I usually turn to short-story collections to get out of a reading slump, and I think Lydia Millet’s book is doing the trick. I’ll definitely bring this along on a weekend trip. (Recommendation will be sent to subscribers of WordSmarts email newsletter)

Thank you to Norton, NetGalley, and Lydia Millet for access to this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I found Atavists to be an excellent, lyrical network novel that examines different aspects of modernity post-COVID, amidst looming climate catastrophe, in much the same way Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad did for the post-9/11 reality we still are living in the consequences of. In this book, Millet gives us the opportunity to look at the lives of this relatively small community of people surrounding an upper-middle class family experiencing their own inner and out turmoil and how they reflect on one another, how these disparate people shape one another's lives in small and not so small ways, and how, even though you certainly will not agree with every perspective, each individual-ist tells us something important about the world we find ourselves in today.

While many to most of these stories are effused with the sense of humor Lydia Millet carries throughout her work, there is always that existential dread pervading the entirety of it (as mentioned in a late conversation, going from funny to dark in seconds), but I think this is true for the state of things--and make no mistake, this is absolutely of our world and in our current times, bleeding from the cutting edge of mundane 21st century reality. The "grand illusions," the constructs we tell ourselves to keep our communities safe in a tribal, terrified primordial rust that no longer holds true still drives our actions whether we like it or not, disastrous or uplifting or both, we all speed towards the same vanishing point. Millet explores these realities and examines all the small ways we flinch in desperation to careen towards any other oblivion and asks us to try and smile along the way.

I’d like to start by thanking both W.W. Norton & Co. and NetGalley for granting me the amazing opportunity to review an advance copy of this collection of stories.

I can openly admit that I went into Lydia Millet’s new collection of short stories, *Atavists*, with more than a little bit of bias. Not only is she someone that I had already admired and treasured as a writer, but her 2020 novel *A Children’s Bible* is on my short list of what I consider to be the greatest works of modern fiction.

*Atavists* promised to be a grouping of short stories that all bear a loose connection with one another, but as I spent time with this collection, I began to see that the connections went far beyond a series of individuals making passing references to each other, the same characters appearing in multiple stories or just everyone being simply aware of each other in some sort of fashion.

The cast of characters at the heart of *Atavists* share one defining common thread, one of all being stuck at a that inexplainable part in their lives where they are searching for something that isn’t necessarily tangible and definitely not without complication. Call it meaning, call it a feeling or call it a purpose, but each of them feels the presence of a type of void that is near impossible to contextualize.

Buzz, an empty nest father, is seeking something that satisfies his soul while also fulfilling his need to help others after his doctors inform him that he will never run a marathon again. Twenty year old Mia is looking for direction in finding a career path that caters to her particular set of skills that others in her life label as outdated or of little to no use in modern society. Collette is hoping that a small revenge will help mend the part of her heart that still feels broken after a brief love affair ended with cruelty and ghosting. Nick wants an answer to something, anything. And the search goes on and on with each character supplying a fresh and unique look at what it means to want or need or feel something that they cannot put into words.

We get such a brief time with this rather large cast of characters and yet Millet so deftly brings each of them to life, colouring them in and giving each of them a depth that makes it feel as if their every movement is being acted out directly in front of us as the reader. Conversations are filled with references to modern events and situations and don’t ever feel forced or generic, but rife with language that gratuitously and accurately drinks up the eccentricities and nuances of at least three separate generations all attempting to understand each other with varying levels of success.

The art of the short story is one that eludes many people that attempt to make writing a profession or a hobby. And that’s not a criticism, but rather a testament to just how difficult of a medium it is to practice. With the stories that make up Atavists, Millet has perfected the balance of providing enough narrative and enough meaning for each story to stand on its own two legs, while also placing that little nag in the back of each reader’s head that just wants a little bit more time with the individuals living inside of each story. Because of this, Atavists is a perfect place to jump into the bibliography of Lydia Millet and get a little taste of what has made many of her novels feel so vibrant, so alive and so apt for the times that we live in.

What is an atavist? Merriam Webster, once one goes to the definition for atavism, defines it as a throwback, or "a recurrence of or a reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, approach", etc... In Lydia Millet's latest collection of inter connected stories, that tittle sees the title concept applied to the different generations in a few connected families. (Millet's 2018 Fight No More was also a set of interconnected stories).

There are 14 chapters, each titles with a different "...ist" (tourist, optimist, artist, etc..). These ists highlight the chapter theme or the character's viewpoint or main focus. Central to the stories are two families, living in the suburbs. There is the family of physically active Buzz and his wife Amy with their children Liza and Nick. The other family is the widowed artists Helen and her daughters Mia and Shelley. They are both well-educated, liberal and supportive of their children who are at the crisis points of their lives. Nick had a great youth but is foundering now that he is out of school and is deeply troubled by climate change. Liza impulsively married Luis a "DACA" child. Helen's children are not as troubled, but Mia is in her Gap year, finding her purpose as a volunteer at a retirement home. Shelley has a boyfriend she's not sure of long term and works in the mercenary world of spin.

We do have some tangents such as one man who preys on women for his own satisfaction, but overall we see several characters grow and change as they move through their lives. Change is a major theme, as well as aging. Chapter's focus on specific issues, but their is a general divide between the challenges of personal lives versus the climatic crisis ever drawing nearer.

Despite these foci, the world of Atavists seems a little to pat and resolved, there is the climatic change of the future, but most of the featured character's lives seem resolved or more stable by the end. Buzz has a crisis of body that changes what he can do, and he then he has several different obsessions. Nick's mental state seems to be calmed through treatment and he might have found some form of happiness. The creep even seems to get his own comeuppance in marriage.

This is a bit frustrating, as Millet writes well, and the shorter length still provided a lot of space to cover many different viewpoints and themes. The narrative voice is also deeply observance, but lingers with the question, are we ignoring or greatest threat?

Recommended to readers of contemporary fiction, interconnected stories or character driven fiction.

Lydia Millet simply doesn't miss. In her new collection of connecting short stories, Millet deftly explores our relationships, our families, our self-definitions and our rapidly melting world. The author manages to fully inhabit each voice so effectively one of my favorites reads of the year so far!

Sharp, funny, and a little heartbreaking. Some stories hit harder than others, but overall a smart, lively read.

This collection really surprised me—in the best way. I usually struggle with short stories, but the way these are connected made it feel more like a full, layered novel. Each character felt real and distinct, and it was so satisfying to see them reappear in different contexts.

The writing is smart and sharp, with just the right amount of humor and heart. Even the quieter moments held weight. I flew through this and felt genuinely sad to leave the world Millet created. A beautiful, thoughtful, and rewarding read.

This was a fantastic collection of short stories. They're linked, and throughout the collection you find a bit of character development and a broader plot lines happening behind the scenes, which is rewarding for a reader like me who usually finds it difficult to get invested in shorts. The stories here are focused on characters, and I think where Millet shines here is the ability to write fully developed, distinct, and convincing characters that are complicated, sometimes unlikeable, but always compelling. The themes that the stories touch (social media, coping with being helpless, figuring out who to be) aren't particularly revelatory, but the amazing characterization still made this a stand-out collection.

Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton for the e-ARC!

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.