I should not like Rejection (every story centers on, basically, a brand of incel). But I loved it. Tulathimutte masterful prose is hilarious, tragic, incisive, bitter, hopeless and hopeful all at once. A bold, graphic, discomfiting satire about isolation, shame and loneliness in our too-online modern age. The second story, in particular, had me laughing out loud. Can’t wait to see more from this author.

Thanks to William Morrow for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Whew! What a ride!! An ode to Rejection, a commentary on modern love, relationships, control, loneliness, manipulation, denial, desperation, repression, identity, race and wokeness. The book is a collection of loosely interconnected stories dealing with these issues told through the experiences of several unreliable narrators none of whom are particularly likeable. An underlying common theme is the internet - blogs and online communities. The author's writing style is unique and brilliant. No mean feat in what he has achieved here. There is loads of sexual content, pretty explicit at times. I must admit I felt pretty ancient having to google the meaning of the internet abbreviations. There were several times I wanted to throw this at the wall in exasperation but then it was so compulsive that I couldn't let it go and kept reading. This is not a book for everyone and there will be much meaning to be gained with each consecutive reading.
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow books for the ARC

This book was not for me. Reading this I realized that it will hit home better with a younger generation. This is a meta/post-modern book, which is not the type of book that I enjoy, not the style of book I like. But many people do. Certainly this book will have many fans and will love all the different levels to this book. This will be a good book for a book club discussion.

This was a very unique reading experience to say the least. Did I enjoy it? No. But is it a good book that I'd recommend? Yes (with caveats)

Tulathimutte is a virtuoso for sure. Cutting, insightful lines all over the place, and minds of narrators that feel lived-in and real to the present moment...To me, it doesn't get more relevant and contemporary than this. Mostly the stories are about terminally-online losers, so expect hits close to home. It's the relatability of the characters, even at their worst (well, maybe not their worst) that makes the book so [canned blurb voice] "compulsively readable," though; in some sense it feels like you've spoken to these people, or at least seen them on Twitter.

The two best stories in the collection are "The Feminist" and "Ahegao," the latter of which, published in The Paris Review, is what made me interested in the book. The book is really funny and Ahegao, about a young gay man with extremely convoluted fetishes, is probably the prime example, but there's a lot of humor in all of the stories. I felt like the book slowed down a little towards the middle—there's one story which takes the form of a Reddit thread that didn't quite capture me as much as the others—but any hiccups are ultimately forgivable.

The interwoven threads from different stories, and the jump to metafiction towards the end, make the book feel like a tangled web, but it's one I didn't mind getting caught in. One of the best things about the book is you can recommend it to people who don't think they're interested in literary fiction, because it's so easy to fall into, and so obviously "of the moment". It's a great book for subverting expectations that way and showing someone that actually literary fiction is not all meandering around and looking at sunsets while remembering things (even if that is my favorite kind of literary fiction).

Can't wait to see what Tulathimutte does next.

Loved it! 5-stars. Please see the following review on my Substack and also on GoodReads.

This Book Cured My Constipation.
Review: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

It’s not what you think. Despite the fact that I literally was constipated, due to several surgeries and a daily medication regime of Percocet and gummy laxatives when I started this book. What I am more accurately referring to is my reading constipation, which was alleviated by my absorption of Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte.

For me, a reading constipation is when my TBR list keeps growing, along with the stacks of books in my house(new & used), the books in various tote bags that I carry with me during my travels and then when all my holds on Libby become downloadable for my Kindle… it’s too much too soon. For me this makes it difficult to focus on the entire idea of reading and I get a feeling of being backed-up, or reading constipation. Do you ever get that? Maybe you call it something else. Rejection was a much needed cure to get my reading flow going.

Tulathimutte is fucking brutal and funny as he connects seven stories of rejection that skewers the so-called complications of modern life with no absolution for his subjects. His characters are the product of always being online, their existences shaped by a solitary confinement of their own making. Their judgements and rejections living solely in their own perspectives of the situation they created. In the opener, “The Feminist”, you read the unenviable story of a person who’s sexual decline comes at his own hands, yet his final and inevitable act is a gut punch we all see coming. In “Pics” it is the group chat that had me hollering! The group chat blowing up as it usually does, but Tulathimutte’s perversions takes it to the next level.

The other stories follow the same patterns and finding how the characters relate to one another is like a fun Easter Egg hunt that Tulathimutte has seamlessly created. Yet, at times I did falter with fatigue of having to go through the olympic style grind of self-destruction of these unlikable characters. Reading breaks were definitely necessary to finish. But that is a minor objection to an overall intoxicating and wickedly fun book that serves up brilliant satire that is firmly cemented in the modern age.

Most readers came upon Tulathimutte’s story, “The Feminist” as a first read in N+1 magazine. I found his book through a friend’s and fellow substak-er, The Mojave Tumbleweed Association’s, review of it here. Her “not not a book review” made me jump on the chance to get an advanced readers copy. Big thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Willam Morrow Books. PreOrder your copy of Rejection here.

This was hard to read, because of how raw and realistic is was. I was cringing and wanting to skip through at some points. The central themes of shame, rejection, dating, repression, online culture, all made the stories hard to get through. I enjoyed 'The Feminist' and 'Pics' the most, as I feel like I know many people like the main characters in those stories. I really loved how the stories were all connected, and I could see characters from different perspectives but it was all very subtle. While not a requirement, it helps to be very online or aware of deep online culture. This was a very spot-on satirical story collection.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC.

A doom scrolling study of internet interpersonal relationships. Smart, self-aware cautionary tales and one of the funniest books I've read this year

‘Rejection’ got me thinking about feelings of rejection and their role in my own life. Which, I consider a compliment to the humanity the author put in this book. (Although, if I ever act like anyone written about here, take me out back and put me down like yeller.)
Absurd and clever, with a great finale.

I am unsure what to write about this book that the author didn’t already write. Rejection is a collection of fictions all about rejection with some loose, frayed, and cum stained threads connecting some of the characters and stories. It is a hilarious and disturbing book. Midway through I put it down, took a picture and posted it to Instagram where I said “Halfway through and so far it’s given me nightmares and also made me cry laughing.” I tagged Tulathimutte and he responded, “in the second half you can expect rashes, acid reflux, and hearing loss.” I include this here because I think it’s a good indicator of the kind of author Tony Tulathimutte is and the kind of humor he is ensconced in.

“Ahegao, or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression” has stood out for me for the disgusting, visceral imagery in it. I fell asleep halfway through reading it and had the aforementioned nightmares. They weren’t related to the actual story, not on the surface at least. My nightmares are often repetitive feasts of pain and evasion where I am mostly screaming at myself to wake up and let it end already and these were no different. At times, reading Rejection felt like a neverending nightmare, like being a part of a conversation that’s so painfully awkward and mundane with no way to walk away that isn’t perceived as rude or bitchy. But, I absolutely loved that about Rejection.

I loved that there was no preoccupation with creating characters that have morals or ideals or even goals that aren’t just absolutely self-serving. Reading Rejection also felt reminiscent of reading some of the most wild, over the top, and perhaps TMI posts on the internet I’ve ever read. It even reminded me of the feeling (arousal) of reading a subtweet and then spending 45 minutes (edging) figuring out the origin of that subtweet and then learning that someone in publishing had done something stupid (again)(climax). All of the main characters seek validation and approval online and all of them are eventually rejected. Some of the stories are structured like a Reddit post, one includes a group chat whose implosion is imminent, there’s a message board confessional. I wouldn’t say I’m terminally online. I’ve removed myself from existing on X (Twitter) for months (a year?). I have been a part of or at least an avid consumer of internet pile ons, memes, and liked mundane posts like one of the ones in “Main Character.” I laughed at the frivolousness of “not all of you contain multitudes tbh. some of u are just one guy” but also cringed that I probably thought that would make a good tweet once in a period where it seemed like all of my thoughts were concerned with what made a good tweet or didn’t. Rejection is not for everyone, and that’s kind of the point. I think if you’re in/around/aware of certain corners of the internet, read for actual pleasure and not for some form of moral superiority, and aren’t carrying a torch for representation or identity then this book will make you cackle, howl in pain and pleasure, and yeah, break into a rash or two.

Straight up mainlined this book. Tulathimutte exactly nails the feeling of being on the internet too much, that kinda gross addictive feeling of spending a third hour deep in a controversy you know is inane but can’t look away. I hope he takes this as a compliment.

This book is about, obviously, rejection, and shame and obsession and the internet and the fracturing of identity. The flip side of the internet’s promise - you can be anyone - is that you are no one. The internet and the discourses spread on it don’t owe us anything, don’t care about us: here we see online identities co-create some really nasty shit with people who suck but are also really, really hurt.

