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I didn’t realize Taffy Brodesser-Akner was writing the Great American Novel until about halfway through.

Before that, I was reading in fits and starts.

I thought it was an out of control comic novel, until I realized it was not. And then I was driven to finish it.

You won’t have the same experience I did unless you’ve already read “Long Island Compromise” or stop here, because I’m going to break my rule, I’m going to tell you what it’s about.

A multi-generational Jewish family. From nothing to success and then…

Yes, Zelig immigrates from the old country, starts a styrofoam factory and everybody gets rich. But what happens to the subsequent generations? What’s it like to grow up rich, to never have to worry about money, how does it affect you?

This is a very Jewish novel. Not that non-Jews cannot enjoy it, but if you’re a Jewish Boomer or Gen-X’er you’re going to identify. This is your life.

Although the focus is on the Fletchers, there’s the families that struggle, a household driven by an intellectual. Is money everything, is it the defining characteristic of society?

If you grew up in the Jewish suburbs of the fifties, sixties and seventies…everybody knew each other, from the synagogue, from the Jewish Community Center, from camp. It was very different from today. On some level I envy my parents, they had an incredible social life, nobody I know has the equivalent today. And there was a constant run of gossip about everybody, from parents to children. We knew everybody’s wealth, how well they did in school, who they were dating. It was nearly incestuous.

They used to make movies about this. About the country club, about the small society that was everything to its members.

Who drove a Cadillac, what neighborhood your house was in, where you went to college, these were bedrock, and it’s almost like the rest of the world didn’t exist.

And we, the progeny of our parents who’d succeeded, had opportunity, we were allowed to live our dream, even though most ultimately punted, many ultimately living the same life in the same neighborhood as their parents. I had no intention of staying, I couldn’t wait to get away. But in retrospect, I was the outlier.

So the father busts his balls to earn a living so…you don’t have to focus on money, you’re not struggling. Many of my contemporaries are not doing as well financially as their parents, because they just don’t have that hunger, that drive. Their best lives were led when they were living at home, going on trips, to restaurants, living it up in retrospect. It took money, and there was enough, but this was also when there was a strong middle class, when mothers didn’t have to work unless they wanted to.

But the successful… There were choices buried in the past. As my father said, “Schnooks get sh*t on.” This is one of the reasons people hate the Jews, because they’re loud, they test the limits, they won’t take no for an answer. Why don’t they just shut up and wait their turn like the rest of us?

Well, having been excluded from so many opportunities, jobs, clubs, the Jews had to find their own way to survive. And many of the goyim don’t like it.

Is every Jew rich? Far from it. But I’ve never been to a quiet dinner with Jews, it’s like the dinner table in “Radio Days,” everybody talking over each other.

So…

With opportunity, what do you do?

Well, there’s always one who ends up running the family business.

And then one who gets into drugs and alcohol and tests the limits.

And another one who does their best to hide their wealth, they’re ashamed of it.

Once again, the Fletchers are rich. How do people treat them?

Beamer is charismatic, a star from the outside, but crippled on the inside.

Nathan is afraid of the world.

And Jenny, the baby, the only girl, wants almost nothing to do with the family. She keeps going to school, but has no friends, because she can’t accept that people are plain, like the ones she grew up with in Middle Rock, on Long Island. Ultimately she realizes friends are everything, is it too late? Has she been such a dilettante, wearing blinders, that she’s missed her whole life?

I know people like this. Who don’t have to work. They’re lost. In many cases even if they have a job. They’ve had advantages, believe they’re above the hoi polloi, but don’t really fit in, to the degree they even want to try. They’re ultimately lost souls, living on the last vestiges of the money, assets sold to keep up their lifestyle, and then a new hungry generation takes over.

“Long Island Compromise” is not the easiest book to read. Not because the words are big, but because there’s a lot of interior dialogue, nearing stream of consciousness. The book is broken down by character, and each one is gone into in extreme depth. And each has their own personality, which they’re hobbled by…aren’t we all?

“Long Island Compromise” is one of the best-reviewed books of the year, the number one best-seller in the “Los Angeles Times” last week. All of which is why I read it. I was thrilled to get it so soon from the library, but as I waded in…I truly wondered whether I could finish. At first it verged on a beach read. And then it seemed like humor took precedence. But as I got deeper into the characters, one by one, the book came alive.

