The Magus and The Fool by Akiva Hersh is a bold and intriguing retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby. Set in the Midwest rather than the roaring twenties of New York, this version offers a queer and trans-positive perspective on the familiar story of obsession, wealth, and the elusive American Dream.

The plot remains faithful to Fitzgerald's original, with Carry Iverson standing in for Nick Carraway as the naive young man drawn into the orbit of the enigmatic and charismatic Jay Gatsby – here reimagined as a trans woman. The mysterious and extravagant parties, the longing and doomed love affair, the clash of old money and new riches – all the key elements are present, but with a fresh and compelling twist.

Hersh's writing is evocative and engaging, capturing the atmosphere of both the drab, conventional Midwest that Carry seeks to escape and the dazzling, decadent world that Gatsby creates. The characters are well-developed and complex, with both Carry and Gatsby benefiting from the new dynamics and depths afforded by their queered identities.

I had very low expectations with this book, but I did enjoy it despite the atrocious representation of the trans community and all of the other -phobias it showed. The drama and the extravagance of the story was fun to read - and it was a quick read.

I understood the author wanted us to hate the ONE female character of the story, but making her a fascist was a bit extreme - to me. Also why not make the ONLY FEMALE CHARACTER an absolute disaster.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this arc!

This one is fairly easy to get through and it is quite enjoyable.

A queer retelling of The Great Gatsby, it's living up to it's original muse and worth the try

Huge blatant problems with this book. (white supremacy, antisemitism, harmful representation of trans people etc...) which is an immediate turnoff for me and destroyed any hope I had of enjoying this book. The only positive aspect about this book is that is a very quick read. But, that's it.

Buckle up folks – it’s rant time.

It’s clear that this book was… well-intentioned. There are a whole bunch of -isms and -phobias appearing. While that isn’t what makes a book a bad book, the way they are used and handled is.

I want to start with the character of Fallon. Our only female main character, we are told to hate her from the very start. In her first appearance, she goes on a white-supremacist tirade, quite happily aligning herself with neo-Nazi ideals and being an all around Bad Person^TM. It’s so sudden and such a terrible introduction to any character that it feels jarring. Her husband Donovan hates her and is afraid of her, to the extent that he hopes their unborn child is a girl because he’s afraid of how she will treat a son. Now, this isn’t a comment on only this particular author, but just because I’ve read a few similar things in the past year or so; there is a trend of some male authors ‘flipping gender roles’ by making the women controlling and domineering, and men submissive and frightened. This is not the space to expand on that, but I’ll just leave that here to make what you will of it.

The main thing that, quite rightly, other reviews have highlighted, and I will too, is the trans representation in this book. I think the author intended this to be positive, complex representation, and to explore how sexuality and gender intersect. I’ll start with a small thing: the reading group questions at the end use “transman” as one word instead of two. It’s an easy mistake to make, but indicative of a larger lack of understanding.

So Levi’s main purpose in this book is to be in a love triangle with the main character, and be the first person who isn’t a cis man that Carry (the main character) is with. First of all we had Carry musing on how Levi is an inherently deceptive person and clearly untrustworthy, but reassures us that he’s fine with it. The way Levi’s body was described was incredibly uncomfortable to read, and all-in-all it was far from the “Queer and Trans-positive” story promised in the author’s bio. While I’m sure this was intended as a positive depiction, I think it’s ultimately harmful.

On this note, the book focuses almost exclusively on M/M relationships, including Carry’s doubts as to his relationship with Levi, and Donovan resenting his wife as he would rather be with a man. Again, this isn’t the place to unpack that but it’s worth mentioning.

Onto something else entirely: the setting. This book felt completely detached from any place or time which I absolutely love. Especially for a Great Gatsby inspired book, the timeless feel really adds to the atmosphere. All of that being said, this was apparently set in the modern day, and every reference to Facebook pulled me right out of the story. It felt jarring; a timeless, placeless, 1920s-inspired nebulous location would have worked much better.

