A 1984 for our times - Newsday
The time: not so long from now. The place: AutoAmerica. The land: half under water. The Internet: one part artificial intelligence, one part surveillance technology, and oddly human–even funny. The people: Divided. The angel-fair “Netted” have jobs, and literally occupy the high ground. The “Surplus” live on swampland if they’re lucky, on water if they’re not.The story: To a Surplus couple–he once a professor, she still a lawyer–is born a Blasian girl with a golden arm. At two, Gwen is hurling her stuffed animals from the crib; by ten, she can hit whatever target she likes. Her teens find her happily playing in an underground baseball league.
When AutoAmerica rejoins the Olympics, though–with a special eye on beating ChinRussia–Gwen attracts interest. Soon she finds herself playing ball with the Netted even as her mother challenges the very foundations of this divided society.
A moving and important story of an America that seems only too possible, The Resisters is also the story of one family struggling to maintain its humanity and normalcy in circumstances that threaten their every value–as well as their very existence.
Praise:
“The Resisters is palpably loving, smart, funny and desperately unsettling. The novel should be required reading for the country, both as a cautionary tale and because it is a stone-cold masterpiece. This is Gish Jen’s moment. She has pitched a perfect game.”
— Ann Patchett
“I finished The Resisters with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face. Who could ask for a better combo? Gish Jen has written a one-of-a-kind book with great characters—especially Eleanor, who is the heart of the story—and a warm heart. Remind Ms. Jen that the great Ernie Banks said, ‘Hey, guys, let’s play two!’ Which is my way of saying I wouldn’t mind a sequel. Probably won’t happen, but a guy can hope.
P.S. This lady knows her baseball.”
— Stephen King
“Brilliant . . . A heartbreaking novel with the sensitivity, emotional range, and prophetic power of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.”
—Jean Kwok
“Can there be a dystopian novel of lightness, delicacy and charm? In which baseball, our subtle, determined summer game, is the means of resistance against the dehumanizing overlords? In which a girl who pitches like Satchel Paige is the blue-haired hero? Gish Jen says, Yes! And she is right! Where there is baseball, there is hope. And beautiful prose, too.”
— Cathleen Schine
“Inventive, funny, and tender, The Resisters is about family, baseball, and the future—but more than anything, it is about freedom, and it is about us—here, now.”
— Allegra Goodman
“I LOVE this novel as much as I fear the future Gish Jen has conjured in it. In this anything but brave new world, baseball is what survives and reminds us of our humanity, and a girl’s golden arm forms the kernel of resistance. What an enchanting conceit! Gish Jen has hit a grand slam.”
— Jane Leavy
One of Esquire’s Top 50 Sci-Fi Books of All Time
Reviews:
“A suspenseful, deftly plotted narrative. . .Gish Jen’s fifth novel imagines a dystopia so chillingly plausible that an entire review could be spent simply describing its components.” — BOSTON GLOBE
“Intricately imagined . . . The Resisters is a book that grows directly out of the soil of our current political moment.” — NYT BOOK REVIEW
“Triumphantly original. . .Don’t dare call this fantasy or science fiction. This is a world all too terrifying, dangerous and real. . . A ‘1984’ for our times.” — NEWSDAY
“The magic of Gish Jen’s latest novel is that, amid a dark and cautionary tale, there’s a story also filled with electricity and humor. . .Rippling with action, suspense and lovingly detailed baseball play-by-plays.” — WASHINGTON POST
“The power of The Resisters derives from Jen's inventive elaboration on how the change happened; how Americans gratefully handed over their autonomy. . . But, with her characteristic generosity and restrained optimism, Jen. . offers hope that, after a long, misbegotten seventh-inning stretch, Americans will once again take up the hard work of participatory democracy.”— FRESH AIR/NPR
“Winning, suspenseful. . .If you’re going to write a dystopian novel in our increasingly dystopian world. . . you may as well have some fun with it [and] Gish Jen certainly does.”— SEATTLE TIMES
“[Gish Jen] has long had a feel for sweeping, subversive explorations of American life . . . Jen reveals how America became AutoAmerica, one seemingly tiny but cumulatively fatal development at a time.” — ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"Jen takes us on an entertaining ride in a new yet familiar world as we contemplate that 'it was we who made our world what it was. It was we who were responsible. . . Empowering.'”— MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
“A feat. . . Gish Jen provides a new angle to the dystopian narrative while doing justice to that great literary sport: baseball.”— LOCUS
Astutely realized and unnervingly possible. . .Jen masterfully entwines shrewd mischief, knowing compassion, and profound social critique in a suspenseful tale encompassing baseball ardor, family love, newly insidious forms of racism and tyranny, and a wily and righteous movement that declares “RIGHT MAKES MIGHT.” — BOOKLIST ⭐️
Beautifully crafted and slyly unsettling. . ..The juxtaposition of America’s pastime and the AI-enabled surveillance state is brilliant. — KIRKUS ⭐️
[A] shrewd and provocative near-future novel . . . [Jen’s] intelligence and control shine through in a chilling portrait of the casual acceptance of totalitarianism. — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Masterfully built. . .at heart, a story about love, family, and the core values of freedom and independence. — CHAPTER 16
A stunning and utterly captivating story set in an all-too-believable dystopic future.— MEDIUM
A dramatic warning, offered with Jen’s signature humor and great affection for her characters.— RADCLIFFE MAGAZINE
Jen's captivating dystopian novel is about family and intolerance and how we slip-slide-surrender to technology, but its beating heart is baseball, and what it means to the real American spirit. . . the best of the spring baseball book lineup.— MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Much more than a cautionary tale, The Resisters feels like a generous space to sit with the sadder truths of our consumption-driven society. — BOOKBROWSE (EDITOR’S CHOICE)
The Resisters is most exciting because its dystopian world is relayed in Gish’s trademark style, with her crisp, vivid prose and occasionally vicious, often lovable and completely human characters.— SPECTRUM CULTURE
Readers weary of grim prognostications will appreciate Jen’s exuberant invention as she helps us consider a future we don’t want, how to avoid it, and the vitality of alternatives — YES! MAGAZINE
Stands with the best of dystopian literature.— RAIN TAXI
George Orwell would be proud.— SHELF AWARENESS
A new short story based on THE RESISTERS for the Privacy Project at the New York Times.
