Sam moves to Los Angeles after an unhappy life in New York City. Attending a dinner party, he is introduced to a shaman with an outstanding reputation for helping emotionally damaged people. A new friend convinces Sam to go with him to see the shaman to experience a unique adventure in finding hope and peace. Did I mention plant medicine and rituals are involved? This is a very interesting novel about coming to terms with one's past and accepting who one is.

This was a well written book in terms of writing style and word choice. But honestly, I got so fed up with the self absorbed main character that the writing did not make up for it. I really wanted to just yell at him to stop obsessing over every little sad detail of his self absorbed life and get out and do something in the world. Very typical of our selfish generation we are producing with the me first culture out there. Get out and change the world and stop thinking about yourself.

Several magazines are saying Broken People is one of the most anticipated books of the year. I had difficulty with the first two thirds of the book as I could not empathize with the main character, despite telling myself that age doesn’t always equate to life experience. There is so much angst and self loathing for such a young person...imagine writing a memoir at 20-ish. The last third of the book is worth the read, though a bit too “to sum it up.”

Sam Lansky's Broken People, I suspect, will be quite divisive amongst the literary-minded folk who pick it up. On one hand, its masturbatory millennial philosophizing is tiresome to the point that it seemingly comes back around to satirize itself, an ouroboros for the 21st-Century intellectual elite. The characters are selfish, self-centered, unlikable, and mostly unremarkable, while the plot is nonexistent, despite its being at least 50 pages longer than necessary.
On the other hand, Lansky's writing is maddeningly relatable, conveying all of life's questions and existential angst with eloquence. The book is beautifully written, to the point that I'm struggling to narrow down quotes to use here. Do I focus on the purely poetic turns of phrase, a la "desire browned to loneliness, like fruit oxidizing"?, or stick with thematically-relevant passages?
This "novel" (I suspect it's rooted far more in the author's life than most novels, given its strong, singular point of view, which feels deeply personal at all times... Oh, and that the central character shares a name with the author) is angsty in the way that so many others try to be, but fail for winding up too whiney or else eye-rollingly dramatic. There's nothing dramatic about Sam-- the character, not the author, but maybe him, too-- and I mean that in both the most positive and negative sense. But here is a portrait of a man almost crippled by his depression, though he doesn't crave death. Instead, he occupies an eerily-relatable, suicide-adjacent space,
"He did not want to die, in a practical sense-- the corporeal permanence of death terrified him-- but rather, to already be dead, to skip the death process and coast into a static condition of un-being... Certainly that had to be better than sustained consciousness."
What I liked best about this book is that it feels reminiscent of Martin Amis's Time's Arrow or Julian Barnes' Sense of an Ending, in that it is a meditation on memory, and what it is to be human, both in the abstract and corporeal senses. It's an updated version, though, so it doesn't risk being derivative.
"You're afraid of your shadow. But as you move, so does it. You and it are inextricable. And still you run from it... You think telling stories is a way of facing yourself. But it's actually how you run from yourself."

Beautifully written and a truly fascinating read. I couldn't put it down. I loved Lansky's writing, and can't wait to see what else he has in store.

Do I want to read a long overly detailed diatribe about a narcissistic and self- indulgent man? No. Should I have trusted my first reaction when I read the description and excerpt? Yes. Good concept that was not well implemented. Long, hard to read and follow episodes made reading the book a chore. Editing is needed to correct the segues from one story to another that have no break or indication there was a change made. The " New York is the center of the world" and stereotypical Los Angeles depictions, make me think the writer has never left Manhattan,. That may have been intentional as part of the character's story, but so many were a turn off to the reader. Bitchy queens and self -indulgent characters can kill a story when not balanced with better narrative and other aspects. Read like a bad memoir with the only redeeming part the chapter after the ceremony. The end of the story was uplifting, but it was somewhat painful getting there.

This novel wasn’t what I excepted. On reading the description, I thought it would be a exploration of the shaman. However, the author brilliantly centers Sam and his story is told in alternating flashbacks. We get to know Sam through these intimate glimpses. Th more his story is reveled, the more we understand just how he landed in his current state. Well crafted storytelling, compelling read.

Author/publisher Sam overhears someone talking about a shaman who can reportedly change one's life. “He fixes everything that’s wrong with you in three days.” Sam is intrigued and skeptical all at the same time. He jumps at the opportunity to visit the shaman and undergo the process of self-discovery and healing. Sam recalls past relationships, both the good and the bad, and how his own self-critical nature has brought him to a place of loneliness. Can Sam learn to love himself so that he may, in turn, love another person? Beautifully written and engaging, with all of the joy and pathos of love and relationships.

Interesting but a little out there; not sure our readership would go for it, just simply as a bizarre read. I didn't find the characters to be particularly likable either.

I'm sure this book will find its audience, I'm just not in it.
I can't even tell if I liked the writing style of this book because the characters and story didn't resonate with me at all--selfish, childish, so self absorbed they were boring at best.

Sam, who is gay feels he is not worthy of love and is hyper self-critical. Drugs, risky behavior and traditional therapy have not helped. Given the chance to try a three day healing weekend with a modern day shaman, Sam goes along with it, not expecting to find any answers here either. But there's a surprise in store for Sam and perhaps a new path for his life.

