Such Good Work

October 15, 2018
The international refugee crisis and the struggle to stay sober preoccupy roughly equal portions of this thoughtful first novel, which follows an American graduate student to Sweden in the fraught years 2014-15. Unable to stay clean in the U.S., Jonas Anderson takes advantage of his dual citizenship and the concomitant free tuition to enroll at Lunds University, hoping a change of scenery will ease his craving for drugs. In fact, he still spends a lot of his time thinking about how great it would be to get high--true to life, no doubt, but not terribly compelling in fiction. Fortunately for Jonas and the novel, he also casts a sharp eye over the Swedish social and political landscape, noting that, while the Swedes resolutely and commendably welcome refugees flooding in from the Middle East, they are far more ambivalent about the Roma often found panhandling on street corners. Spotting other people's hypocrisies is one of Jonas' specialties, and it might serve him well if he ever gets back to his neglected creative writing, but so far substituting alcohol for drugs has done little to enhance his creativity. And he's not a particularly admirable character himself; he freely admits that the main attraction of his German exchange-student girlfriend, Anja, is that she'll be gone soon; temporary relationships work best for commitment-averse Jonas. Only after he moves to the nearby city of Malmö and impulsively signs up to teach Swedish and English to young refugees does he begin to think about people other than himself. He becomes particularly close with a boy named Aziz, and he learns to maneuver sensitively with children who have suffered and lost more than he can imagine. By the time the Paris terrorist attacks prompt the Swedish government to close its borders, we see that Jonas has achieved a new stability and sense of purpose--even though he's not entirely sure of it himself.A bit short on narrative drive, but Lichtman's low-key treatment of two highly charged subjects is refreshing.

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DEBUT In 2013, Jonas Anderson is an insecure creative writing instructor whose students view him skeptically, but no more skeptically than Jonas views himself. A recovering addict, Jonas battles his past life daily, and his desire for pills bedevils him always. A chronic failure at teaching and writing, Jonas stumbles through a series of jobs and relationships, eventually moving from the United States to Sweden. There he encounters a refugee crisis, an Afghan teenager named Aziz, and, ultimately, his purpose. Through first-person narration and a style that is deceptively simple and straightforward, Lichtman crafts a character we hope will succeed and with whom we can sympathize ("My life, like all lives, regularly presented me with pain"). Displaying a wry humor that sometimes harkens back to the wacky drug ravings of Hunter S. Thompson, the dialog is mostly sharp and witty, though toward the end it loses some of its edge, yet the overall narrative momentum and sincerity never flag. Using an episodic, sometimes staccato structure, debuter Lichtman sees Jonas through self-obsessed confusion to certain determination to do and be good. VERDICT Recommended for anyone interested in contemporary issues of politics and humanity.--Michael Russo, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge

November 1, 2018
Lichtman's auto-fiction debut finds late-twentysomething Jonas Anderson experiencing angst on two primary fronts, addiction and immigration. Pain pills and alcohol underpin Jonas' college-level teaching, costing him both credibility and contract renewals. He tries to help one student fight unfair plagiarism charges only to realize he's been duped. Seeking change, Jonas moves from the U.S. to Sweden, where he attempts to stay sober and have relationships, and bears witness to the refugee experience. Jonas wants to help immigrants in need, specifically Aziz, who defies simplistic characterization. Jonas struggles to understand Swedish politics and to explain Donald Trump's presidential candidacy to the Swedes. He struggles to write while sober. He struggles with the Swedish recycling system. The novel answers its primary question, Is doing good even possible?, with significant emotional honesty, and Lichtman's clear and accessible writing allows readers to explore its complex topics at many levels. Jonas is a bundle of shifting emotions, needs, and coping mechanisms, and rather than doing good, easing the discomfort of being human is at times all he can manage.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)