Meet the Bàrd - Tony Tulathimutte in conversation with Otegha Uwagba

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION

An audacious and original novel-in-stories following a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos.

Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the thorniest problems of modern life: sex, relationships, identity and the internet.

We see a tryhard male feminist's passionate allyship turn to a furious and debilitating nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that his feminism isn't getting him laid; a young woman's unrequited crush spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of both her sense of self and her group chat; and witness a shy late bloomer's flailing efforts at a first relationship lead to a life-upending mistake. As these characters pop up in each other's dating apps and social media feeds, or meet in dimly lit bars and bedrooms, they reveal the ways that our…