Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
A review! Because it wouldn't all fit on Instagram!
After coming across a brief recommendation on TikTok from Lauren Hower (@bigbooklady on TikTok/Instagram), and seeing the excitement on their face as they described Beagin’s writing, I just knew I had to pick up this book. I’d seen some mentions of Beagin’s new release, Big Swiss, back in February, but only got around to reading it this past month. I’ve also seen some discourse regarding this book being made into an HBO series, which I can’t wait to see.
The novel follows a woman named Greta who recently becomes single, moves into a farmhouse with her friend Sabine, and picks up a job as a sex/lifestyle therapist’s transcriptionist. Greta becomes enthralled with one of the therapist’s clients, Flavia, who she refers to as “Big Swiss.” The text follows Greta’s journey navigating her relationship with Big Swiss and the other clients living in a city where everyone is so connected.
It’s always difficult for me to find a book that I can’t put down, but I absolutely could not put this down. I can largely attribute this to what seems to be obvious plot-wise (when or if Greta would ever tell Big Swiss about her true transcriptionist identity), but the dry humor of the text really brought it to life for me. I could not stop imagining Greta’s character as Aubrey Plaza adjacent. At first, I considered Greta’s dialogue quite unrealistic and random. Eventually Greta’s strange questions and interruptive remarks became humorous, ironic even. The conversations between Greta and Big Swiss seem so polarizing because their personalities are so different.
In addition, the inclusion of other clients’ sessions in this book was one of the funniest things about the novel (the eavesdropping… oh my god). The characters felt so millennial with the way they spoke. I don’t know how else to describe it. The therapist, Om (yes, his name is Om…), feels like a total phony for lots of the book. He asks questions that aren’t relevant and seem entirely self-serving, has a gong in his office, and coaches his clients with breathing techniques as a bit of a cop-out. He has such a grip on the entire town, which is so interesting, and becomes ironic as the novel progresses.
I loved the predictability of Om’s character. There are moments of Greta becoming impatient with Om, rolling her eyes, and making remarks while she listens to his sessions. I have to admit that he started to grow on me by the end of the text, but it’s in the same way that Greta grows out of her own skepticism with him. By the end of the book, I felt like I rolled my eyes at the same remarks Greta did.
I also really loved the elements brought onto the story with the house. The chaos and character it has is uncanny. The way Sabine and Greta handle the house’s imperfections (the bees, Sabine’s emotional-support donkeys, the maggots, the broken window panes, the list goes on) is so interesting to me. They pay so much attention to the house, and it’s clear that Sabine plans to invest in the place, but they both choose to live with so many small inconveniences. The house really just emphasized how much was going on in this book. It also emphasized Greta’s lack of self-awareness.
—Also, Sabine being the local drug dealer is so so funny.
There’s so much sarcasm in this book, but I feel that it’s properly balanced out by seriousness. While I laughed at the other clients’ problems, Big Swiss’s sessions stood out with how serious they were. This really compliments her rigid character and more serious backstory. The book deals with assault in a detailed way without catching the reader entirely off-guard. I felt that Beagin gave readers enough time to prepare for more serious sessions between Big Swiss and Om by foreshadowing the situation early on. It created some space between the moments of realization/suspicion in the reader and the session in the text itself. Additionally, Om’s stupid questions helped to give the reader moments to breathe. I’ve read books that immediately dive into vivid detail regarding assault or violence, and they sometimes don’t sit right with me. It’s prevalent in Big Swiss that Beagin paid some attention to this.
I’ve tried not to look at other reviews of the novel, especially on Goodreads, but I did see a few back in February that made digs at the plot for not being totally cohesive. I understand this take, and definitely agree with it in one or two places, but I felt like outlandish plot points complimented the text for the most part. Some scenes aren’t entirely necessary, but they did make the text more humorous and compelling for me personally.
Overall, this book is super gay, super funny, and really intriguing. It’s dramatic in a very humorous way, but also a very real way. So much personality comes through in Greta’s interactions with Big Swiss. There is so much to say about each character, which is part of the reason that I’m so excited for the HBO series.
I’d give Big Swiss a solid 4.5/5 stars.
It really got me out of my fiction reading rut and added more of Jen Beagin’s writing to my TBR.
Spoiler Warning (but something I wanted to briefly talk about)!!!
At first, I really didn’t like how quickly Greta’s identity was revealed. I found myself bummed because I really anticipated the book ending on that note. However, I really loved the added interactions between Greta and Om. In addition, Big Swiss’s reaction was both dialed back from what I predicted while also fully meeting my expectations?? Beagin did such a great job with her character.
Also, to get even more spoiler-y… the fact that Greta attended dinner with Big Swiss and her husband… uhhhh??? The conversation! The tension! The out of pocket remarks!