A no-holds-barred comic achievement that lambastes the power structures keeping men like Oliver skulking the halls of academe ... Jha renders Oliver’s bumbling narcissism with impressive skill: Clearly writing across experience, she captures the clueless voice of a supremely privileged man to intense comic effect ... Every scene is infused with the anxieties of a democracy on the brink of collapse and an education system facing a crisis of conscience. To say The Laughter is just a campus novel is to vastly undersell it; it’s also the story of America’s changing cultural landscape and the major political and philosophical shifts needed to uplift and protect the marginalized.
The Laughter is an impressive performance, a disturbing character study of a man who views himself as the literal white knight in almost every scenario. Harding, however, never quite rises above being an avatar of the ugly American stereotype. Some of his actions and views strain credulity and feel overdetermined ... The Laughter seems to argue that the worst consequences of these structures are immutable and inevitable. Harding’s transformation — if there is one — is a devolution from workplace lust to a fatalistic level of criminality. Harding expresses little remorse or accountability for his actions, and that seems to be the somewhat heavy-handed point.
Author Sonora Jha presents her story and characters through Harding’s eyes. In the process, she paints a detailed portrait of a representative of academic white privilege who cannot imagine losing his authority ... Jha has crafted her novel as a kind of mystery. It isn’t until the end that we the readers realize why the police and the FBI are interviewing Harding. Is he really controlling the narrative as deftly as he thinks he is doing? ... The Laughter is a brilliant, totally absorbing character study.
A masterfully told, thrilling investigation of privilege, heritage and exoticisation ... Deeply complex and meaningful yet still an enthralling read, The Laughter is an ambitious novel that explores American social dynamics while never being preachy or overbearing. Jha’s characters represent vastly disparate political ideas, but she handles each of them with great precision and care. With this novel, she offers us a creative window into the sociopolitical dynamics that continue to reinforce cultural divisions in this country.
Jha’s bitingly satirical tale of a maddeningly clever yet frustratingly myopic protagonist is a gem ... Examining old prejudices, new fixations, and the sting of unrequited love, Jha offers a complete triumph.
Astutely provoking, deeply disturbing, and unexpectedly delightful ... Jha is an extraordinary storyteller, aiming her shrewd erudition and humor directly at elitism, sexism, and racism.
The narrative pulses with a sense of growing unease and inevitable tragedy that perfectly reflects its historical moment. This pacing is very careful, and suspense builds gradually. Oliver’s sheer lack of self-awareness makes for many a comic moment, particularly juxtaposed as it is with his academic grandiosity, although this precise pairing can make him a difficult narrator to spend time with—and indeed, as the novel progresses, he grows more despicable. Yet the overall result is a novel that is both enjoyable and thought-provoking.
A tense and propulsive tale of race and power on a Seattle college campus ... Jha mordantly portrays the bewilderment of Oliver and other liberal white professors at accusations of racism, and casts the self-congratulating sanctimony of younger faculty under a similarly withering light.
