What a sharp collection of interconnected short stories focussing on a group of mostly middle class white people living in LA showcasing the collective anxiety of our times and the passivity to which we respond to it.

Each chapter is told from a different point of view of a relatively small group of people. From the LARPing (live action role play) of a 23 year old man who lives with his parents and doesn’t have much ambition, an overconfident gym rat who treats women as sheep in his flock (think Sarper from 90 Day Fiancé if you watch), to a young adult who sees a need among the more elderly in her community, Atavists has a fairly homogenous collection of characters who are all seeking some way to matter.

COVID and climate change flow in and out of the stories and show their impact profoundly. Each of the chapter titles is some kind of -ist (e.g. terrorist, cosmetologist, tourist, cultist, etc).

I found every story thought provoking and clever in its subtext. I now plan on seeking out Millet’s previous books as she is directly up my alley in terms of what I look for in a great read.

Thank you to @netgalley and @w.w.norton for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Atavists publishes April 22, 2025. If you love literary fiction with an edge, then seek this one out!

Brilliant writing and an interesting look at how seemingly unconnected people's lives interconnect.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Whereas most short story collections take me a while to get through, the interconnections between the stories in this collection helped the book flow in a way and therefore I felt compelled to continue reading rather than taking more breaks.

Millet has a clear talent for characterisation and in the short space of time that each character was in focus I felt I got a really good sense of their personalities and motivations such that if/when they reappeared in another story the character was fully fleshed out already and didn't need further introduction. Rather, the reuse of characters built a better understanding and in some cases even some character development as they interacted with others.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who usually struggles with short stories as well as those that already love them!

Atavists is an engaging collection of loosely intertwined short stories that tackle head-on issues most of us here in North America are grappling with right now: corporate greed, climate change, the loneliness epidemic, the COVID pandemic, divisive politics, racism, sexism and more... not to mention the fear, ennui, nihilism, hopelessness, hopeFULness, and small glimmers of joy and love that go along with it.

These stories were beautifully written and masterfully linked. As short stories should, each one could stand alone, but when read in sequence there were frequent fun instances where the reader got to go "hey, I know this guy!" Millet captured the "vibe" of our current time so well. I felt myself relating to the characters in each story and experienced a few of those magic moments where an author describes exactly how I've been feeling - things I myself haven't yet been able to put into words.

Kudos to Millet for Atavists. I will be recommending this one to all of my friends and colleagues!

This book is a series of interconnected stories--I didn't really care for the characters and kept looking for nuggets of insights which never appeared.

I felt very ‘meh’ about this book while reading it. There was no obvious plot or theme; it read like a meandering commentary on modern-day upper-middle-class Americans that was neither here nor there. Each story was well-written and interesting enough, the characters were fleshed out well, but I have a hard time with books written from multiple perspectives that are just that, with no deeper meaning attached. I found the ending to be unnecessarily doom-oriented, with the last sentence leaving me so unnerved that the entire reading experience felt wasted on me. I, like Nick, have a hard time coping with the crushing weight of reality, and I don’t want to read something that only succeeds in adding to that. The novel does not inspire change, if that was the goal, but merely reflects a version of reality that might be contributing to our decline or is just aligned with it.

If you’re a liberal millennial/gen xer, this will hit all the right notes.

“Atavists” is a collection of interconnected short stories about understanding generational divide and finding meaning in things in an out of our control: from global political climates, to mental health, to finding meaning under capitalism, to giving two sh*ts about social media, to obsessive and easily dropped hobbies. This was at times hilarious, absurd, exciting and ridiculous. For me it was preaching to the choir but I was all ears.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lydia Millet and the publisher for this advanced copy. I loved it!

This was not the collection for me. I found these short stories to be trite and just...off. There was something about these stories that I did not enjoy, and I can't put my finger on it. The problems felt a little too basic suburban malaise for me maybe? If I think of it, I'll add to this review.

Lydia Millet's Atavists is an ambitious collection that takes on themes of capitalism, climate anxiety, and post-pandemic uncertainty. The stories connect in subtle ways, and offer snapshots of people navigating a world in flux.

There are moments of sharp wit and emotional resonance, and Millet's writing has a thoughtful, observant quality. While some dialogue feels a bit uniform the collection still offers valuable reflections on modern life. Some of the characters are often blurred together, I found it a bit hard to find distinct voices in each story.

bottom line: while not every story hit perfectly for me, Atavists is a worthwhile read for those who enjoy character-driven narratives with timely themes.

I've read and liked Dinosaurs, by Lydia Millet, but it wasn't memorable enough for me to have high expectations for this. So they were exceeded! It took a little while for the narrative voice to grow on me, but after a few stories it made sense. A few of the stories are LOL funny (especially The Cultist) and others are poignant or thought provoking. I especially enjoyed how loosely connected they were, with most characters getting their own POV story. While never the exclusive focus, a lot of the stories touched on recent topics, like covid, plagiarism, refugees, and online dating nightmares. I hope this gets picked up beyond Millet's fans.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

A great collection of connected stories. Almost reads more like a novel, actually, but atmospheric. The mood here is so strong and there is an otherworldly feel to all of this even though it is realistically told. This was my first time reading Millet and I will for sure be looking into reading more of her work in the future.

A wonderful collection of intertwined, slice of life stories with a cast of characters who are brought to life with depth and ease.

Each story is a fascinating character study, and I do have to say I am especially floored by Millet’s uncanny ability to write realistic, self unaware male characters.

