Book Review: Canceled

Reviewed by Erica Ball

A satirical, ribald take on the dangerous intersection of internet celebrity and reality TV

Don’t let the opening line and its allusion to Jane Austen’s give you a false sense of what you’re in store for. The humor is crude and loud and raunchy in Tim Cann’s Canceled.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man seeking fortune must be in want of a job.” 

John is a TV comedy writer who accidentally takes a job on the set of a new show featuring the consistently offensive Lane Bryantt and her wannabe-influencer adult daughters Angela and Gina. Having longed for fame and riches, the Bryantts are ecstatic for the chance to become household names and are determined to do whatever it takes to ensure the show is a hit. 

Despite their original enthusiasm for the project, the Bryantts live through the loss of control of their image and privacy and quickly realize things are not going their way, so they start to regret tying their fates to the fickle nature of the internet and social media. They must begin the Herculaean task of trying to get back in the driver’s seat of this runaway vehicle or to escape completely. 

Their situation may be sympathetic, but it’s hard to feel too bad for these characters. The Bryantts are alt-right caricatures and offensive in a lot of ways. But they aren’t alone in their unlikability. No character comes off as perfect in the sex-obsessed dystopian world of this book. Even the hapless John, pretty much just along for the ride, can be vulgar and offensive. 

The author excels in creating over-the-top situations with cartoonish characters who are easy to laugh at. And there’s no way for the reader to predict what will be next on the chopping block. All sexualities, gender identities, religions, and ethnicities are fair game, so it’s easy to say the book is not targeted toward readers who are sensitive to these topics. 

This book will be best enjoyed by readers who enjoy political incorrectness and when nothing is off limits. Here, they will witness the worst of the world of the internet, social media, influencers and reality TV. It’s also for fans of satire, flawed characters, anti-heroes, and witnessing unlikeable characters become the victims of their own ambitions.

In short, the Bryantts and those they drag along with them suffer the same fate we’ve seen with so many who dive headfirst into the swirling currents of modern American social media fame: They all quickly lose control and are consumed by forces much more powerful than they are. 

This book is an unabashedly cynical look at pop culture America at its most shameless. It’s a deep dive into the vortex where reality TV and social media meet. It provides a megaphone to the tendencies of our society that are usually not spoken about aloud—except on the internet, of course. And, ultimately, it’s about the thin line between fame and  infamy. A provocative novel on the seductive toxicity of reality TV celebrity, Canceled is a whirlwind of a satire.

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