Liquid
A Love Story
Mariam Rahmani
- The
- Marriage
- Plot
- meets
- The
- Idiot
- in
- this
- brilliant
- debut,
- which
- tells
- the
- story
- of
- a
- young
- Muslim
- scholar
- stuck
- in
- the
- mire
- of
- adjunct
- professorship
- in
- Los
- Angeles
- who
- decides
- to
- give
- up
- her
- career
- in
- academia
- and
- marry
- rich,
- committing
- herself
- to
- 100
- dates
- in
- the
- course
- of
- a
- single
- summer.
- By
- midsummer
- reality
- hits,
- taking
- her—and
- her
- project—to
- Tehran.The
- unnamed
- Iranian-Indian
- American
- narrator
- of
- Liquid
- has
- always
- believed
- herself
- to
- be
- the
- smartest
- person
- in
- the
- room.
- And
- from
- an
- early
- age,
- she
- and
- her
- best
- friend—a
- poet-turned-marketer
- named
- Adam—have
- turned
- their
- noses
- up
- at
- other
- peoples’
- riches.
- But
- two
- years
- after
- earning
- a
- PhD
- from
- UCLA,
- the
- narrator
- is
- no
- closer
- to
- the
- middle-class
- comfort
- promised
- to
- her
- by
- the
- prestige
- of
- her
- fancy,
- scholarship-funded
- education
- and
- the
- successes
- of
- her
- immigrant
- parents.
- Jokingly,
- Adam
- suggests
- she
- just
- "marry
- rich."But
- our
- protagonist,
- whose
- PhD
- thesis
- compared
- Eastern
- and
- Western
- views
- of
- marriage
- in
- film
- and
- literature,
- takes
- the
- idea
- seriously.
- She
- makes
- a
- spreadsheet
- and
- outlines
- a
- goal:
- 100
- dates
- with
- people
- of
- all
- genders
- and
- a
- marriage
- proposal
- in
- hand
- by
- the
- official
- start
- of
- the
- fall
- semester.
- What
- follows
- is
- a
- whirlwind
- summer
- packed
- with
- dating:
- martinis
- sans
- vermouth
- with
- the
- lazy
- scion
- of
- an
- Eastside
- construction
- empire;
- board
- games
- with
- a
- butch
- producer
- who
- owns
- a
- house
- in
- the
- hills
- and
- a
- newly
- dented
- Porsche;
- a
- Venmo
- request
- from
- a
- “socialist”
- trust
- fund
- babe;
- and
- an
- evening
- spent
- dodging
- the
- halitosis
- of
- a
- maxillofacial
- surgeon
- from
- Orange
- County.Only
- a
- tragedy
- in
- Tehran
- and
- an
- overdue
- familial
- reckoning
- can
- alter
- the
- narrator’s
- increasingly
- manic
- trajectory
- and
- force
- her
- to
- confront
- the
- contradictions
- of
- her
- life
- in
- Los
- Angeles.
- And
- as
- doubts
- begin
- to
- creep
- in
- about
- her
- marriage
- project,
- it
- suddenly
- seems
- possible
- that
- the
- eligible
- prospect
- she’s
- been
- looking
- for
- has
- been
- beneath
- her
- nose
- the
- entire
- time.For
- fans
- of
- Kaveh
- Akbar
- and
- Elif
- Batuman,
- Liquid
- delivers
- a
- modern
- tale
- of
- romance,
- loss,
- and
- belonging
- like
- no
- other.
- Mariam
- Rahmani’s
- gorgeous
- high-wire
- satire
- explodes
- off
- the
- page
- with
- verve
- and
- originality
- in
- this
- riveting
- spin
- on
- the
- classic
- romantic comedy.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
