A Hole in the Story

From “one of America’s great living writers” (Jonathan Safran Foer), a prescient, high-stakes novel dissecting the ways we tell stories—privately and publicly—amid radical social change.

At his desk one day, prominent Washington journalist Adam Zweig receives a text message. “Btw want to give you a heads-up abt some breaking news,” it reads. “call soonest.” These are the early rumblings of an eventual media storm initiated by fellow journalist Valerie Iovine, who has gone public with her account of sexual harassment at the hands of esteemed editor and liberal icon Max Lieberthol. Twenty years have passed since the incident, and though Adam wasn’t directly involved, he quickly finds himself implicated, entangled, and ultimately questioning his moral, personal, and professional standing.

For Adam has a history with Valerie: as former colleagues, their workplace collaboration gradually tipped into flirtation, and then into mutual passion. Or so he thought. Confronted by the actions of his former boss and a growing awareness of rampant sexism in his industry, Adam, who had always thought of himself as progressive, is forced to cast a critical light on his own assumptions and behaviors over the years. What once seemed incidental becomes sinister; what then seemed like a casual encounter in truth played a part in derailing a young woman’s promising career.

Fascinating, tense, and scrutinous, A Hole in the Story is a close-quarters account of our changing media landscape, and what happens when one finds oneself on the wrong side of an awakening