Caleb knows he should be an author. He is so sure that he quits a good job in New York and moves to Florida to write. While there, he meets a woman and becomes engaged. But after a year, he decides that he won't get his writing done in Florida and breaks his engagement and rents a room in Oregon. On his way across country, he stops overnight with a former classmate from college, Avi. After spilling his sad story about his broken engagement, Avi tells him his own story. He had gone to a Greek island for a short vacation, gotten stranded on another island with a woman he had met the night before and another couple. That night the four engaged in an orgy and afterwards, he never saw any of them again.

Caleb gets to Oregon and starts writing. He isn't sure what he wants to write about and as an exercise, he starts to write Avi's story. Soon he is entranced with what he is writing and the words pour forth. He finishes the book, sends it out to agents and goes back to New York and another job. Caleb is stunned when the book is taken immediately and even more when he hears the amount of money being offered. But Avi is also in New York and finds that his story is the basis of Caleb's book. He threatens to sue and the book ends up being published with Avi as author and Caleb getting all the money.

This is a debut book and received much praise from publications such as Slate, the New York Times, Vulture and the New Yorker. For me, the first half of the book was a definite win. The story of Caleb and Avi and how the book came to be was fascinating. The rest of the book was less successful. Caleb starts to roam from one life to another. He forces the publicity of being the real author, then starts teaching in a small college. He breaks up with the woman he thought he loved and soon is dating another at the college. He gets back together with Sandra and then meets the woman from the book and hares off to Australia to be with her. Caleb drifts from vocation to vocation and from woman to woman and this part of the book diluted the interest from the first part. I listened to this book and the narrator did an excellent job displaying the back and forths of the main character, Caleb. I'll be interested to see what the author's second book, The Vegan, is like and plan to read it. This novel is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

There are few things I enjoy more than novels with bookish settings. And, this literary thriller about an aspiring novelist is as bookish as they come. But I have to admit that I had a mixed response to Last Resort. Mr. Lipstein actually explores a lot of interesting ideas about who "owns" the right to a story, about literary or artistic inspiration, about truth versus fiction. There's a whole lot of food for thought, and these topics are explored in interesting and provocative ways. This book will keep you turning the pages!

Here's my problem: The main character--a white man, of course--has such a sense of entitlement! He acts insanely, as though he can get away with anything. His behavior was so extreme, that it just ruined, for me, the verisimilitude of the story. I mean, maybe it wasn't that outlandish. Men do do crazy things, and his behavior certainly ratchetted up the tension and narrative drive, but it was an issue for me. There's still much to be enjoyed in the novel, and for another reader, the over-the-top escalation of the plot will be the best part.

Caleb Horowitz is working at a job that he doesn’t like, doesn’t understand and doesn’t care about except that it is helping to support him while trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a published author. Needing inspiration he leaves NY to travel the country looking for inspiration. He bumps into Avi, a old “sort of” friend from college who tells him a story of his recent vacation experience. Greece, intrigue, an affair and tragedy. They part and go their separate ways. Later he receives a short story outline from Avi and suddenly he is unblocked and the words flow out of him like water from a faucet and the story becomes Calebs. It is his isn’t it? And so begins a bidding war for his manuscript. And then Avi shows up and he is not happy. And so begins their dance of manipulation, lies and who really owns the story. Its an interesting look at the publishing industry, authorship, intellectual property, ethics and morals. There are some surprises along the way and some things that are quite predictable, but all in all it was an interesting well written listen/read.

This story started off so scattered, jumping all over I just couldn't get into it at all. I was interested in the premise about an aspiring novelist trying to get published but there was a lot of time trying to build up the backstory without getting to the heart of what was happening in the present. The narrator was good but I had to DNF at 25%.. Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for my advance listening copy!

A very captivating novel that kept me interested from the first page to the last. A pretty unique plot idea is carried off well! Would definitely recommend to fans of literary fiction.

“The Last Resort” was not for me.

The audiobook began very slowly. I found the characters one dimensional and the narration flat.

These are my thoughts but I’m sure there’ll be many readers who enjoy “The Last Resort”.

I shall not be sharing this review on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Indigo or Waterstones although I have shared it on Goodreads.

Many thanks to @NetGalley and @macmillan.audio for the advanced audiobook.

Clever plot, some clever dialogue, but just . . . not outstanding?


Review copy provided by publisher.

Pros: The premise of this book reminded me a bit of The Plot—an author who takes a premise from another author and then writes the book. Luckily, what happens after that in both books is very different. While The Plot was frustratingly predictable, I did not know where this book was going, which made for a much better reading experience.

Cons: This is not a con but more of a note to readers—the characters in this book are not likeable people the reader will want to cheer for. I am not a reader who needs likeable characters, but I know some readers are. For those readers, this is probably not the book for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I’ve shared this review on Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4395792320