As part of Lit Society’s Book Review Program, members are reading and reviewing books by independent writers we think deserve more attention. This review reflects one reader’s honest experience and aims to spotlight exciting new voices.
Big Take? A slow paced satire about fame—the desire for it and how far you are willing to go to be humiliated for even a taste of it. Perfect for readers who love rich people behaving badly.
- Would You Recommend It? No
- Book Club Worthy? No
- Would You Read This Author Again? No
- Did It Change How You See Something? No
- Is It More Plot or Ideas? Ideas
- Pace: Slow
- Emotional Impact: Light
- Best For: Commuting, beach read
- Skimmable or Demands Attention? Skimmable
- Would You Reread It? No
The Simp, published by Simon and Schuster in July, is billed as a “Novel without a Hero,” and that description seems accurate. Our main character, Raj Ladlani, is no hero, but he is a massive liar. Raj is an unemployed actor living in Los Angeles who works in a yogurt shop part time, fantasizing about his big break. What he doesn’t realize is that his big break won’t come in the form of an acting role, but rather, in the form of being an assistant to a powerful Hollywood family.
As the book mentions, Raj lies as a form of habit, either for survival or for no reason at all. This time, however, the stakes are high for Raj as he pursues an assistant role that will put him in close proximity to the life (and career) he has always wanted. After lying his way through initial job interviews and completing a weekend test run at being an assistant, Raj is offered the Assistant Role for the Hollywood couple (only mentioned as Jim and Anna H in the book).
Jim and Anna are high strung and wrapped up in their individual careers. Neither seems to have the self-awareness to recognize how utterly ridiculous they come across to Raj and everyone around them. Raj, however, is a willing participant. He handles all of their demands in stride, but his work is never recognized by the couple. That is, until a mini scandal rocks their worlds and makes them reconsider how they treat Raj.
However, this story is not one about growth and personal change. None of the characters in the story are particularly likable, including Raj. Normally in stories like this, you are rooting for the underdog. Raj is not an underdog or a hero. Jim and Anna aren’t his saviors or his mentors. The three main characters all share a similar lack of awareness of how they are their own worst enemy.
When Anna begins working on a secret new project amidst the scandal, Raj’s curiosity gets the best of him, and he snoops through Anna’s texts and emails. He realizes the secret project is more personal than he anticipated. Raj must decide whether he should keep his mouth shut or reveal what he knows, while asking for a chance at stardom.
Ultimately, The Simp is trying to convey a message about privilege, race, and service work. This is a daunting task, but can be executed well with the right story and writing. I don’t feel like The Simp successfully gets its point across. We see inklings of what could be a brilliant tale, but it dims too quickly to be effective.
Raj’s character in particular feels one dimensional, and some of his past life feels like a mystery. I would have liked to learn more about his family dynamics and how that shaped him into who he is today. Jim and Anna H are meant to be one dimensional and shallow characters but some of their scenes felt a little flat. We’ve seen rich people acting out on TV and in plenty of books, and there is usually an element of chaos and absurdity to the story that makes it entertaining.
Jim and Anna H’s story feels sterile, with these characters nearly in a catatonic state even when they are demanding things of Raj. Their demands aren’t particularly excessive or absurd. There is one scene when Jim is demanding that Raj bring him a sandwich, only to decide 10 minutes later that he does not want the sandwich. The demands don’t get much more ridiculous than that. If you’re going to tell a satirical story about powerful people acting badly, the absurdity has to be dialed up a notch (or ten).
The Simp has a good foundation. However, the book needed more in-depth character development, as well as a greater analysis of privilege and race, to become something that people would be talking about for months and years to come. Taylor Swift once said, “It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.” But this book? Just plain exhausting.
Favorite Lines? “The more Raj leaked - the more he vented in small and bizarre ways - the more successful he was at his actual job, at continuing to show no sign of an inner life to Anna and Jim, at being energetically obliging, at being their simp.”
“He felt as if Jim were looking at him through a transparent envelope. This was the same expression, perhaps, of the people who had seen and rejected him over the last decade. Utterly blank, already indifferent.”
“On a technical level, the script was very well written. It suggested that Anna was reflective and even wise about her own privilege, her privileged neuroticisms. But its politics were also slightly clumsy, determined as the author was to show that she understood who was at fault.”
“Anna had written, in short, a script about race and power. But it was still the kind of story Jim and Anna could tell safely. It was a daring move for them, if they proceeded, because it acknowledged in an oblique way the controversy they had narrowly escaped, but with an appropriately apologetic and even progressive attitude and enough of a remove by the time it was released.”
Recommended Media? If you loved watching The White Lotus, this book is for you. The rich Hollywood family who employs Raj would fit in just fine with the out-of-touch vacationers in The White Lotus.
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