“The Plot” by Jean Hanff Korelitz has one major problem (that could have been avoided)

The plot of “The Plot” centers around an author, Jacob, who is told by his student, Evan, about a plot of a book that is so good that no matter who writes it, it’s going to be a huge success. Then Evan dies, and Jacob opts to write the book himself without crediting Evan, only to learn that the plot was actually something that happened in Evan’s family and reveals the truth behind a real life mystery.

This *sounds* like something that could have made for a very compelling novel, but Korelitz makes one major error—she reveals the plot. This is a problem for multiple reasons:

First, a plot that is so great that any author, no matter how untalented, could write a guaranteed best seller about it would have to be *so* good that there’s no way any reveal could live up to those expectations. It’s like movies where a person is supposed to be the most beautiful person in the world. There’s no way you can cast that role and live up to those expectations.

But second, and more importantly—if Korelitz had been able to come up with a plot that did live up to these expectations, she simply would have *written that book instead*. There would be no reason to couch it in *this* plot because it would be guaranteed to be a best seller.

So the only way this book could really have worked is if the plot were merely hinted at but never fully revealed. That would have allowed readers to fill in the blanks and imagine a truly extraordinary plot. Instead, the reveal weakens the reader’s perception of both the plot and The Plot.

There are other issues in this book too (like how Jacob would obviously have just credited Evan, or how the major twist is given away way too early and way too obviously), but I thought this one was very interesting in that the very idea of the book is invalidated by the author.

What are others’ thoughts on this book?

by musicnothing