Fleishman is In Trouble

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Author of this year’s hot new book, Long Island Compromise, started with this book in 2019…

Toby Fleishman would appear to have it made after a divorce from his long-time partner Rachel gives him the freedom to explore and live the life of the single man once again. Hey, it sounds great. He will have the kids half the time and she will have them the other half and he will be free, free…to find women on a dating site that is just this side of actual prostitution. He is a doctor who works regular daytime hours and has the nights to himself. It all is coming up Milhouse for him…
Until the day that Rachel does not come to pick up the kids…and he has to scramble to figure it out…

What ensues is a dissection of the institution of marriage…it is perhaps overdue, perhaps nothing surprising. For Toby is a man and believes that his problems are important and he will see Rachel’s actions as those of a selfish person who is not playing by the rules. But as we flash back to the dawn of the relationship, and the individual career paths of the couple, it is clear that each has a claim for why the marriage didn’t work. And it is clear that Toby does not see Rachel for who she is: while Rachel is vilified in Toby’s eyes, she also has an origin story that puts it all in a different light.

I enjoyed this quite a bit while being confused at times when another narrator jumps in that is a side character who knows both Toby and Rachel. It does not quite achieve the satisfying conclusion that you might want. But is good nonetheless.





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