So after complaining about this book for half a page, why did I give it two stars instead of one? Well, it was undeniably gripping. I desperately wanted to find out what happened and was engrossed every time I picked it up. There was so much potential which, if it hadn’t been for the issues raised above, could have made a fantastic book. The writing style was good, and overall? I think it was a well-intentioned but ultimately poorly thought-through book.

I received a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

I picked this up purely because everything I read made it sound like a ‘The Great Gatsby’ retelling, featuring some LGBTQ+ representation. Thank you NetGalley.

I wanted so badly to like this, it’s such a shame I did not enjoy it as much as I’d hoped. There’s just way too much wrong with it, unfortunately. The trans representation isn’t brilliant, I’ve seen better and there are so many others talking about the antisemitism spotted throughout. The writing wasn’t a style I could get on board with either sadly.

I don’t love writing negative reviews, but this one just wasn’t for me.

I'd like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of the book through NetGalley.

"At a bewildering dinner with his cousin, Donovan, his wife, Fallon, and an alluring transgender man, Levi,"

Maybe this phrase should've been my sign to not pick this book up. This is an objectively bad book starting from the fact that it's got overly flowery writing, heavily depends on the readers previous knowledge of the Great Gatsby for them to actually understand the plot the several acts of casual antisemitism that is either ignored or shrugged off.

The part that annoyed me the most was the blatant transphobia that can be seen through both the author's writing and the narrators POV. The narrator faces no consequences for the way he treats Levi and when he's called out for his transphobia, it is justified because he claims that he was "trying"

Overall I really really disliked this book, It was trying too hard to be the next madeline miller but it just fell flat. Absolutely hated it and would not reccomend it to anyone.

It took me a while to formulate my thoughts on The Magus and the Fool properly for this review. Akiva Hersch’s Great Gatsby ‘retelling’ was a quick read, but I have little else positive to say about it.

The Magus and the Fool was labelled as a trans-positive retelling of the Great Gatsby, but it manages to be neither of those things. The retelling takes the form of gender-swapping every character other than Nick and Gatsby, theoretically setting it in the modern day (though there were points that I was confused as to whether it took place now or in the 1920s still), and moving the narrative from New York to Texas. Other than that, the story and the styling is exactly the same. I personally enjoying reading retellings for a different spin on the original story, but this book didn’t even seem to take into account the differences in dynamics that would occur if Daisy was a man and Tom was a woman, instead leaving everything about their characterisation largely unchanged, which was a bit of a waste of potential storytelling to me.

My main issue with the story though was the blatant transphobia and racism throughout, especially from a book that labels itself as trans positive. The only trans character is a man called Levi who Carry, the Nick character, is romantically involved with briefly and then who is ignored until it becomes relevant to bring him back at the end to be hurt that he was ignored by Carry, despite the way that Carry treated him. Carry refers to the fact that Levi is trans as the greatest form of deception, linking it to his perception of Levi as trying to make up a character to live as rather than living as himself. He extends this to all trans people, being so gracious as to say that he understands that some people need to live in this deception. Carry’s sexual encounters with Levi aren’t any better, as on both occasions he is terrified and disgusted at the thought of interacting with Levi’s body as a cisgender gay man, going so far as to say that being faced with Levi’s genitals makes him nearly throw up. In the reading group discussion questions at the end of the book, the question of ‘is it transphobic for a cisgender gay man not to want to date a transgender man’ is raised as well, which to me clearly indicates that the book is not aiming to be trans positive at all, but just acknowledge the existence of trans people as an entity that cisgender people still don’t understand or respect. Levi is also black – and notably the only person of colour in the whole book (at least one made explicitly clear through description) – and he is the only character in the book who does not speak like he’s in the original Great Gatsby, instead speaking in what reads as an absurd parody of AAVE. Need I say more.

In short, this book was offensive and actively upsetting to read as a trans person myself. It would have been somewhat cushioned if the story was better, but unfortunately it was a disappointment on all fronts.

