Fight No More

April 23, 2018
Millet’s irresistible latest (following Sweet Lamb of Heaven) is a series of loosely connected stories centering on Los Angeles real estate, eccentric musicians, and a dysfunctional family on the verge of implosion. In “To Think/I Killed a Cat,” readers are introduced to rebellious teen Jeremy, plotting to sabotage the sale of his family house. Readers also meet his father’s scandalously young and pregnant new flame, Lora, who features in “The Fall of Berlin” as a trophy wife coping with her new surroundings to the bemusement of her new relations. The cast gradually expands to include a haunted au pair named Lexie; her predatory stepfather, Pete; and, in the title story, suicidal musician Lordy and his bandmates Ry and Lynn. These characters float in and out of each other’s lives throughout the stories, which include a warped retelling of Snow White in “The Men,” and a realtor mistaking Lordy for a foreign dictator in “Libertines.” Millet’s emphasis is on the inner lives of her characters, as they ruminate on subjects like Hieronymus Bosch, Joseph Stalin, and vampires. The aggregate effect makes this collection a sprawling, tender portrait of modern adults quietly trapped by their youthful aspirations.