Great Disasters: A Powerful Novel

 

 

 

Great Disasters (2025)

By Grady Chambers

Tin House/Norton, 256 pages.

★★★★

 

Have you ever hung out with a group of people throughout high school and felt so close to them that you assumed you’d be BFF? If so, you probably won’t be surprised when I assert that it usually doesn’t work out that way. That’s one meaning of Great Disasters, the debut novel of Grady Chambers, who has hitherto been known mostly as a poet. A second meaning is that alcohol abuse was a central feature of the friendship between the six boys/young men from middle school until middle age. Third, our narrator and central character, Graham Katz, has trouble maintaining connections to anyone by the time he reaches adulthood.

 

Chambers’ novel follows seven Chicago area individuals: the handsome but brash Ryan, his girlfriend Jana who is a ballet dancer, David who comes from wealth, Eduardo known as Caesar because of his love of pizza, Ben whose desire to improve the world gained the nicknames of “Club Kid” and “Greenpeace,” Neil, and Ricky. The six boys were all hockey players though one wonders how, as they were so often drunk. I don’t mean weekend binges, I mean toasted more times than they are sober. They drink in homes, at parties, at get aways, on the beaches of Lake Michigan, at hockey camp….

 

Although each will spend time away from Chicago–Ryan will serve in Afghanistan–one of the more interesting parts of Great Disasters is that the characters observe many of the nation’s disasters–9/11, Desert Storm, antiwar demonstrations, the housing bubble, recession, Trump’s election–away from the Eastern Seaboard. Insofar as Graham is concerned, Obama’s election is about the only thing that brought him joy. Put another way, in this coming of age novel, Graham has trouble doing so. He always thought that Ryan and Jana had a love that would endure forever, though he and his buddies sometimes did stupid stuff that jeopardized it. For the most part, Graham is sullen and perhaps suffers from OCD; he is the pessimist to his parents’ hopeful activism, messes up a research grant, and is bored with his post-college job. From high school on he has a string of girlfriends, none of whom are more important than drinking.

 

Here's another experience that you might have had. Did you ever get together with old friends and try to rekindle old times? Maybe get drunk or high and rehash old battles and memories? Of course, come Monday morning there are jobs, spouses, kids, perhaps an interview or a report that the boss needs. Such a weekend takes place on Long Island at one of David’s homes, a phrase that tells you his life has changed dramatically. Several friends, including Ryan, have gone through AA programs. His life is still complicated, but he too is married and has kids to consider. Graham is a writer, but for all intents and purposes, he is stuck in the past.

 

This is a very good novel, though it must be said that Chambers’ release suffers from bad timing. By this I mean that though set ups and circumstances are different, it bears similarities to Fredrik Backman’s My Friends. It’s very hard to tread upon even tangentially similar themes and compete with Backman, especially given Backman’s mastery of leavening humor to offset challenging material. Chambers’ novel certainly showcases comparable comradery, but given that Graham is akin to Peter Pan, the little boy who refuses to grow up, there is a tragic tinge to Great Disasters.

 

Two small glitches. It seems like a cop out to make Graham to narrator and alleged novelist of the same story. I also think the novel could have been benefitted from losing a character or two. This is especially the case given that Neil and Caesar have thin stories, whereas Graham’s high school girlfriend Sam(antha) has a bigger role than either of them.

 

Chambers is a gifted writer who takes us inside Graham’s confused mind, but Graham is also a hard character to like at times. Great Disasters is pegged as a novel about enduring friendship, but that’s not how I read it. If anything, it’s about testosterone poisoning and the destructive power of alcoholism. It’s a powerful work, but I’d recommend you leave a gap between reading Backman and Chambers, It would be another “disaster” to miss this one.

 

Rob Weir

 

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