Karen’s Pick
February, 2024
The Vulnerables
Sigrid Nunez
Riverhead Books, November 7, 2023
The Vulnerables is a literary novel by Sigrid Nunez, the 2018 National Book Award winner for The Friend. This book is at the same time both grim and joyful, and, as in The Friend, has a stressful plot, uber angst-filled characters, and an animal.
Nunez has a writing style that is always fluid and engaging but at times, in The Vulnerables, it is a bit convoluted and jumpy. Perhaps this was her way to represent the trying environment about which the book was written. The plot is focused on the pandemic; in essence it is a COVID diary, identifying the all-too-familiar details and the trepidation of daily living.
Nunez’s characterizations are wonderful. The unnamed narrator of the book is a 65-year-old struggling woman writer, identified as a CDC venerable who agrees to housesit a parrot in a friend’s luxury New York City apartment. This arranged companionship is a comfort for both the narrator and bird. They spend hours together just watching and learning about each other… “he could hardly have been more grateful for my company than I was for his. I woke up every day looking forward to the simple chore”. This was just the sense of harmony she needed.
Nunez disrupts the harmony by introducing an aimless GenZ man named Vetch (like the weed). He appears unexpectedly in the apartment wanting his job back as (he was the first) parrot-sitter. She discovers he’s the irresponsible kid who “flew the coop to be with friends in Vermont”. The narrator tells the reader “He’s flaky and unfocused and everything about his presence in the apartment– his messiness! his casual good looks! his testosterone! irritates her.” He won’t leave. She won’t leave either. So, they are stuck with each other, trying their best to avoid any interaction.
… And then there’s the handsome and talented parrot named Eureka. Eureka, the narrator tells us, is “a curb against misanthropy, into which these days is all too easy to fall”. The passages about the parrot are funny and heartfelt.
Initially, the narrator and Vetch dance around each other to avoid crossing paths in the apartment. Not eating at the same time, different waking schedules, one-word responses to comments. However, neither seem satisfied with this situation. The caretakers anthropomorphizing of Eureka provides them with the basis for a warming relationship.
In most situations, it would be highly unlikely for these three characters to be thrown together. The Vulnerables reminds us what can happen when strangers who are forced to be together are willing to trust, learn, and emotionally share with each other.
Most of us would be happy to erase the imposed lifestyle changes we had to make as we tiptoed during the pandemic years, and the discomfort we felt most of the time. I found this book to be strangely hopeful by reinforcing personal decisions we made when we decided to move on. Reading Nunez’s The Vulnerables puts our focus on the importance of small acts of kindnesses that can help to allay fears and offer strength.
NOTE: I truly appreciated being reminded that we can all be “vulnerables”. I highly recommend this book.