Long Island Compromise

Listeners may never have met anyone like the Fletchers, but they’ll recognize something in them that’s both endearing and maddening. This is the art of Brodesser-Akner’s (Fleishman Is in Trouble) family epic. Emphasis on the “epic”—the Fletchers are ultra-rich, ultra-anxious, and falling apart. The book starts with the kidnapping of Carl Fletcher, whose family money comes from a Styrofoam business. His wife, Ruth, doesn’t bat an eye at withdrawing $250,000 for the ransom, and also doesn’t hesitate to drag her toddler son along for the ride. What follows is the trickle-down effect of Carl’s kidnapping (and the family fortune) on the adult Fletcher children years later: Nathan is so worried about his family’s safety that he can’t stop buying insurance, Beamer (once a Hollywood golden boy) needs the money to maintain his image, and Jenny despises the money so much that she gives it all away. Narrated deftly by Edoardo Ballerini, this is a compelling listen rife with anxiety. It is social satire at its darkest; the laughs are genuine, but there is also dread as the money starts to run out. The Fletchers make so many bad choices that the sense of their impending doom never quite dissipates, and Ballerini ably conveys the intense emotion and visceral stress that drive the plot.