“Long Island Compromise” is not a slam dunk. You’re on your own here. It’s not as breezy as early Philip Roth, yet not as dense as Roth’s later works. I could recommend many other books if you only read novels occasionally. But if you’re Jewish, if you’re willing to look at yourself…

Ultimately, “Long Island Compromise” is in Franzen territory, but without the fog of heaviness in his books. Actually, I’d rather read “Long Island Compromise” than all but the last Franzen, “Crossroads,” which is great in case you gave up on him, but the lightness of “Long Island Compromise” is absent.

I don’t know… I usually only feature recommended stuff, or stuff everybody is talking about, but Taffy Brodesser-Akner captured an essence of my life, which I wasn’t prepared for, her previous novel, “Fleischman Is in Trouble,” did not attempt to chew off as much, and I didn’t love it.

And she came up via journalism, as opposed to the Iowa Writers’ Workship. How high should one’s expectations be?

I was caught off guard, I was ultimately enraptured, “Long Island Compromise” took me away from my everyday life while ironically evoking it.

I just had to write about it.

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That’s how much people hated that Biden was the candidate.

James Carville, Ezra Klein and the “Washington Post” wanted a mini-primary, a vetting of the Democratic candidates. But the truth is literally one minute after being told by Biden that he was dropping out, Kamala called her all potential opponents and asked for their endorsement. Just that fast. Sewing up the nomination for herself. Got to give her credit for that, even though I was not of the belief she would be the best candidate, but now she is.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Trump’s victory was a fait accompli. I mean the man took a bullet! Now that’s in the rearview mirror and seemingly has no effect. We now live in internet time, which is very fast, laden with a zillion events, you may peak today, but tomorrow you may be history. In any vertical you must build to last, momentary success doesn’t yield long term success, where all the profits lie.

So now there is a huge surge of excitement for Kamala, to a degree I’ve never seen in my lifetime. It far eclipses the Eugene McCarthy surge of ’68. Then again, the enemy was Nixon, not the fall of democracy.

Did you see that that was Biden’s sole campaign strategy, to point out the negatives of Trump? You can’t win without talking about the future, which Kamala is doing with her “freedom” campaign.

And Trump is too stupid to know that debating Harris is his only way out of this mess. Right now, Kamala is giving scripted speeches in a bubble. All vetted, playing to acolytes. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just that those who remember her from 2020 know that she came across poorly in the debates. If Trump were smart, he’d roll the dice and have a debate and hope that Harris made a mistake, revealed negatives, but the Donald is running scared.

If Trump was smart, and he’s not, and it’s only Trump, he’s running the Republican Party, he’d kick Vance off the ticket and nominate a moderate with experience. Why not? It was his choice. We’re living in a new era. Vance is a liability. But to axe him would show a flaw, and Trump believes he’s invulnerable.

But the Democrats must realize they cannot win by painting Trump as the doofus he is. That is not a winning strategy. But the best thing about Trump is he’s self-immolating. Just give the man a mic and he blows himself up, and it’s laughable.

So how long will the Kamala excitement last? Traditionally, not very long. But we’re in uncharted territory. People now have a champion, they see the way out, and they’re excited about that. It’s like a football team that’s down and suddenly scores a couple of touchdowns, the fans are excited until the final whistle, whereas the previous leaders and their fans are demoralized, how did they blow this lead?

Furthermore, contrary to insiders’ predictions, the lack of vetting has helped Harris. By not having to duke it out in primaries, most people are unaware of her flaws. In truth, most people don’t know much about Harris, Trump said he only recently realized she was BLACK!

That’s how out of touch Donald is. Just like the Democratic Party that tried to convince us Joe was up to another term. Have you seen him on camera recently? He seems a step away from the old folks home.

But even more interesting is how Biden was instantly forgotten. We debated his candidacy for over a year, it was front page news, and then he exits and it’s like he was never in the race. That’s the modern paradigm. You’re here until you’re gone, and then you’re in the rearview mirror, discarded.

To tell you the truth, the less people see Kamala the better. Not because she’s Kamala, but because her candidacy is now bigger than her, it’s democracy versus potential fascism, it’s dirty old man versus modern woman, it’s us versus them and finally we’re winning!

The “Washington Post” still has Harris behind in the electoral college, in the toss-up states. But speaking of toss-up, Nate Silver says the election now is one.

What Democrats have to realize is… Many people voting for Trump hate the man. But they want fewer regulations, fewer taxes, fewer takers, defeat of the woke and the support of Israel…the list goes on and on. How many of these people can be brought to Harris’s side?

I’m not sure any can.

But these elections are decided by a small margin. Getting out the vote is key.

Then again, if you’re Black and you’re in one of the toss-up states… Odds are you’re going to stand in line for hours to cast your vote while whites walk right in.

