SO many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf for the opportunity read Wellness by Nathan Hill. Exquisite. If you want a writer who is going to make you think, you want Nathan Hill.

Wellness is Nathan Hill’s sophomore effort, after the well written, often funny The Nix. This time, Hill has focused his attention on modern married life, that stage when the bloom is long off the rose. Jack and Elizabeth have been married for twenty years, after meeting as college students in Chicago. “All they wanted back then was to eliminate the space between them. And now, here they were twenty years later, putting it back.”
The book covers a lot of different topics. A lot! Internet research, health trackers and fitness programs, divorce, open marriage, conspiracy theories, art, cults. In fact, in the Bibliography, Hill writes “One of the great joys of writing a book is that it gives me permission to explore the various odd things that grab my attention, to dive deeply into those subjects that puzzle, amuse or amaze me. This book has many such deep dives.” He’s not kidding.
It’s a very cynical book. It makes fun of all the new age BS out there. It took me back to my working days when Hill made fun of the woowoo corporate speak. I can remember being told to “bond and interface”. Hill loves to play with and make fun of language. Elizabeth majored in psychology and her job included clinical studies. So, there are lots of psychological topics and studies thrown in. There’s also a whole chapter on the history of Elizabeth’s family and how they made their money, which I found enlightening (but I’m a history nerd) and humorous but definitely did nothing to advance the story about Elizabeth and Jack.
At heart, the story is about belief, faith and hope. It’s the stories we tell ourselves that form our beliefs and impact how we act. Whether the story is based on fact makes no difference. It’s the whole idea behind the placebo effect that Elizabeth studies over and over. “The key is to keep persisting inside your fantasy until the fantasy becomes a fact.”
The book could definitely have been condensed. At times it rambled and it was not consistently interesting or evenly paced. I’m not sure I needed all those pages describing the algorithms that Google and Facebook use (although it was an education). But it works much more than it falters. And it reads surprisingly fast for a 600+ page book.
This book cries out to be a book club selection. It will make you think, ask questions, look inward and outward. And laugh. It will definitely make you laugh. I have a feeling that it’s a book that is going to evoke a lot of strong emotions, one way or the other.
My thanks to Netgalley and Knopf for an advance copy of this book.

Nathan Hill is back on September 19th with another sweeping Great American Novel - Wellness. Wellness begins with two people falling deeply in love. They both come to Chicago for the same reason, to become orphans, and find one another at seemingly the perfect time. Two small words, “come with”, open a world of possibilities for them. We then quickly fast forward to them deep into suburban life and all the  health fads, corporate ironies, and parental stresses and comparisons that come with it. The story bounces back and forth in time, showing us their childhoods, and how the pain of them manifests in their adult lives. 
I have not known two characters so deeply in a long long time. Jack and Elizabeth are so fully formed they feel real. Other aspects of this novel are *slightly* speculative. There is something called “The System” which is essentially Apple watch but it tracks literally everything about you. There are cults disguised as so many things in the wellness industry, encapsulating and exaggerating our current realities. Wellness can mean whatever you want it to mean. And Hill explores all those possibilities. 
This novel about a couple, about being well, about art,  about placebos and how they affect us, both enraptured and frustrated me. Hill digresses frequently, and while those digressions will work for many and do add meaning, took me out of this a bit and made me feel it’s length. Nonetheless, I’m so glad I powered through. This book is about so much but going so deeply into one relationship and what makes its occupants tick was a powerful experience and reminded me at times of the power of Fates and Furies. While the Nix is still my favorite Hill, I’m very excited for this to be read and discussed.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is a book that makes you think. I would describe it as a cross between "Fates and Furies" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." Like the author's previous book, "The Nix," it is chock full of content and goes deep on some arcane stuff that you might or might not be interested in. At its heart, though, it is a book about how our families shape our identities and how we approach relationships and think about love. It is also about art, society, health and wellness trends, and the data/science behind social media. It's deep, compelling and quirky. It is definitely worth reading and talking about. Recommended.

