The Threat

by Nathaniel Stein

Overview

The Threat tells the darkly comic story of Melvin Levin, a middle-aged man who is dissatisfied with his dull and mediocre life. That is, until he receives a mysterious death threat in the mail. Terrified at first, Levin soon becomes accustomed to the threat—and then, increasingly, delighted with it, thrilled with his newfound importance as a “threatened man.” But as his obsession with maintaining this identity becomes all-consuming, he risks blinding himself to the twin dangers of the threat itself and—perhaps worse—his own deranged mind.
At once absurdist, moving, and savagely funny, The Threat is a timeless parable of the comic lengths to which people go to protect the delusions that validate them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684429714
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/16/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	857,646
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

NATHANIEL STEIN has written humor and nonfiction for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Daily Beast, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles where he works as a television writer. This is his first novel.

Editorial Reviews

11/20/2023

New Yorker contributing humor writer Stein debuts with a darkly funny tale of a man’s unraveling after he receives an unprovoked death threat. Melvin Levin, 41, is focused on gaining a long-awaited promotion at his unspecified corporate office job when he finds an anonymously written letter laced with hilarious misspellings and mixed metaphors (“You’ve worn out my patients for the last time and your through. My fury will rain down on you like a pack of rapid dogs and you’ll be flayed”). To Levin’s surprise, the attention paid to him by “the threatener” inspires newfound confidence. His gait takes on a “hint of urgency, conveyed mainly by a slight hunching forward,” and he adopts a superior attitude when a colleague shares a story of a comparatively inconsequential mugging. After the threatener sends photographs of Levin as proof that he’s being surveilled, Levin is keen to share them with coworkers until he realizes they’re unflattering. As he grows restless with waiting for the threatener to act and annoyed by his coworkers’ banal fixation on things like a retirement party, he finally forces a crisis, which the author resolves with surprising irony. Stein’s diverting story of self-aggrandizement is worth a look. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A comic masterpiece.” —Andy Borowitz, New York Times-bestselling author of Profiles in Ignorance

“I savored every word of Nathaniel Stein’s hilarious, expertly crafted, giddily uncompromising debut novel. The Threat is full of pathos—loneliness, alienation, existential horror. But Stein is such a deft comedic stylist that all I experienced while reading it was joy. It's a fantastic book and I hope he writes a million more.” —Simon Rich, Thurber Prize-winning author of New Teeth

"Nathaniel Stein has written a comic novel unlike anything that we have on hand recently: a small-scale exquisitist portrait of an improbable existence that has elements of both Kafka and Bruce Jay Friedman, and manages to be both appealingly absurd and strangely touching. A genuinely original book." —Adam Gopnik, New York Times-bestselling author of Paris to the Moon

"The Threat is a brilliant tour through one guy’s self-obsession as he desperately tries to stay alive while also deciding why and if he really wants to—a darkly hilarious mystery about a man who finally comes to life when someone threatens to kill him. A genuinely funny novel—the kind we need more of!" —Steve Hely, Thurber Prize-winning author of How I Became a Famous Novelist

“The Threat [is] absurd, hilarious, and quite touching. It’s my favorite book of the summer.” —Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and former Editor-in-Chief of Wired

"New Yorker contributing humor writer Stein debuts with a darkly funny tale of a man’s unraveling after he receives an unprovoked death threat… Stein’s diverting story of self-aggrandizement is worth a look. —Publishers Weekly

"This debut is an enjoyable, easy recommendation to readers looking for a humorous escape.… An excellent addition to displays of quick, engaging reads. Fans of Less by Andrew Sean Greer will enjoy Stein's tongue-in-cheek writing style.” —Library Journal

“Stein's clever first novel will charm readers; its simple premise snowballs into a side-splitting, thought-provoking meditation on how one man's seemingly inconsequential life finally overflows with grandiose meaning when faced with the prospect of death.” —Kathleen Gerard,Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

11/01/2023

DEBUT Humorist and television writer Stein's first novel introduces readers to Melvin Levin, a creature of habit who lives so cautiously that he has carpeted his apartment in cardboard so as not to disturb his noise-sensitive downstairs neighbors. Levin's mundane existence, centered around toiling at an office job, takes a turn when he unexpectedly receives a death threat in the mail. Though poorly written and vague, the threat revives Levin, whose suddenly fleeting life is reinvigorated with purpose and anticipation. Levin begins eschewing work obligations, treating himself to fine dining, and enjoying, almost craving, the increased attention the threat brings him. Though centered around a death threat, this short novel is a satirical character study, not a mystery or suspense story; it could be an excellent addition to displays of quick, engaging reads. Fans of Less by Andrew Sean Greer will enjoy Stein's tongue-in-cheek writing style. VERDICT It doesn't necessarily break new ground, but this debut is an enjoyable, easy recommendation to readers looking for a humorous escape.—Mary Kamela

Library Journal

Pete Cross uses an arch tone and deliberate pacing to deliver this dark satire of contemporary life. Office drone Melvin Levin's existence is flat as a pancake until he receives an anonymous and seemingly unmotivated death threat in the mail. The threat breaks the spell of his drone life and pushes him into a frenzy of paranoia and frustration, but for the first time in a long time he feels truly alive. What did he do to deserve this? Cross's portrayal of the telephone voice of the potential killer adds a dark tone reminiscent of CATCH-22 and A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. For fans of outrageous, biting social commentary wrapped in a white-hot slapstick package. R.O. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

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