The Book of George is a mordantly humorous exploration of the arrested development of the modern man. George embodies the archetypal traits of the Peter Pan syndrome, depicted by his emotional unavailability, fear of commitment and avoidance of adult responsibilities.
George is an unlikeable protagonist yet the writing manages to keep his character engaging enough for the reader to be invested in his story. This character portrayal is narrated through the lens of the long-suffering women in George’s life - Jenny, with whom he is in a noncommittal relationship, and his mother and sister, who begrudgingly support him. George is oblivious to the emotional labour he imposes on these women as he bumbles through life from adolescence to early middle age.
A significant theme is the consequence of not having a strong father figure. George’s father was always a cause of mortification to him since he did not abide by the rules of conventional manhood. He was a meek, indecisive man who liked to shop as a hobby, much to his family’s embarrassment. ”What kind of father has a shopping problem?” George wondered. His father also splurges on a hair transplant that compounds his shame and guilt.
George gets a lot of lucky breaks but fails to follow through due to lack of ambition. He is allowed numerous chances because of the systems in place enabling his white, male privilege. When he seeks advice from his supervisor on pursuing a PhD, he is strongly discouraged. George’s reaction is predictably tone-deaf. “Is it the white male thing? Departments don’t want to hire another white guy?” George reflects that because things came easy to him, he never felt the need to develop a particular skillset or talent. The truth is that George is a privileged white man whose sporadic flashes of brilliance are compromised by his indolence.
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The Book of George by Kate Greathead: The arrested development and identity crisis of a modern man
George describes a story that he is writing as “a boy grows up to be a man who is disappointed by life”. This statement mirrors the overarching theme. With wit and shrewd insight, this book captures the millennial ennui in men and the crisis of identity that they face.