I put this in dialog with The Default World by Naomi Kanakia. Both about Bay Area lib posting and sad, ugly rejects trying to get their just desserts. Kanakia’s book is more hopeful, actually trying to answer questions about community. Tulathimutte rejects the premise of community, at least for the protagonists stuck in their own victimhood.

I liked this - quite a lot actually, but I feel kinda yucky and I need to stop thinking about it for now. I do think this is a pretty brilliant depiction of how we all have the tendency to invest all of our hopes, dreams, desires in what the internet can give us, and how the dissonance of going back to “real life” can hurt.

There’s more to say about the meta aspect of the book but I haven’t gotten there yet with my digesting. I’ll update this later if I have something intelligent to say.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

these were searingly hilarious: what if Black Mirror but it was happening in the already-existent present? i cringed, i laughed, i already told my friends to read.

many thanks to william morrow and netgalley for the advance reader copy.

Ouch, this collection of short stories was absolutely brutal. After the first, I read the second hoping for a redemption arc. And then the third. And then I learned my lesson that a collection called Rejection would indeed make me feel rejected (or cheated, really, out of a slightly feel-good arc that would’ve tempered the rest of what I had read).

Still, enthralled by Tulathimutte’s deft balancing of the repulsive with the comedic, I kept reading (excepting that giant email in “Ahegao” and other parts that gave me too much secondhand embarrassment to continue lol).

I wonder what Tulathimutte’s last story, a rejection of his previous stories from the perspective of a publisher, was meant to achieve. Tulathimutte actively wonders this too, arguing so many reasons that it’s impressive how shrewd and biting he can be in his self-awareness. Even so, preempting any negative reader reactions by pointing them out yourself strikes me as an odd way to have the last word, even as the ultimate rejection of rejection stories.

Rejection is an addictive and highly readable collection that I found impossible to put down. The humor woven throughout the stories had me laughing out loud, but it was balanced by moments that were deeply uncomfortable. This discomfort, however, is where the book shines, offering an honest and raw exploration of rejection from multiple points of view.

While some of the ending stories veered into meta territory that I didn't fully grasp, I still found them enjoyable and thought-provoking. The way the stories intertwined was particularly impressive, creating a cohesive narrative despite the variety of perspectives and characters.

Speaking of characters, "Rejection" is filled with unlikeable personalities, yet the amazing writing kept me engaged and invested in their journeys. Overall, this book offers a unique and powerful look at rejection, making it a memorable read.

Thank you so much for sending this book to me.

It was everything I could've wanted from this book. Cynical, grimly funny, has some of the best worst sex I've ever read in my life, and makes me feel like someone finally wrote an Internet novel/Internet age novel accurately and properly.

Only story that doesn't really belong is "Main Character" only because its form of toying with rejection doesn't match the rest of the book.

Absolutely speechless really and can't form a coherent review. Thank you endlessly for the opportunity to review this book as it's my most anticipated release this year.

Short story collections are generally a mixed bag, as obvious by the nature of the thing, but not here! Every story completely gripped my attention and I ended up blowing through the entire book in a single afternoon. INCREDIBLY clever, very weird, disinterested in talking down to the reader. Unlike anything I've ever read, which is not a feeling I get a ton these days! Tulathimutte is an author I'd love to read more of.

These stories are so insanely weird, gross, intelligent, profane, and *singular.* Some work better than others but each one is told with complete commitment. Love the formal play too. I need to read this again.

A banger. So good! So smart! So nuanced!!

Tony has perfectly encapsulated the headspace of more than one reject in this collection. The thoughts of our characters: Alison, Bee, Craig, the tech CEO, Cory, are abhorrent. But yet, there's a truth to their thoughts and observations that is unnerving. We're isolated, too online, and Identity politics has warped us. With Rejections, Tony has put a mirror in front of all of us. Need to read Private Citizens asap.

Rejection just might be too smart for its own good. This uncanny collection of short stories delves into the lives of those struggling with rejection and finds them coping in very different and alarmingly millennial ways. Tulathimutte's writing is so sharp and so funny. Basically, it's enjoyable until it hits a little too close to home and makes the reader squirm. This is definitely one for those who are a bit too online.

Overall, this worked so well as a short story collection and I loved how different characters were interwoven through each installment. The ending was such a delight. I truly look forward to discussing this with others and equally anticipate and fear what Tulathimutte writes next.

This selection of short stories is.... Wow. It's so eye opening and takes you into the shoes and perspective of different characters that all encounter hardships and obstacles throughout life.

I rather enjoyed these short stories of rejection and the coping mechanisms each character took to overcome.

Just...wow.