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Book Summary and Reviews of Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

Entitlement

A Novel

by Rumaan Alam

  • Critics' Consensus (8):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2024, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A novel of money and morality from the New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind.

Brooke wants. She isn't in need, but there are things she wants. A sense of purpose, for instance. She wants to make a difference in the world, to impress her mother along the way, to spend time with friends and secure her independence. Her job assisting an octogenarian billionaire in his quest to give away a vast fortune could help her achieve many of these goals. It may inspire new desires as well: proximity to wealth turns out to be nothing less than transformative. What is money, really, but a kind of belief?

Taut, unsettling, and alive to the seductive distortions of money, Entitlement is a riveting tale for our new gilded age, a story that confidently considers questions about need and worth, race and privilege, philanthropy and generosity, passion and obsession. It is a provocative, propulsive novel about the American imagination.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Rumaan Alam's novel Entitlement is a taut story about the new relationship between a young Black woman and an older white billionaire who is distributing his vast fortune. How do you see the book exploring themes of need and worth, race and privilege, philanthropy and generosity, passion and obsession?
  2. As Brooke grows closer to billionaire Asher Jaffee, stepping into her role as his protégée, she gains access to a new, bewitching way of living that begins to distort her sense of reality. Describe this distortion field of wealth. How does it shape Brooke?
  3. Within Brooke's own tight network of friends and family, conflicts arise surrounding who has access to money and who does not. Which other ...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Cements Alam's status as a talented truth teller willing to tackle tough issues with grace, generosity, and sensitivity." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[U]nsettling...the slow-burn narrative builds to a strange and provocative crisis point." —Publishers Weekly

"Shouldcome with an undertow warning…I was pulled under.  Rumaan Alam has mastered that eerie moment when an ordinary gesture has the potential for disaster." —Louise Erdrich, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Night Watchman

"Held me spellbound from its evocative opening to its startling, audacious last pages." —Danzy Senna, nationally bestselling author of Caucasia

"These characters, their money, and their morality come together in an absolutely devastating thunderclap." —Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age

This information about Entitlement was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Rumaan Alam Author Biography

Photo: David A. Land

Rumaan Alam is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Leave the World Behind, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and adapted into a major motion picture, as well as two other novels. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn.

Link to Rumaan Alam's Website

Other books by Rumaan Alam at BookBrowse
  • That Kind of Mother jacket
  • Leave the World Behind jacket
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