Really enjoyed this new book by Nathan Hill! It's a long book - a little daunting at first but I loved the division of sections that allowed me to read little gems of writing and get into the characters and their lives.
This is the story of Jack and Elizabeth, two of the most interesting and fully developed characters I have read about in a long while. They meet as college students, marry and have a son. We follow them over 20 years of married life to midlife crisis.
The way the author reflects on life in America in the 21st century is nothing short of amazing to me. I have never found a male author so in touch with female feelings especially in relationship to motherhood and marriage.
The careers of both Jack and Elizabeth are fascinating as well as their backstories of growing up.
There is quite a bit of shifting of time and perspectives in the book which I felt was handled quite well and in fact added to the story.
Particularly interesting to me was the section on social media and how it contributed to troubles with personal interactions in the characters - certainly made me think critically.
This is a beautifully written book and one I think worthy of a reread. I think this will be a top book for 2023. It certainly was for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC to enjoy and review!

I adored this book. Hill brilliantly commented on modern life with satire and warmth--the satire never felt cold or cruel and the warmth never felt cloying or saccharine. I appreciated the thoughtful examination of optimization culture, the way the internet warps relationships, and, most of all, the stories we tell ourselves to get through this messy life. All of this is done through exquisite, poignant scenes amidst a story that is truly compelling. I wasn't bored once in all 600 pages. This will undoubtedly be on my fall reading guide as well as my best books of the year list. Public reviews to come on @fictionmatters (IG) and fictionmatters.substack.com.

Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students and fall in love, but the falling in love part of this story is brief. We see them twenty years later, trying to buy their forever home in an expensive part of Chicago. They’ve been renters for a long time thanks to occupations that aren’t exactly making them rich. Jack’s photography career, which once seemed promising, has now been reduced to being an adjunct art history teacher with no benefits and no guarantees he’ll even have a job the next semester. Elizabeth’s works with placebos and the power of what you can get people to believe when they take a sugar pill or snort a saline solution.

Buying a condo that is not yet built brings a lot of things to the surface. They have an eight-year-old boy who doesn’t like to socialize but will throw a fit—in public—over seemingly nothing, and this doesn’t make the romantic part of married life any easier.

The story swings from the present to the childhoods that shaped them and thus, how they react to each other as a married couple.

This is a really sweeping, epic novel that covers art, politics, history, Facebook wars, and the lies we tell ourselves. I really enjoyed this. It’s a fairly hefty read and absolutely worth it.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES SEPTEMBER 19, 2023.

Nathan Hill has performed a miracle with Wellness. He lived up to the exceedingly high expectations I had after The Nix, and made a book about marital discord and the difficulties of raising a child, enjoyable to me childless, happily married, divorce lawyer.

I don’t usually enjoy books about marital discord. They strike too close to home. They don’t let me escape from my day job, they are just a fictionalized version of it. Wellness is none of that. Wellness is an exceptionally well researched novel about the complexities of marriage and raising a child. It’s fiction, but it has a bibliography at the end. It’s not a beach read level of escapism, but it’s not a depressing slog through the difficult parts of a relationship.

As I was reading Wellness the band the Silversun Pickups song “Empty Nest” was getting some minor radio play. It was a fitting song to accompany the book. The song begins with “Did you notice, did you notice our friends are running late? So time to misbehave.” We have anticipation of fun and excitement to break up the monotony of their life. But that later turns into the refrain “Sit in a room right next to you. And now I wanna leave”. This matches well with what happens to the main characters’ relationship in Wellness.

Jack and Elizabeth meet in Chicago in the early nineties. Both are seeking to escape from their dysfunctional families. Jack by studying art, and Elizabeth studying everything. They are described as moving to Chicago to become orphans. Their mutual attraction and love for each other is apparent, and their method of failing for each other, while farfetched and well telegraphed, made me smile when it is finally revealed.

Jack and Elizabeth quickly become a couple, and it’s clear that those first years together in Chicago become the golden years that they often fondly look back on. Jack describes how “for the rest of his life, the songs released this winter will always call him back to these feelings of expansiveness and freedom[.]” They fall in love, and Hill’s beautifully describes love as “an expansion of the self. It’s when the boundaries of the self spread out to include someone else, and what used to be them now becomes you.”

