I don’t mind confessing that I was drawn to this book by the combo of the cover picture and the title. The image of simply sailing away from whatever chaos that fire is on the right side and responding, “I cheerfully refuse” when someone tries to draw you into said chaos was very appealing to me. Not sure what that says about me. When I saw Ann Patchett sharing some love for this book as well, that cinched it and I put in a request at my library.
I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with I Cheerfully Refuse because I did overall like it. But it didn’t make me fall in love with the story the way I fell in love with the cover and that’s what I really wanted.
The books is set in the not-so-distant future on the banks of Lake Superior. Rainy and Lark live simply in this version of our potential future. Rainy plays bass and does casual labour. Lark runs a bookstore, a somewhat risqué business in a society that eschews education and proudly elected its first illiterate president. Rainy is our narrator and we get to see how he fell in love with books along with falling in love with Lark. He adores her and they live simply and generously. When they take in a wandering young man, however, danger follows him.
Rainy takes to the water in his sailboat, Flower, pursued by a mysterious authority figure. Rainy visits various villages along the coast of the lake, both on the American and Canadian side, and takes on some passengers too. He is battling his own demons, as well as those who chase him and, at times, the lake itself.
The writing is beautiful and sumptuous. It didn’t always feel true to the thoughts of a man who didn’t learn to read books until he was a full adult but at the same time it created a vivid portrait of Rainy as a person. As someone who is steadfast, durable, and yet tender. Someone who can go without but also treasures the gifts of food and music and good company. The book is a celebration of community and the ways in which we can create that, even in the darkest of times.
The future world that Enger creates felt largely real. There are shortages and depredations. There are people who seize power and take advantage of others. There are also those who are willing to risk their own lives and livelihoods for others. Enger does a fine job of capturing this dichotomy of humanity.
I liked Rainy and I found him easy to root for on his journey and I enjoyed the ways that Enger weaved a love of books and literature (as well as some good literary references) throughout the story. I didn’t find myself unable to put the book down but I did also want to find out what happened to the characters and I was overall pleased with the ending.
Karissa Reads Books 
Thus sounds lovely, and I’m going to add it to my TBR. Just yesterday, my mom told me a new term she uses to describe herself: spicy nice. Basically, what she means is she has boundaries, but people aren’t used to that from her. The title of this book made me think, “Ah, yes, spicy nice.”
I think you would like this one. I love “spicy nice”! That’s exactly what appealed to me about that title!
The title and cover of this book are hilarious – I wish I could cheerfully refuse more, and maybe I should make that a goal of mine
His depiction of the future seems like a realistic one; not everyone has completely changed, but there are some scary issues arising, and everyone’s dealing with it in their own way. Also – shortages! I think we’re going to see a lot more of that in the future. Hopefully not toilet paper tho LOL
Right! It’s the sort of energy I want to embrace more and more as I get older.
It does largely feel realistic. Primarily, I think, because the characters are nuanced. No one is entirely good or bad but complicated and selfish and motivated by their own things, just like the world as we know it.