In 'Audition', Katie Kitamura plays with the tension between age and power dynamics in relationships, using a premise where a woman meets a man half her age. The novel dives into the complexities of identity, suggesting that people's roles in life are often performative. Kitamura's narrative, featuring an unnamed female actor, is set in a glamorous, curated version of Manhattan, devoid of reality’s harsher truths. The story unfolds as the narrator grapples with abstract ideas about family, suggesting that relationships can be viewed as constructed performances, reminiscent of Shakespeare's assertion that life is a stage where everyone plays a part.
Kitamura exploits all the tension and ambiguity inherent in that opening scene to craft a short, propulsive novel that suggests that at work and in life, we are constantly trying out roles and making it up as we go along.
In this book she evokes a stylish city built out of glass, a sort of Mastercard ad where people have personal assistants and nibble on charcuterie trays in tastefully furnished apartments.
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