This was very much a surprising read for me considering I do not often pick up a collection of short stories let alone enjoy that collection. I find short stories to be often lacking in depth and was pleasantly surprised by this one. Some were better than others but overall the collective thread Perfectly encapsulated all the trappings of the modern world and the effects of technology on our personal relationships and perception of the world and other people. It felt like Lydia Millett was a kindred spirit because of the way that she’s so perfectly captured so many of my personal noises in aggravations, I can’t help but think that we would be good friends. It still wasn’t exactly an enjoyable reading experience focuses on things that make one uncomfortable but I think most people will read it and feel seen which is always a good thing.

This is a book of really beautiful interconnected short stories. Stunning little vignettes of everyday life. Lots of enjoyable commentary of modern life and all it's complexities and fast-moving complications. A really enjoyable read, an absolute treat of a book.

Lydia Millet’s collection of stories are refreshing, engaging, and quirky. I was gifted a copy and thoroughly enjoyed it. The stories tackled real life issues without coming off as being patronizing or giving a sermon to the reader. All of the characters in this collection are interconnected and seem to exist in the same world. This was an interesting technique. It almost made the short story collection more like a novel. I liked coming across characters we had met in a previous story in different ways and perspectives. I read this collection quickly because it as fast paced and moved along nicely. Prior to reading this collection, I read something much heavier and this was the perfect next move. There is a weight to the stories but they didn’t weigh me down. Seek out this book!

Poignant in a funny-sad way, these interconnected stories about mostly white upper-middle-class LA families deal with intergenerational attempts at connecting through and around technologies, coping with climate change and the dread of The End, stumbling on each other's porn histories, nail-biting over white guilt, breaking up and getting together. Connecting somehow. It doesn't add up to anything earth-shattering, but I loved it for its everyday truth-telling, a series of refreshing little paintings about our ridiculous modern world.

Atavists is a wonderful collection of linked short stories, a genre I particularly like--when well done short stories are an amazing artistic feat and when connected they give the satisfaction of a novel while also giving the opportunity to read an entire piece of craftsmanship in a short but concentrated experience.

The stories are about family and relationship but also about climate change, the end of the world, greed, the aftermath of the pandemic, depression, community. Millet is a fine writer--she creates complicated worlds with deft touches. The older generation (people in their 40s) feeling like "tourists" in a new world while the younger generations seem equally confused. Ordinary people of all ages trying to make sense of extraordinary times. A young man goes to therapy and the therapist can't decide if he is depressed or merely seeing the world accurately.

Millet tackles big themes but through people living through all the ordinary situations and relationships with which we are familiar. Two sisters--one, the "successful" career woman (Millet manages to use this sister and her job to make indirect commentary on capitalism--through the eyes of her mother, who carries the memories of her activist days--who is settling for an unsatisfying relationship from which she is too lethargic to end; the other sister is drifting until she finds meaning in an unexpected way.

The writing is beautiful. The people and situations feel real, vivid and the larger themes don't take over the life of the world Millet has created. Middle (or maybe upper middle) class people making their way and creating their lives--the world seems new but the challenges remain familiar: to make connections and find meaning individually and in community.

Atavists will be published on Apr 22 2025 by W. W. Norton & Company. I want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and the author for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

There are some interesting plots in this collection and it was novel to me how interconnected the characters were. Much of the dialogue lacked distinct personality, so many of the characters seemed to speak too similarly. Additionally, I’ve noticed that many Internet-age writings like these with a lot of meme-inserts and relevant-name-drops tend to lose their poignancy after a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Co. for the ARC.

These stories are a written humorous manner, which I could appreciate, and some of the author’s motifs on existentialism came through. My one issue is that this read got more and more confusing. With each new story, it became more difficult to grasp its connection with previous stories, and some were simply difficult to understand. I get that it had to do with the main character of said stories, but it was so confusing that it became unenjoyable.

I’ve been a big fan of Lydia Millet’s writing: I adored The Children’s Bible and enjoyed Dinosaurs. However, her most recent collection of short stories didn’t quite do it for me. Each story felt like a bit of flash fiction or 75% of an idea. Every time a story ended, I was surprised by it, as I felt like the thought never reached its conclusion. Despite this, I appreciated the interwoven nature of the stories and enjoyed seeing the same characters pop up again. I was also really intrigued by the premise of each of the snippets, and thought the characterization and scene setting was super sharp. This won’t be my favorite work of hers, but I’ll still be excited to read whatever she writes next. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

'Atavists' by Lydia Millet is a composite novel that comments on how different generations and a community interact. She interlinks people through not only their small daily interactions but also major social upheavals. Her comments on the COVID pandemic are some of the best I have ever read.

I am a massive fan of Millet. Her ability to transform the ordinary into a story that feels completely extraordinary is a true talent. In such short pieces, she makes the reader connect with the characters and expresses their emotions, motives, and actions compellingly. It is such a talent to be able to represent so many individual characters within each other's narratives, yet it is seamlessly done by Millet. At no point, did it feel forced to have the characters come in and out of each other's lives. It seemed natural and human, much like how in our daily lives we interact with those around us. I have found this in Millet's writing that she has a strong ability to represent what being human feels like.

The plot was simplistic but in a way that the focus is always on the characters and setting around. She delves into themes of grief, aging, and politics in a way that is enhanced by its lack of adrenaline pulsing. Instead creating a slice-of-life and commentary on the world around us.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of lit fic as Millet can truly cater to many audiences.

Thank you to #netgalley for this edition of #atavists. It's a book I won't stop recommending.