Vacuum in the Dark

A Novel

By: Jen Beagin

Narrated by: Jayme Mattler

From the Whiting Award-winning author of Pretend I’m Dead and one of the most exhilarating new voices in fiction, a hilarious, edgy, brilliant, and one-of-a-kind new novel about a cleaning lady named Mona and her struggles to move forward in life.

Mona is 26 and cleans houses for a living in Taos, New Mexico. She moved there mostly because of a bad boyfriend - a junkie named Mr. Disgusting, long story - and her efforts to restart her life since haven’t exactly gone as planned. For one thing, she’s got another bad boyfriend. This one she calls Dark, and he happens to be married to one of Mona’s clients. He also might be a little unstable.

Dark and his wife aren’t the only complicated clients on Mona’s roster, either. There’s also the Hungarian artist couple who - with her addiction to painkillers and his lingering stares - reminds Mona of troubling aspects of her childhood and some of the underlying reasons her life had to be restarted in the first place. As she tries to get over the heartache of her affair and the older pains of her youth, Mona winds up on an eccentric, moving journey of self-discovery that takes her back to her beginnings where she attempts to unlock the key to having a sense of home in the future.

The only problems are Dark and her past. Neither is so easy to get rid of.

A constantly surprising, laugh-out-loud funny novel about an utterly unique woman dealing with some of the most universal issues in America today, Vacuum in the Dark is an unforgettable, astonishing audiobook from one of the freshest voices in fiction today.

©2019 Jen Beagin (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Great character development

Confused by the negative reviewers who liked Part I. Leaves me to believe they didn’t “get it.” This book isn’t ABOUT incest or rape etc. I wouldn’t find that a pleasant read, either. It’s about how Mona is coping with those issues and one that I think we’ve all faced - abandonment - and the adventures it leads her on. If you’re even a little bit voyeuristic, you’ll love this book. Mona doesn’t hold back and she doesn’t fade to black when it gets juicy. If you’re an NPR fan, you’ll probably love it too. Terry Gross is back in full force. What I really appreciate about Mona is that it’s like she’s a grownup having a “Yes Day.” She ends up in situations most of us couldn’t imagine by virtue of almost always going with the flow. In turn, Beagin can introduce us to the most delightfully weird but totally believable characters throughout the book. Yoko and Yoko…classic.

Love the weird!!

dark and funny! makes you feel like you're not the only weird one out there.

Loved it.

The same dry humor and tragic realism from Pretend I’m Dead makes this an almost-too-quick read. I noticed that the dog is also in the Big Swiss. I hope to read more of Mona’s adventures again in the future. JB is officially my favorite author now.

Unnecessary sequel

I finished “Pretend I’m Dead,” really enjoyed it and immediately bought this sequel. I really struggled to finish this one. I have no aversion to the “grossness” and Jen Beagin has long been recommended to me as similar to writers like Otessa Moshfegh and Miranda July.
The first half was a “50 Shades of Gray” sexual awakening, and the second half was a rambling redemption/healing journey for Mona and neither interested me. It felt like a compilation of the edited fluff and over-explained backstory from the first novel, which ruined how much I liked the first and the character. This is one where I should have listened to the negative reviews.

My least favorite Jen Beagin book

The first book I read by this author was Big Swiss, which was absolutely awesome. I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed listening to Pretend I’m Dead, as well- although it definitely didn’t hit me like Big Swiss. Although the characters are still quirky and interesting, I felt the story itself lacked the level of development I had hoped for based on Big Swiss. Vacuum in the Dark was actually hard for me to finish. I found it boring, intensely dialog driven, but with boring dialog… it was disjointed and at times I debated whether I could finish. Not every artwork can be a masterpiece, and I will say this book just wasn’t for me.

Disgusting!

This book starts out dealing with the graphic details of bowel movements. Then moved on to incest. I liked the first book but I feel like the author went way too far in this sequel. Save your money!

Drags on

I enjoy the last chapter and her interaction Terry . The story drags at times .

Such a waste of time!

Whoever thought this book is funny needs to check their brain. I wish there were your complexity satisfaction or your money back