Editorial Content for Atavists: Stories

An atavist is generally known as a genetic characteristic that reappears after disappearing for at least a few generations. Lydia Millet’s latest book considers the concept from a social and psychological perspective where particular traits, such as optimism and creativity, reverse or change the thinking and behavior of those exhibiting the traits.

Described as a short story collection, ATAVISTS reads more like a composite novel as the stories are connected and the characters weave in and out of the narratives. And they are so finely and humanly drawn, placed so smartly by Millet in situations both mundane and thoughtful, resulting in a stellar exploration of humanity in the current moment.

"These brief glimpses into the lives of the figures who populate ATAVISTS are fascinating and compelling.... This is yet another fantastic, memorable, timely and meaningful offering from Lydia Millet."

The book opens with Trudy in “Tourist” as she obsesses over the social media feed of an old friend who highlights his good parenting and sensitive husband-ing. She turns to her 14-year-old son, Sam, to gain some insight into the online universe to both stoke and assuage her anxieties. But it’s in a moment of spontaneous freedom that ends the story that readers begin to see the kinds of contradictions and surprises that Millet is interested in here.

Siblings Liza and Nick are present in several stories. In the first, “Dramatist,” Nick is a 22-year-old college graduate living at home, promising that he is working on a script but mostly LARPing with his girlfriend. Liza, who is even younger than Nick, is married to Luis, a great guy who needed a green card. When she takes a peek at Nick’s script, she is hoping for fodder for teasing him about fantasy tropes and magical creatures. But what she reads only brings her sadness and empathy. In “Fetishist,” Liza and Nick’s father, Buzz, suspects that Luis is addicted to a particular kind of online porn. He doesn’t want to share what he discovered in Luis’ browser history and confusingly finds himself curious about the content.

Meanwhile, another family --- Liza’s friend, Mia; her sister, Shelley; and their mother, Helen --- is navigating their own relationships while still mourning the loss of Michael, their father and husband. Helen sees the world through her artist’s perspective (this story is indeed titled “Artist”), while her girls are more pragmatic. Yet, over the course of the collection, Mia blends this pragmatism with some of her mother’s visionary and creative outlook to find a way to make her gap year meaningful.

Not everyone is charming here. In “Pastoralist,” readers meet a predatory misogynist who views himself as shunned and rejected by women, even as he enters into various relationships only to sabotage them. There are other bullies in these pages, mostly privileged and smug, who are unable to understand the human connections around them and sit at the heart of the book.

These brief glimpses into the lives of the figures who populate ATAVISTS are fascinating and compelling. Sometimes funny and often poignant, the stories are always written with an honest and original voice that highlights the human condition, with all its questions, fears, joys, messes, mistakes and abundance. The families at the center of the book, and many others in their orbit, choose to look at the troubles of our times with a bravery and hopefulness that still courts cynicism, allows for dread and malaise, and manages to rush toward love of all types.

This is yet another fantastic, memorable, timely and meaningful offering from Lydia Millet.