This is the Supreme Court that got rid of the Voting Rights Act, saying there was no racism anymore. Yeah, and no antisemitism either…

The Republicans have done their best to stack the game against the Democrats. But just because the game doesn’t favor you, that does not mean you cannot win.

Trump is worse off for not being vetted. By staying out of the debates he not only didn’t hone his chops, didn’t get to adjust his presentation, he came across as imperial, a deserving king, but the man is all flash and no substance, and doesn’t seem to know it.

And Elon Musk’s X/Twitter, under the rubric of absolute freedom of speech, shut down the account of White Dudes for Harris. Musk himself is on the run, did you read the exposé in the “Wall Street Journal” on Tesla’s self-driving capability? Turns out it’s massively flawed, because Musk insisted on cameras only, excluding lidar, trying to save money, and crashes keep happening. And now the “Journal” is doubling-down, questioning the future of Tesla robotaxis, upon which the entire company’s value is based. Don’t forget that the “Journal” single-handedly brought down Theranos. And the Elizabeth Holmes company even hired David Boies to intimidate reporting, and that didn’t work.

A house of cards I tell you.

How could the Democratic Party get it so wrong? How could it not see what the average citizen did?

Which begs the question what industries are blind as to the needs of their customers. Does the American public really want the tripe the major record companies are purveying? The movie studios are completely lost. The only thing that seems to consistently work is reboots and sequels but fewer of them than ever before succeed. The lifeblood of the movies is innovation, that’s what brings the audience to the theatre, but it’s scarce, because the brass is afraid.

This Kamala surge is a phenomenon.

But please don’t mistake the excitement for ultimate victory. It’s a long way until November. Just like Trump’s wound is now a footnote, Harris could screw up or the public could move on…

People love to support a winner. And right now, that’s what Harris appears to be.

As even the Republican Party sees Trump as a loser. The news is filled with his faux pas, criticism from the old school. They’re coming out of the woodwork, Sununu in the “Times,” telling Trump to cool it, but he never does, he’s like a spinning top, out of control, listening to no one.

And tone-deaf to boot.

And another Republican told Trump to stop trotting out B-list celebrities, when the Democrats have all the A-players.

It’s an amazing movie to watch. The script has been flipped, now Trump is the old guy one step from the graveyard, a man who has lost a step.

We’re never going to heal the nation. Not as long as we have two different news systems, if not more, not as long as the public is uneducated with no power of analysis. Now is the time to carry the ball to the goal line.

But the momentum can shift just that easily. As Carville said, be ready for the Harris attacks, hell, if you’re on X/Twitter, the site is flooded with them already.

It’s not going to be easy, but it’s doable.

All because losing Joe Biden dropped out.

The optics are bad.

Does the son of the founder of Amazon run Microsoft? They are competing on cloud computing. There are really only three major players in that sphere, just like the record companies.

Then again, although not mature, cloud computing is simple compared to breaking acts. Then again, how influential are record companies these days anyway?

So there are two parts of breaking an act. Signing and then marketing. Used to be it was about scouring the world to find unknown acts to develop. Now, everybody is aware of the talent available, and it’s about signing said acts. And the major labels sign fewer acts than ever before, certainly compared to the overall marketplace.

Has Elliott Grainge earned this position? A more important question is whether Robert Kyncl knows what he’s doing. The history of the record business is outsiders wreaking havoc, whether it be Bob Morgado or Andy Lack, the former who got power-hungry and destroyed the Warner Music Group and the latter who came from news and was involved in the rootkit scandal and… You remember Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin, you only have to refer to them by their first names, but those two clowns?

Kyncl comes from visual entertainment. What has that got to do with records? Other than telling labels they should take less for YouTube play of their videos, nothing.

So will Elliott Grainge stop discussing business with his dad?

Talk about incestuous… Used to be label heads gave their progeny gigs in their own companies, they didn’t get to run competitors.

In all, this elevation of Grainge is not a triumph, it reveals the record industry to be the retro enterprise it’s become. Once again, fewer acts are signed, almost none are broken, and everything happens on the road. We keep hearing Lucian Grainge is the most important and powerful person in the music business, but everybody knows it’s really Michael Rapino. If for no other reason than Rapino PAYS THE ACTS!

Get a major record deal and you’re giving up most of the action. Which is why so many remain independent these days. All the majors can do is try to blow you up into a superstar. What’s their success ratio here? Pretty poor. And it’s not based on music so much as data. Create a great record without all the socials and streams and the major is not interested.