The Magus and the Fool were described as a retelling of the Great Gatsby. This turned out to be a massive disappointment for me. There were antisemitism and transphobia that weren't addressed at all.

I hated the part/ the scene where Carry forced Levi to admit they're trans before having their intimate moments thus referring to himself as “an alien trying to acclimate to a new world”. He also misgenders Levi later on.

I also think that the fact that it was modernized made me cringe at the phrases used. I had trouble enjoying the book and the plot felt flat.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked it better than the actual Great Gatsby because I think the characters were more realistic.

I could not finish this book. It was incredibly transphobic and antisemitic. It’s supposed to be a Great Gatsby retelling, but it seemed as though I was just rereading The Great Gatsby and not gaining anything beneficial from this book.

I got this on a whim because it mentioned a state I’ve lived in in the description and it was certainly something. I didn’t personally like it a lot, but it wasn’t bad either? I did read it at a time where I couldn’t pay much attention (thanks exams :/ ) but it just didn’t really click.

1 ⭐ // ARC provided by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story was pitched as a modernised, LGBTQIA+ retelling of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, The Great Gatsby. Having studied Gatsby at school, I was intrigued and excited in equal measure about exactly how this new approach would remix and refresh the story whilst keeping all the familiar hallmarks. However, I'm afraid I was sorely dissapointed.

Other GR reviews have already covered the problematic attitudes towards Jewish people and trans people found in this book, and I found them similarly upsetting and frustrating. Whilst it could be true that these are the views of characters we are meant to dislike, instead of the author's, there was not enough rebuttal or refutation of them in the story for this to sit right with me. As these communities have historically had to deal with such prejudice being entrenched in classic literature, I was hoping that this reimagining of Gatsby would move away from such tired tropes.

Which brings me to a second problem - for a 'reimagining', this felt like a scene-for-scene copy of Gatsby, rather than something modernised, reinvented, or enhanced. If you've read Gatsby - the plot, character archetypes, narrative beats - they are all exactly the same. In fact, I think some phrases are directly lifted from the story, which would have been a clever referential touch if the rest was more different, but as it was it just felt like blatant plagiarism. To tackle a classic and make it into something new, I think the changes should be beneficial, insightful, or transformative in some way - and I could not at any point see what new perspective or angle this story was bringing to Gatsby that wasn't already covered by Fitzgerald in the original.

I also wasn't a fan of the writing, which felt repetitive and simplistic, or the characters, which felt one dimensional, or the dialogue - inclusions of 'hunty' and changing Gatsby's 'old sport' to 'mate' felt ill-considered and a bit cringey, to be honest.

I'm sad that this review isn't more positive, because the premise sounded so interesting - but the execution was the exact opposite.

I wanted to enjoy this book. I wanted to so badly. For me, it just was not it. My favorite book is The Great Gatsby and I LOVE a good retelling. However, this book just did not hit the spot. I struggled to finish this book and was deceived by the modern representation that was suggested.

<i>The Magus and the Fool</i> is a fairly literal-minded queer retelling of <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. Already a suggestively queer character in Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Nick Caraway is rendered as a gay man, Carry Iverson, who has started work as a political organizer; in another queer gesture, Fitzgerald's athletically butch Jordan Baker is now a trans man, Levi; Tom Buchanan is transformed into a woman, Fallon, who is having an affair with the husband of hair stylist; Daisy is turned into Donovan, an old-school friend with a checkered romantic past; and finally, Gatsby is an older millionaire named Jacobi, who has amassed a fortune by strategically dating an older man. He's a somewhat disappointing rendition of Gatsby, speaking in cliches and crass colloquialisms (his speech is peppered with "mate" and "dude" and "shindig"). Every detail is recreated in this adaptation, from the proleptic car-crash at Gatsby's first party, to the impulsive puppy-purchase on a road trip, to Gatsby's disreputable business and fateful accident.

