Adam Ross mixes pathos and comedy in equal measures. “Playwood” is a smart comedy of inappropriate behaviors — while also an examination of human absurdity. It’s emotionally packed — often charming - yet at times incredibly sad from the pure frustration, exhaustion and worry of juggling too many commitments.

I didn’t rush through ‘Playwood’, however, I was quickly hooked every time I continued to read it.
Great storytelling, characters, setting, descriptions, imagery, and contemplative themes.
I often thought about ‘Playwood’ between readings while reflecting on my own past memories — (having been the mother of a child professional actress). … who is still acting today as an adult.
I remember those busy years clearly: private school, Hebrew school, acting classes, The Shakespeare coach, voice dance, & piano lessons, the productions: equity stages and SAG movies—
Family life with a child actor and other children - is a busy one. Trying to stay functional requires delicate management with lots of love and communication.

The voice of our main character, Griffin Hurt, (child actor), captures our human heart effortlessly.
By age eleven, Griffin was already walking a tightrope balancing his professional acting job - his TV show, school, homework, family responsibilities, other auditions (sometimes being pulled out of school to take the bus himself to get to them) - weekly therapy - wrestling- school friends- as well as the inappropriate relationship with Naomi Shah, a married woman twenty years older with two children.

We become intimate with Griffin’s inner voice of frustrations, mockery, awareness, and sarcastic aloofness. With many complicated situations, desires, and daily chaos, I was curious to how things would turn out ….. rooting for a mostly positive outcome….
…..which …..
I was left satisfied by the end.

We meet a full cast of interesting and influential characters: Griffin’s parents, the family therapist, teachers, coaches, brother, friends, TV family, and other family friends.

There were a few times when I felt like strangling a character (shhh …. not saying who)….but overall the characters were so human — almost too human — making “Playworld” quite an astounding brilliant novel.

I can’t promise everyone will connect with this book —
but if you like interesting coming-of-age-stories in Manhattan- have any associations or interest with the world of child actors in an adult world, or relate to artistic busy families and modern day struggles ….then this book is a great choice.

No matter how flawed ‘all’ the characters were - Adam made me care for them. I spent time thinking about the underbelly of why the adults - and kids - made the choices they did…..
….be it driven by career, external incentives & validation, autonomy, worthiness, loneliness, etc….the characters were motivated and passionate about a purposeful life.
And Manhattan was the perfect setting.

The Prologue sets the stage for the epic journey:
“In the fall of 1980, when I was fourteen, a friend of my parents’ named Naomi Shah fell in love with me. She was thirty-six, a mother of two, and married to a wealthy man. Like so many other things that happened to me that year, it didn’t seem strange at the time”.

As a child actor, Griffin found his “greatest subject to be adults”. I found this quality about Griffin fascinating….. wondering if it was because of his gifted maturity— or was it something else? Like not fitting in well with his peers?
Much to think about.
Much to enjoy!

Adam Ross is a wonderful writer.
I feel ‘at home’ with his contemporary storytelling styling.

"Playworld" is a coming-of-age novel that centers on a consequential year in the life of Griffin, a teenage boy and child actor in New York. This was an easy and enjoyable read. The language is straightforward and the plot is compelling. The writer did a good job of giving readers an idea of who Griffin is and how is mind works as he moves through the world and its challenges. The writer also did a great job of communicating a sense of time and place.

A lot happens in this book, and I wonder if all of it was necessary to include. Because there is so much going on over a quick time frame, it was a struggle to focus and follow the details and the main plot points as they began to to come together, and the ending felt a bit rushed.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is very well researched and well written exquisitely, at the beginning of the book I was hopeful that the book would be easy to connect with - although I felt connected to the family at first this book (and the author portrays) parts of the book I felt were to be hard to understand. The age difference is very large at the start of the book, for me personally, the fact being that the female character being married but yet having relations with a much younger male I found it hard to stomach at times. But looking past the problems I previously mentioned, the writing is very brilliant, Such a fantastic novel!

A very interesting storyline. I enjoyed the writing style and stuck with the characters to see what their outcomes would be. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.