Big Swiss
by Jen Beagin
A woman who transcribes sessions for a sex therapist starts recognizing one of the clients in real life and becomes obsessed with her. Set in a small Hudson Valley town, the book is part dark comedy, part character study, and entirely strange.
“She had the kind of face that makes you forget what you were about to say.”
What It Actually Felt Like
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this for a long stretch at the beginning. The humor is dry and specific, the character dynamics are odd in ways that take time to settle into, and the whole thing operates on a frequency that isn’t immediately accessible.
Somewhere along the way I realized I was actually into it though. Not because it clicked into place but because the weirdness had its own internal logic and I was too curious not to follow it through. That might be the best endorsement I can give a book — it held me by being strange rather than by being good.
The Honest Part
This is a weird book and the romantic dynamic is uncomfortable in ways that are probably intentional. Not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s also funny in a way that’s easy to miss if you’re not on its wavelength.
Who This Is For
Contemporary fiction readers who like their books weird and unconventional. Good for when you want something genuinely different.
⭐⭐⭐ Weird enough to keep me in it. Worth it if you like odd.
Tags contemporary fiction, dark comedy, queer, mood: offbeat
