For every girl who has had a regrettable relationship: go ahead, heave a collective sigh at Fuccboi, a book that celebrates a mediocre man. First-time novelist Sean Thor Conroe has named his protagonist Sean too, and in context, this first-person point of view works best for the portrayal at hand.
Though Fuccboi’s minimalist way with narration kept me intrigued, I found it consistently grating. Sean’s prospects, and the decisions he makes, are vexing and vague. He celebrates the glass ceiling, the suppression of female power, and revels in demeaning nicknames for his ‘baes’. If the suggestion is that Conroe is questioning toxic masculinity here, his character also embodies it.
Packed with colloquialisms and short, snappy, almost rap-like rhythmic prose, there isn’t much substance to Fuccboi, even if there’s an abundance of very contemporary style. Vainglorious in the extreme, enjoyment of this novel is likely dependent upon an understanding of modern millennial American culture that I’m unsure I possess.
Moreover, I find it borderline uncomfortable that men like this exist, or the pocket of society they occupy. I’ve never knowingly met a Sean and, even while feeling excluded from the mindset that pervades this book, am happy to keep things that way.
Fuccboi, Sean Thor Conroe (Wildfire)
Price: £16.99. Info: here
words BILLIE INGRAM SOFOKLEOUS