As a happily married childfree person, I enjoyed the portion of the book where Jack and Elizabeth felt betrayed when their friends started having children and losing interest in activities that didn’t involve children. This betrayal felt worse for Jack and Elizabeth as their friends became their new adopted family of like-minded people. But, in a passage that applies to both their relationship to their now child having friends, and their relationship to each other, “they hadn’t considered […] that people don’t stay like-mind forever.” Hill’s exploration of this topic and the idea that what we consider to be our core self, changes. We are different selves depending on the circumstances of our life at the time. Hill notes that “All of these selves felt true at the time.”

We see glimpses of Jack and Elizabeth’s life after they first meet, but then again later in the 2000’s. They are married and have a child. Jack is an adjunct professor going nowhere and Elizabeth works for Wellness, a company that uses placebos to treat all manner of vague and not too serious medical issues. We see that as Jack and Elizabeth have grown, and failed to grow, their relationship has encountered problems. During this time period the refrain from “Empty Nest” seemed to perfectly describe Jack and Elizabeth’s relationship. They are in a sitting in a room next to each other and they both want to leave. Elizabeth is convinced that they are at the bottom of a happiness U shaped curve that peaks at 20, bottoms out around 40, and spikes again around 60. She doesn’t call this a midlife crisis, but rather as a time that is a “slow ebb into a quiet and often befuddling restlessness and dissatisfaction.”

One passage during the bottom of the curve period of the relationship perfectly describes the challenges of marriage. Elizabeth wants Jack “to contribute, but only in the exact and precise and singular way she imagined but never once articulated.” For most of my clients the root cause of their eventual divorce is a communication issue of some kind. They won’t tell me that, they’ll say money issues, or parenting, or infidelity, but those are usually the end result of a failure to communicate on important issues. Elizabeth is unhappy with Jack, but unwilling/unable to communicate that to him. Instead of telling him why she’s unhappy, she instead sets up a meeting with a polyamorous couple at a speakeasy. This goes on to not fix their relationship, but highlight to them both that they have a problem.

Insights into Jack and Elizabeth’s childhood help the reader understand how they turned into a semi dysfunctional couple. Confronting their childhood helps both of them understand what they need to do to move on. Jack realizes that he is best described as someone who doesn’t let anything breathe. Nothing evolved or unfolded naturally without Jack seeking to control or coerce it. He realizes that his need for Elizabeth is so great that he’s suffocating her. His fear of losing her is described as choking “the life right out of their marriage.”

Elizabeth meanwhile realizes everything she does to self-sabotage her life. Her fear of upsetting her father by one-upping him in any way leads her to constantly set herself up for failure. How in choosing Jack, a man who loves her and idealizes her so much, she can continue to feel like she’s the failure because she will never be able to live up to it. She realizes that perhaps the bottom of the U shaped curve of happiness occurs because “maybe that’s just how long it took to discover the specific, tortuous ways you were lying to yourself.”

I rarely mark up books or highlight passages when reading. For Wellness I highlighted over 30 different passages. In reviewing passages for this review, I ended up highlighting even more. Some passages were highlighted because they were funny, some were poignant, one were highlighted because I’d been to the speakeasy in Chicago that he was perfectly describing without naming. Or things that rang true because I’d experienced them in my life, like when he detailed the food served as a work meeting for Jack, the vegan meal is described as “a single diaphanous leaf of wet lettuce.” Or later “She is a lifelong vegan. Word of advice? Never ask how she gets enough iron in that diet. It seems to trigger her and she becomes necessary intense and sort of activist.” When I became a vegan my doctor suggested iron supplements. Amount of iron in one cup of chicken, 1.8 mg, amount of iron in one cup of chickpeas, 4.7 mg. How do you meat eaters get enough iron in your diets? Whoops, became a bit intense and activist there, sorry.

It took me weeks to finish Wellness, not because it isn’t a quick read, but because I didn’t want the experience of reading it to end. I don’t want to have to wait another 6 years for Hill’s next book. Hill finds insight into everyday life over and over in Wellness. With most books, I’m happy for one or two things that ring true and stick with me. For Wellness, I’m lucky to leave it with dozens of passages that brought me joy in some way.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for the ARC.

You get to know the characters in Wellness inside and out, and experience their lives in layer upon layer, year upon year. There are some truly interesting ideas re the human psyche. And, like The Nix, there are great Chicago settings. Beautifully written, with a fascinating bibliography to boot.

The Nix was one of my favorite books of 2016. I listened to it in on CD (remember those?) and I’ll stop for a special “wow…just wow” for Ari Fliakos, the sole narrator, who created a distinct voice for each of many (many) characters, from self-satisfied high school teacher to Norwegian immigrant. Best. Narrator. Ever.
I went old school with Wellness, thanks to receiving a free copy from NetGalley. It’s a little less epic in scope, but the same way that the *Iliad* is less epic than *The Odyssey.*
Jack Baker and Elizabeth Augustine meet in Chicago as college students. They come from opposite ends of the unhappy childhood spectrum: She, the daughter of old, corrupt money, and he, the son of Nebraska farmers, living out bleak lives on a bleak landscape. (Note: the “bleakness” here is a judgment call from this reviewer, who is herself a “coastal,” if not necessarily “elite,” and prejudiced against the Flyover.) Jack believes he and Elizabeth are soulmates, fated to be together; his belief will be tested in years to come, but Wellness is in large part about the nature of belief itself.
Twenty years on, Jack and Elizabeth are living, in some ways, ordinary middle-class lives, working, raising a son, and looking forward to when they can move into their “forever home,” a condo to be built in a new building.
But Hill’s gift (I’m tempted to say “genius,” but the term gets overused – let’s put that a temporary hold on that one) is zeroing in on what we many of us deal with every day, from helicopter moms to Facebook junkies to juice cleanses, exposing both the hilarity and the humanity.
*Wellness* never reads as satire, though – just really good storytelling.

Two people observe each other from their windows across the alley. So begins an incredibly interesting journey, both forward and looking back, on the lives of Jack and Elizabeth. The results of their childhoods and the effects on adulthoods are explored through art, science, relationships, social media, current issues, and more. I learned so much from this book. Enjoyed every minute, especially the twist at the end, and did not expect it to end. I recommend this to everyone I know. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

My first thought after closing this novel on the last of it’s 600 plus pages is to hope that the committees who award the major book prizes will consider this fine one. To write a story this long that is essentially a dissection of two people, their marriage, and what makes it all tick while keeping the reader engaged is masterfully done here. Nathan Hill has interspersed vignettes of his character’s experiences with sections talking about issues that are of interest and part of all our own daily lives like psychology, the ways of social media, and even the many ways to look at art in the world. For some years The Nix has been sitting on one of my bookshelves. I bought it when it was a best seller thinking it looked interesting and then bypassed it as one often does. I must remedy that now after having loved Wellness.

WOW. I don’t typically read big books, but DANG this one was HUGE. Me 624 pages later is reeling with renewed ‘wellness’ – OOOP there I go name-dropping the title, and invigorated to share my thoughts on this ongoing narrative into the inner workings and lives Jack and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth met Jack at a rock show back in the nineties and she was immediately captivated by his composure, intentionally locking eyes with him so they might strike up a connection, and that they did, in fact they got married, had children, and bought a condo, but in between then in now a lot transpired including: irritable interactions, generational trauma, lack of intimacy, issues with children, troubles parenting, struggles at work, and so many other run-ins, which is common for most people alive. I know I struggle with some of those things.

Jack loves the heck out of Elizabeth and Elizabeth is just trying to cope with the ever-evolving weight of being responsible for so much. I found this is the first book I’ve read in while that illustrates the true realities of being alive as an adult with many responsibilities and stressors.

I really enjoyed this on audio and in physical format and have Knopf, Netgalley, PRH Audio, and Nathan Hill to thank for the access. Wellness hits shelves on September 19, 2023, and I can’t wait.

Like other reviewers of this book, I was knocked out after finishing Nathan Hill's debut The Nix and jumped on my chance to read his first novel in 7 years. I like to assess books independently of the author's previous works so I will do my best to avoid comparisons with Hill's previous novel, but I must admit that Wellness did not have the same punch as The Nix. Regardless, Hill's prose was, as expected, delicious and to be savored. The connecting themes of intent vs. impact in the context of placebos, of the uniquely human trait of assigning meaning and value to actions that are otherwise insignificant, were interwoven tightly and wrapped up in a satisfying manner. Jack and Elizabeth's non-linear journey provoked reflections on my own relationships with not only romantic partners but also friends and family. Perhaps its length and exhausting attention to detail undercut the overall experience, but in the end, I found it enjoyable enough to finish without it feeling too much like a chore.

