THE BARGAIN SHOPPER

In Latour’s satire, a tech-hating man in the modern world reflects on his past transgressions.

Charles Rochambeau feels he was “born into the wrong century.” He abhors social media and smartphones and is steadfastly apolitical. He’s perfectly suited to his job as a majordomo for wealthy Madame Beatrice Wolcott’s estate in New York state. More specifically, he’s the Bargain Shopper—a “Certified Professional Shopper” who scores massive savings for Beatrice at physical stores, never making purchases online. Charles’ narration also contains his “confessions.” Although he’s the descendent of a celebrated French military figure, his privileged youth ultimately hit a few snags. His father’s bad investments, for starters, forced him to drop out of the Taft School in Connecticut. As a “teenager with nowhere to go,” Charles found himself entangled with a mobster type who roped him into making regular cocaine drop-offs. What the young man aimed for, however, was realizing the American dream, and he believed that his next inevitable step was pursuing higher education. Since he was a high school dropout, Charles finagled his way into college without having to officially register. Of course, as Charles later learned between bouts of tracking down deals in stores, Beatrice and her family members have their share of alarming secrets as well. And just because he has steady employment and a trustworthy boss doesn’t mean his life has gotten any easier. As a self-appointed “Soldier of Truth,” the confessions in these pages are meant to be some form of redemption, but digging into the past may instead drive Charles to a truth he won’t willingly accept.

Latour’s story, at times, comes across as a random series of misadventures without a cohesive plot to connect them. In addition, some major developments hardly affect Charles—most notably Covid-19 restrictions cutting off access to his in-store bargain shopping; Beatrice simply asks him if he wants to be laid off, which he declines. However, Charles’ intellectual storytelling brims with quotes from such figures as Oscar Wilde and W.B. Yeats, coupled with hearty cynicism and unabashedly lowbrow humor. Intriguingly, Charles avoids leaning one particular way on most issues; for example, he takes an “agnostic stance” on religion and also commends aspects of Christianity, and he scoffs at Covid-19 restrictions as well as people who don’t take the pandemic seriously. Although Charles is definitely not a very likable guy, he will sometimes earn readers’ sympathy, especially regarding his relationship with Beatrice; he unquestionably cares for her well-being and is therefore wary of her closeness to a married friend. The story delivers comical asides throughout, from a store canceling Charles’ credit card after deeming him an “unprofitable customer” to his business ideas, such as a grilled-cheese–themed restaurant franchise and an unorthodox Covid-19 test. The final act takes a surprising and genuinely intriguing turn as revelations come to light. It’s the type of ending that may lead readers to reexamine what they’ve just read and better accept the book’s occasional disjointedness.

An outlandish tale of self-identity that ably ridicules modern life and its conventions.