Self Care

Starred review from April 6, 2020
In this sharp satire, Stein (The Fallback Plan) revels in wellness culture gone toxic. Devin Avery and Maren Gelb are cofounders of Richual, a Goop-like lifestyle company seeking to “catalyze women to be global changemakers through the simple act of self-care.” (That the company doesn’t have a maternity leave policy is a particularly juicy irony.) Richual uses sponsored content, paid influencers, confessional blog postings, and merchandise like “Believe Victims” beach towels to attract and monetize its user base. Devin, rich and devoted to a strenuous dietary and beauty regimen, is the face of the company, while Maren, who got her start working for a nonprofit feminist organization and has a mountain of student loan debt, ensures Richual runs “like a well-moisturized machine.” That machine hits a rough patch after a woman publishes an essay about the problematic sexual predilections of Evan, a former Bachelorette contestant and prominent male investor in Richual, threatening the company’s feminist bona fides and driving a wedge between its cofounders. The plot flies by, but the real appeal lies in Stein’s merciless skewering of startup culture, bloviating entrepreneurs, fatuous trends, and woker-than-thou internet denizens, a vanity fair of 20-somethings who are at once conspicuously privileged yet vulnerable, earnest yet hypocritical, navel-gazing yet engaged, independent-minded yet tribal. Stein’s sharp writing separates her from the pack in this exquisite, Machiavellian morality tale about the ethics of looking out for oneself. Agent: Erin Hosier, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.

Narrators Kristen DiMercurio, Karissa Vacker, and Nicole Lewis work together to create three very different millennial feminists trying to make a difference. The narrators help listeners differentiate superficial Maren, ambitious Devin, and quiet Khadija. While launching their female-centric wellness start-up, they find themselves covering for one another's mistakes. DiMercurio plays up the frenetic energy behind Maren's obsession with social media through rapidly delivered narrative and dialogue. Vacker creates a thoughtful persona for Devin by using pauses and a slower pace. Lewis highlights Khadija's cautious inclinations with subdued tones and a steady pace. Listeners looking for a contemporary novel with references to current events will enjoy this experience. M.R. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine