"Tension grew out of every scene, scenes in which nothing took place and people said very little, and yet the pressure grew and grew so that by the end of the play I realized I had been in a sickening state of unease for sometime." - Katie Kitamura, Audition

This quote from Kitamura's latest novel perfectly encapsulated how I felt about the book overall. Audition follows the first person point of view from an older actress who is approached by a younger man claiming, perhaps impossibly, to be her son. The perspective of the protagonist in this novel is incredibly claustrophobic. She is constantly searching every other character for signs of suspicion or unease. Even though nothing much happens in Audition, Kitamura is able to create a taut string of tension to propel the book forward. Sometimes I found this compulsive and other times grating. Overall, Audition is very a skillful story, even if not always the most enjoyable one, but one has the sense that this was the author's design.

Fastidiously expressed, finely nuanced and tirelessly intriguing, Kitamura’s latest delivers the goods. Not a big book, but one with tireless layers of discernment as one woman, or perhaps two, sifts the shifts of connection between herself, her husband and a possible son. Is the ending too tidy? Too clever? Not sure, but the process was so enjoyable that I didn’t mind.

While I did not think this was the book for me, I do think my library patrons would enjoy this. Kitamura has always done well in our circulation numbers and I thoroughly enjoyed "Intimacies", so I was excited to read this new work from her. I found the narrator too neurotic, but I can see how others may enjoy seeing how this character fleshes out. I look forward to purchasing this book for our collection and seeing what our patrons think about it!

Unfortunately not for me. In a world with SO many books being published, I just don't see this as a must in our collection. Thought I would like this from the description, but alas.

I’m not quite sure how to feel about this one, honestly. I’m an actor myself, so I struggle to buy into fictionalized accounts of the boundaries between performance and reality. I think it ties into a romanticization or magical thinking about acting I just can’t relate to.

Overall, I found the conceit interesting, but it didn’t quite stick the emotional landing for me.

I love Katie Kitamura's attention to interiority. Many passages are repetitive as a narrator tries to untangle her thoughts or goes over scenes to re-interpret what has happened -- her writing mirrors the repetition of thought. This book is a tricky one and has an intriguing premise: a man claims he is the son of a woman who says that is impossible. A book about performance, missed opportunities, motherhood. Kitamura is brilliant.