Oh my god. When I picked up this book I didn't realize it is 624 pages, but upon finishing it I accept it's the perfect length. I cannot describe this book with other word but masterpiece.

Wellness follows the relationship of Jack and Elizabeth, how they fell in love as newcomers in Chicago and their individual origin stories, Jack came from a rural town in Kansas and Elizabeth from all over the place growing up in privileged circunstances. They both decide to leave their families behind and start over in Chicago as orphans, how they call themselves. The book also talks a lot about their careers, Jack being an artist and Elizabeth being a placebo researcher. Both tellings were extremely detailed and interesting, the author even provides a bibliography list in the end that I for sure will be checking out for further reading.

This book also includes some social criticism on various issues and analyzes why some extremist people think the way they do. It was very interesting to read.

I am completely obssesed with this book, I'm already looking forward to reread it. Wellness is for sure one of my favorite reads of the year.

A massive novel, could this be one of the best of the year? Probably.

This is a portrait of a modern American marriage. Back and forth, from the beginning to now, showing that what shapes us at the start can still affect us in the end.

Nathan Hill continues to write perfect books.

I guess I really missed the boat with this author. I will be immediately finding a copy of The Nix asap. This type of author and this type of book are the reason that I enjoy reading so much. This was quite a large time commitment at 624 pages, but it was absolutely worth it for me. This book resolves around a marriage and covers that many nuances, ups, and downs of married people. At the same time, it explores so many different things and has such a unique voice. This author is a master at satire and engagement and has created something magnificent. This is by far my favorite read of the year. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Wellness follows two folks, Elizabeth and Jack, as they navigate their marriage in middle age. The whole book is kind of structured around them moving into their "forever home" - a condo in a really nice suburb in Chicago that's the complete opposite of what their 20-something counter culture selves would've wanted. The travels in time from the present (which was like, 2014ish, I think?) to various points in their pasts, and it's really an examination of marriage in the 21st century.

I don't read a ton of literary fiction, because, like, if I want to be sad I'll just open up my news app, but I enjoyed this! It was very well written and researched, and I found certain aspects of it (really anything to do with placebos and wellness) to be fascinating. There's a bibliography of sorts in the back, and I'll definitely be looking into some of the books he used to research various topics throughout the book. While I found the book to be generally interesting and bizarrely captivating at times (it's a character development book, so it's light on plot), I did have problems relating to the characters. Weirdly, it's because I'm so similar to them (I'm a basic priviledged white lady married to a basic priviledged white dude) but am like, in a very different place in my marriage. I also felt that it could've been a lot shorter - it definitely got repetitive at times (like with Evelyn - we know where this is headed, can we just get there already?).

4 stars - I enjoyed it and will be recommending it to adult fiction readers.

Absolutely the best book of the year! Lots of background research.supporting the wife (Elizabeth) in her professional life., as owner of the Wellness Clinic where she does interesting studies. Jack, the husband, is a photographer and professor, teaching art to bored and uninterested students. Their young son is prone to tantrums, for which Elizabeth blames herself. Elizabeth grew up in a wealthy family - totally disconnected from reality. Jack, a sickly child, blames himself for his mother’s detachment. They meet, fall in love, marry. Cracks appear. Jack is ‘needy’ (according to Elizabeth. She is remote and unloving (according to Jack). All their cash is tied up in a condo under construction which became a target for local activists. A huge book - 500+ pages- but worth the read. I’d give it ten stars if I could.

I can't even imagine writing a book like this - it is so emotional, yet all encompassing, with so much varied information, from art to real estate, to quasi religious cults and politics, my review can't quite give it justice.
It seems like a work of a lifetime and reads like an epic novel. It is also very long, 624 pages.
The narrative takes us through the lives of Jack and Elizabeth, who meet and marry as college students involved in the art scene in Chicago during the 1990's. At one point, Elizabeth is employed by a type of pharmaceutical company called "Wellness" and her job evolves into offering people placebos in place of actual drugs to treat minor chronic ailments, with very successful results.
The book is totally character driven, there is no real plot, other than the changing perspectives of popular culture and the protagonist's perspectives as they age.
Now, I definitely want to read Nathan Hill's previous book, "The Nix".