Alam’s observation of the attitudes and trappings of contemporary upper-middle-class American life has a delicious precision ... The tone of this novel grows darker and more claustrophobic than that of any of his previous work ... Alam chronicles Brooke’s slow poisoning so deftly it almost seems possible that she’ll turn positive thinking and fearless self-assertion into some version of the American Dream.
Bleakly satirical, unnerving ... A...sense of dread infuses Entitlement, with its steady poisonous drip of racism, generational wealth, classism and real estate envy ... Entitlement’s final chapters move as propulsively as a thriller, but they can be hard to read ... Brooke...commands the reader’s sympathy and compassion
It feels like the setup of a familiar drama about workplace power and its abuses, but Alam has something more interesting in mind ... Entitlement — a psychological thriller that subtly turns into a vicious exposé of affluent liberalism — also sneaks up on you, and wins you over.
Unsettling ... Although less propulsive and scary than the author’s apocalyptic comedy of manners, Leave the World Behind, it offers a similarly shrewd, stylishly written tale that zeroes in on the allure of wealth and our collective illusions about its ability to protect against misfortune ... A tale of insidious seduction ... Vivid.
Entitlement, a barbed, voluble book, is about how certain immutable traits, sex and race among them, persist as fundamental forces that shape our lives no matter how we might attempt to deny or overlook them. It’s also about what happens when status becomes a placeholder for identity ... We learn surprisingly little about Brooke’s internal life throughout the novel; Alam doesn’t reveal many of her preoccupations beyond her dedication to impressing Asher—and, as the novel progresses, her goal of purchasing an apartment despite her limited funds. She remains merely a sketch, a vector of ambition...This is a core element of the novel, but also a narrative shortcoming: We don’t get to know her, because she doesn’t really know herself ... Entitlement captures this dilemma, showing that although ambition and intelligence may open doors, the ultimate prize—true autonomy and agency—remains elusive for almost everyone. Brooke’s journey is a poignant reminder that, for most people, entitlement is not an identity but a trap.
Unsettling ... Although less propulsive and scary than the author’s apocalyptic comedy of manners, Leave the World Behind, it offers a similarly shrewd, stylishly written tale that zeroes in on the allure of wealth and our collective illusions about its ability to protect against misfortune ... A tale of insidious seduction ... Vivid.
Drags on beyond plausibility ... Bum notes in the bizarre narrative style Alam has chosen ... Other descriptions are either weirdly tin-eared ... The interesting elements of Entitlement – the investigation of the corrupting influence of money, the exploration of the imbalance between what we need, what we want and what we deserve – are buried beneath these distracting details. In the very final stretches, we get some narrative force at last, and a reckoning for the central characters. It comes as a relief, but not a redemption.
Alam’s critique of the billionaire class is heavy handed ... Not a thriller ... The narrative slowly burns with cultural criticism ... It’s a novel to ponder, to think about, and there is plenty to consider about wealth and the privilege that comes with it. There is less mystery and less suspense than Alam’s previous novel, but that is not the point.
Much of the fun after reading lies in teasing out how much of Alam’s excoriating gaze is aimed at his characters ... It bears pointing out that there is something slightly fatiguing about her ill-advised behaviour in the workplace ... There is no reason, however, to hold this against Entitlement too strongly. Alam’s writing is never more brilliant than when it ridicules corporate America.
Entitlement is about money, race, identity, privilege, class and consumption — inexhaustible topics that Alam has deftly and wittily explored in his earlier books. But, while there are scattered charged moments here, there’s an overall undercooked feel to this novel ... Neither Brooke nor Asher seems all that curious about themselves, their interior lives, which makes it harder for a reader to generate interest. They are vessels for ideas, rather than vital embodiments of how humans incorporate and sometimes resist those ideas ... my disappointment in this accomplished, yet strangely inert, novel.
Slyly provocative ... Isn’t as deeply felt as Alam’s previous novel...but anyone suspicious of the luster of capitalism and its promises will find much to mull over in this excellent work.
Offers a slow-burning, insidiously creepy study of money and culture in his quietly distressing novel ... Provides a deceptively silky backdrop for the kinds of thrillingly uncomfortable questions at which Alam excels