The character of Sam has a lot of baggage which is slowly revealed to the reader. Unfortunately, his backstory and journey to a new vision of himself is tedious for the reader who may decide to give up on this character before reaching the end of his journey.

I just could not get into this novel.

Sam is a struggling writer/ magazine editor trying to find success after a semi-successful memoir about his teenage years before entering recovery from alcohol and drugs. The crux of the novel is a weekend long "ceremony" with a shaman and a friend, spent ingesting a rare liquor to draw out the "Spirit" and fix everything in three days. Sam is not likeable, in face doesn't even like himself. THe other characters are thinly drawn. His experience of the spirit is a trip down memory lane through his failed relationships and loves of the past, of his move from NYC to LA after losing the love of his life, Charles. The fix appears to be showing him how shallow and self-loathing he is. And then he's a grown up who accepts himself, his ody, and all his flaws.

Perhaps others will enjoy this, I found it shallow and tiresome.

I was sent invite to read - looking for book to read during quarantine - received and started to read.

at a party in Hollywood Hills...
"He fixes everything that's wrong with you in 3 days!"

Overheard by Sam, writer, feeling like he was only lingering on the fringes of connection, disjointed, not sure where he fits. As he goes through his decision making steps, he reflects - we learn more about him- some interesting - some not (just met with agent and he told him same)

A Master Shaman, a healer of depression, anxiety, addictions, trauma, and emotional stuff.
He can help you with ten years of therapy in a single weekend. He uses energy clearing, Prayers, Songs, and plant medicine. He can heal physical maladies, broken hearts, addictions, autoimmune disorders, and such.
Who does this not appeal to?
Brings up questions-
Is God real? Are spirits real? Is magic real?

I really enjoyed parts of this book.
I also skimmed parts of this book, as went in a different path, I did not want to follow.
I do believe that many will like this book!!

I’m still thinking about this book. I couldn’t put it down. That’s always a plus. It’s well written and Sam was relatable. I’m just not sure how I feel about it yet. 3.5 stars

Pose this question to a rational person: Can you fix what's broken about yourself in 3 days? It took a long time to "mess yourself up" as it were, but this novel puts that question into the universe, and you can challenge what that means or you can ride the wave of rolling sentences that pour forth, tidal wave style, and start to contemplate the possibility of becoming whole again. Sam is a twenty-something gay man, recovering from addiction, living on the west coast where, at a dinner party, he overhears a conversation where two people discuss this man who can supposedly fix you in 3 days. As he goes on the journey to at least try, his former lovers show up in dreamlike memories where he tangles the past into the present in an attempt to unknot the ailments.
The message is timely - can we learn to love ourselves after the things we've done? Can we learn to block out the voices that tell us we aren't good enough?
The story is the right amount of page-turning intrigue and self-reflection so that you'll need to call up the best friend to rehash drunken nights and shameful mornings. Have you moved beyond? Have you gotten forgiveness? Do you forgive yourself?

Truth: I fully expect to see this beautiful, deconstructed hummingbird cover in the windows at Book Hampton this summer. It is the book you pack for the jitney. It is post-yoga literary self-help - the subconscious mind will resurrect moments during Shavasana that would make insightful brunch convo or while you're waiting to grab a table and eat dosas in Amagansett Square. Talk about it.

I keep turning this book over in my mind. The main character, Sam, is so relatable with the emotional baggage he's struggling to carry with him. I'm glad I was able to follow his journey in the book and it definitely made me reexamine how I frame things that have happened in my past as well.

This book is just “middle of the road” for me. Broken People deals with some heavy topics, such as shame, depression, sexuality and HIV, and acceptance. The story is centered around an author, Sam, who attends a wealthy older man, Buck’s dinner party and gets introduced to a “shaman” who has spiritual healing powers. Buck and Sam venture off to meet this shaman, but what Sam doesn’t expect is the amount of pain he eventually opens up and tries to settle once and for all.

Overall, I felt that the pacing of the book was relatively slow and for the most part, not really the type of book that I’d usually enjoy. However, when Sam gets through some deep-seeded issues with the shaman, the book gets really, really intense. I can see comparisons to A Little Life, but in my opinion, that I only fair to compare on a superficial capacity. Broken People only touches the surface of Sam’s issues, leaving readers (or maybe just me) confused on how a shaman could possibly heal them so effortlessly. I do believe readers will either “take it or leave it”, with this book. I’m curious to see where you stand!

A unique novel a novel that has the feel of a memoir a man struggling looking for answers trying seeking to transform himself.A first novel a very creative author.#netgalley#harlequin

Sam Lansky's ability to 'go deeper,' as his debut novel's main character must do to find peace within his own body, is impressive and imbues the narrative with humor, pathos, and insight. I have not read Lansky's actual memoir, The Gilded Razor, but I imagine it is much the way Broken People's Sam describes his fictional memoir. The novel is inherently meta, referring to aspects of author Sam's life while developing fictional Sam's character and character journey. I recommend this book to readers seeking an affecting coming-to-grips story that at once pokes fun of woowoo spiritualism even while it effectively brings the author's personal insights to the surface.

[I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.]

This was a very interesting read about one mans struggles to overcome self doubt and self loathing. I definitely felt empathy for the main charter and the writing style made this a very compelling read. Thoughtful and well worth it.