Unlike Netflix. Which believes the consumer base is wide, with different interests, and the key is to create more product to satisfy the public at large.

Quick, name the heads of the movie studios? You can’t! And I’m telling you, the heads of the major record labels are equivalent. If you’re inside, you may know Elliott Grainge, but if you’re outside, who gives a damn.

As for the studios trying to get into the streaming space… What a farce. They’re overcharging for little product, believing their histories are enough, as if people are aware of which company made which film or TV series. Hell, series that these traditional outfits own don’t blow up until they’re on Netflix, what does that say?

As for the genres of music the majors market… It’s the Spotify Top 50, the acts with the shortest career arcs, who oftentimes can’t even sell a ticket.

And rather than address this imbalance, how they no longer control the overall marketplace, we get all this gobbledygook from the majors, about initiatives in fan engagement…all of which has nothing to do with the overall marketplace. If hits were enough, these studio streamers would triumph. Turns out “Star Wars” spinoffs are not enough to get people to sign up for Disney+ and continue to pay every month. Hell, I’m not interested, but I watched every episode of “Baby Reindeer.”

Where is the labels’ “Baby Reindeer”? Something left field, unexpected, that becomes part of the public discussion, that you watch and don’t forget.

If you think Sabrina Carpenter is a great story, you probably eat chocolate bars for dinner.

The real story of the summer is Zach Bryan, the grosses are amazing. And he is signed to Warner, but he’d made headway previously. And what he is selling…is otherwise completely absent from the Spotify Top 50, what the majors are selling.

All this Chappell Roan hype. I’m not as enthusiastic as most, the music doesn’t affect me with an iota of the intensity that Bryan’s does. And how did she break? By opening for Carpenter live, not all the traditional ways labels used to break acts.

The Big Three focus on terrestrial radio. Quick, does the computing industry still focus on floppy disks?

All we hear in tech is about going forward. The story of the past two years has been AI. Everybody in America has heard of it. And the Sphere is bigger than any act of the past few years. What does that say? That the labels are out of touch!

Do I think Elliott Grainge is in touch, has his finger on the pulse, has the magic formula?

Of course not. He’s just another major label wanker with a pedigree. The history of business is outsiders disrupt. Grainge is the ultimate insider, all he’s really got going for him is he’s young. He’s the antithesis of the tech titans, whether it be Zuckerberg or the Instagram guys or…who came out of nowhere, took the tools and made something new.

Yes, the tools. The notes. It’s what you do with them. And according to the major labels, you can do very little with them.

How did the Big Three squander pubic consciousness? Used to be music drove the culture. Now it’s a sideshow, because what is purveyed is for children with very little lasting value. All the excitement is ginned-up publicity. The music industry is like Joe Biden, telling us he’s not too old, and has it under control, and that turned out to be a laugh.

The story of Kamala Harris’s success is how much people hated that Joe Biden was the candidate.

And most people hate what the majors sell.

You can go to a gig and hear something new and different that titillates…

As for raw business… Unless you’re a superstar, streaming doesn’t pay well, if at all. The script has flipped, used to be the tour was the advertisement for the album, now the album is the advertisement for the tour. And that aphorism was coined over a decade ago!

And how did the majors deal with this?

By trying to horn in on the acts’ interests, the so-called 360 deals.

Where is the innovation?

Absent.

So you’re going to find another act that sounds like the last one, get the brain dead media to hype it and most people are not even paying attention.

Meanwhile, all we get is endless consolidation.

And even this doesn’t satiate Wall Street. Universal reported a slowdown in streaming subscriptions and the stock tanked, massively.

Meanwhile, Spotify keeps innovating, with podcasts, audiobooks…sure, it laid off people, but the company is not moribund. Where are all these new ideas at the major record labels? Nowhere to be found. Or de minimis in impact. They’re operating like it’s the same at is ever was, and nothing could be further from the truth.

Even the people in the business would rather talk streaming television than music. Many have contempt for the audience. They’re inured to the lifestyle while professing their adoration of music, they keep telling us it’s the same as it ever was, as if Taylor Swift is the Beatles, and she’s not.

Grainge signed Ice Spice. I’ll give him that. But how much penetration does she really have in the marketplace. This is not Adele, never mind Trippie Redd and 6ix9ine. This is the guy you’re putting in charge?

Go for it. Perpetuate the insular old model. See if that works for you.

It hasn’t for years. The big story is how the majors can’t break an act.

And we’re supposed to care about them?

They’re in a bubble. In a world where there’s no barrier to entry. Without their catalogs, the majors would be moribund.

That’s the record industry folks.

What a joke.