Fitzgerald's Gatsby was a genius reinterpretation of Petronius' Trimalchio, a nouveau-riche buffoon who comically aspires to a redemptive status as a munificent freedman. Fitzgerald incredibly redrew this ancient satire into a scathing parody of the American dream. <i>The Magus and the Fool</i> is more a queer pantomime. While the novel makes explicit, sexually explicit, some of the tantalizingly coded queerness of <i>the Great Gatsby</i> (Nick's guarded affection for Gatsby, Jordan Baker's lesbianism), I wish it had more creatively reworked its source. I was disappointed that the novel didn't try to remedy some of the anti-Semitic aspects of the <i>the Great Gatsby</i> (instead, the novel doubles down on the Jewish references with its various names, Levi, Jacobi, Kaplan, Krohn, Rosenberg and its suggestion of some Jewish pharmaceutical conspiracy, just like Wolfsheim's fixing of the Black Sox Scandal). And some of the characters don't make sense anymore (Donovan seems more like a drag caricature of Daisy, rolling around in Jacobi's clothes and pleading powerlessly that he loves Jacobi and Fallon equally, hysterically speeding down the highway). The novel is a burlesque homage.

I don't agree with the critique of this book that it is gratuitously transphobic and anti-Semitic (the <i>Great Gatsby's</i> characters are also racist and sexist; that's not an endorsement of prejudice but a critique of stupid, myopic wealth). I don't think this novel achieves the same satirical perspective.

Thanks to netgalley for the online copy!

I was so excited by this book conceptually, but in execution it was disappointing. The writing was a weird mix of Gatsby-esque style and modern vocabulary. The characters are flat and confusing, and the writing that wanted to be lush and elaborate ended up watery and flat.

DNF
I really wanted to give this a better try but I could not bring myself to finish even the second chapter. Anything LGBTQ+ related in the text felt like an inaccurate caricature. The fact that this was labeled as “Queer and Trans Positive” is so out of touch. I wish I had something positive to say about this but I do not.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF —

I had high hopes for this book when reading the acknowledgements, with the author praising the LGBTQ+ community and stating they had sought out advise from transgender people.

However, this book has gratuitous antisemitism (I say gratuitous in that it is included in a way that is not critiqued or challenged). E.g. “I nearly married a damn Jew. I loved how he chased after me, but really, he was low class. And everybody seemed to know it except me! They told me: ‘Dierdre, drop him. He’s trash.’ If I hadn’t have met Brian, I’d be baking challah bread and raising twelve children.”

Then you have Carry forcing Levi to admit they are trans before agreeing to have sex, and referring to himself as “an alien trying to acclimate to a new world” when they are intimate. From other reviews I understand he also misgenders Levi later on in the book.

I’m shocked to read such blatant antisemitism and transphobia in what is supposedly a queer book in 2022. I had no interest in finishing this, and I do not recommend it.

The Magus and The Fool by Akiva Hersh

3.5/5
Fiction/LGBT, 177 pages
Trigger Warnings: Antisemitism, Transphobia, Language
No Spoilers Review

I had high expectations for this book, seeing as how it was a modern queer retelling of The Great Gatsby. While I didn’t hate it, I really didn’t love it either. I was hopeful when reading the description but felt a little disappointed in the queer representation.

I do think the author did a great job in the retelling but maybe went about it in the wrong way (no uniqueness). So, I’m currently feeling torn and on the fence about it. I haven’t read The Great Gatsby in many years, so I’d like to read it again soon, to see if it changes anything but I doubt that it will. I remember enough as it was one of my favourites, but would like a refresher.

Things I liked: 
* The attempt at modernizing The Great Gatsby.
* It was very well-written, something I appreciate the most in books.
* The storytelling was great and had a nice flow.
* Hersh is a beautiful storyteller. I had no problems with getting through the book.

Things I didn’t like: 
* The antisemitism.
* The transphobic attitude of the narrator. The awful trans rep.
* The level of detail was at times excessive to the point where it distracted from the main story.

All in all, I would still recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed The Great Gatsby and went in aware of the trigger warnings. It is like I said earlier, very well-written, and entertaining.