretty bad
This book had really good reviews, but I don't know what they are talking about. It's awful. Don't waste a credit on this book.
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Overall
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- Chelsea Patterson
- 2022-11-22
Fascinating Novel
Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman
Is exquisite.
This is a highly sexually charged novel. It’s not graphic sexual. But the whole novel is about sex and specifically the complexity of the Queer and feminist experience.
There are fascinating complex characters of Nathan and Eve, where it is difficult to make moral judgement. I found Liv a fascinating character, so outwardly simple, and so confusing. Because it is a story completely from the perspective of Eve, and in such an intimate way, we can’t be sure how others see Nathan, Liv or herself. Consent and desire is poured on to every page. Games and social conditioning is saturated in every line.
Differently lived lives and relationship to sex and love will skew how one reads this book. However I found it refreshing to read a book about queer and poly relationships that question if we can have everything what is it we want, if you have freedom to do anything what do your preferences say about your true self. And not a character grappling with societal moral judgement.
This book is for anyone who enjoys a exploration into sex, sexuality, and feminism. This would not be great for people with sexual trauma or unresolved issues with relationship.
#chelsreads2022 #actsofservice
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