39 pages • 1 hour read
Gabrielle ZevinThe Storied Life Of Aj Fikry
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Lamb to the Slaughter”
The story begins with A.J. Fikry’s brief, personalized review for his daughter, Maya, of Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the Slaughter.” The chapter then jumps back in time to Amelia Loman’s first visit to Alice Island.
Thirty-one-year old Amelia Loman is on her way to a “persnickety little bookstore” in an attempt to sell some of her publisher’s books when she receives a call from a suitor she dated six months earlier (5). The former suitor asks her out, then insults her and begins to cry when she rejects him. She hangs up and mulls over her mother’s concern that fiction has ruined Amelia for “real men” (9). Caught up in her thoughts, Amelia almost walks past the bookstore.
Upon entering the shop, “Island Books,” Amelia knocks down a giant stack of books, angering the very man she was hoping to smooth-talk with her sales pitch—shop owner A.J. Fikry. After she explains to A.J. that she is replacing the recently deceased publisher’s agent, Harvey Rhodes, Amelia convinces him to look at her list of books. A.J. briefly humors her, then cuts her off and explains that Harvey Rhodes understood him whereas Amelia clearly does not; he lists several genres he will not consider shelving in his store. Amelia tries once more to interest him in one of the few titles he might like, and A.J. again cuts her off. She storms out, announcing that his attitude will soon sink his bookstore. She lets her boss know it didn’t go well, and is reassured that A.J. is simply “weird” and that she will most likely have more luck during tourist season (18).
After she leaves, A.J. sends Molly Klock, the “surly” assistant, home while wishing he had “the energy to fire” her (19). He begrudgingly finishes out his day’s duties, and heads upstairs to his apartment to microwave dinner. While waiting for his dinner to heat, he begins to congratulate himself on making Amelia cry but regrets this, realizing that Harvey Rhodes’s death has upset him. He reveals both that he felt deeply connected to Harvey and that he also recently lost his wife, Nic. A.J. begins to eat, but his dinner is unevenly cooked; he chucks it against the wall and turns, instead, to his wine.
A.J. toasts a copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s Tamerlane, and shortly thereafter, passes out in a drunken stupor. He dreams that his deceased wife visits him—a regular occurrence. In the current dream, Nic admonishes him for his drinking, food choices, and attitude toward Amelia and encourages him to give up his bad habits. A.J. recalls Nic’s death and blames her for his being “stupid” and “melodramatic,” comparing her car accident (perhaps she’d swerved to avoid hitting a deer, A.J. imagines) to a cheesy plot twist (21, 25). He evokes the conversation he had with the cop overseeing Nic’s case at the hospital; while trying to get the cop to compare his situation to a popular book or short story, the cop professes he was “was not much of a reader,” so A.J. personally supplies analogies (25). The only literature with which the two both seem to be familiar is Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the Slaughter.” A.J. imagines Nic’s lips as they appeared in the morgue; the color reminds him of a how she looked at a “vampire prom” she organized (29). He resisted hosting the event, but Nic had insisted he try to remember what “fun” was like (29). The accident cost A.J. not only Nic but also their unborn child; Nic was two months pregnant at the time of her death.
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”
The chapter begins with A.J.’s review for Maya of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novella The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. A.J. discusses how ludicrous he finds genre distinctions.
Back in present day, A.J. wakes with a hangover, feeling satisfied with the previous night’s events. He looks around and notices that his apartment is both clean and missing the Poe book he toasted the previous night; he runs to the police station to file a report. The same cop from the hospital takes down the details of the burglary, surprised that A.J. had been so careless with such a valuable book. A.J. states that he is an “idiot” as he was planning to sell it in order to pay for his retirement (37). The policeman asks who knew about the book, and A.J. admits most everyone who knows him knows he owns the book and that he found it at an estate sale with his wife’s sister, Ismay Parish. He then “black[s] out” when asked more about Ismay (39).
Returning to consciousness, A.J. explains that he just had an absence seizure—a result of being “unusually stressed” (39). The officer, Chief Nicholas Lambiase, insists upon taking A.J. to a doctor where—based both on the results of his tests and on the way A.J. describes his daily routine—the general practitioner suggests a change in lifestyle. The doctor asks A.J. if he is suicidal and, after pondering the question, A.J. says he does not want to die but does not want to “be here all the time” (40). Given the recent death of his wife, the doctor deems this response understandable and prescribes exercise. She makes known that she is Molly Klock’s mother and that she well knew A.J.’s deceased wife.
In the hospital lobby, A.J. awaits a ride from local author Daniel Parish, “one of A.J.’s closest friends” and his sister-in-law’s husband (43). When he arrives, Daniel hits on one of the nurses and gives her his number. He then takes A.J. for a drink. The two drink a pitcher of beer, and A.J. blames the loss of his book on his alcoholism. Daniel downplays the importance of the book. A.J. calls him an “idiot” (45).
After a month, the investigation closes with no culprit. A.J. starts living a healthier, more productive life, hoping to again come upon a rare book.
Chapter 3 Summary: “The Luck of Roaring Camp”
A.J. reviews Bret Harte’s short story “The Luck of Roaring Camp” for Maya. He says that books hold different meaning when read at different times in life; for example, he didn’t enjoy this story as much when he was younger as he does now.
A.J.’s bookstore receives an “uptick” in sales after word of his lost rarity gets out (49). He observes that people did not pry or show up to buy books in the same manner after his wife died.
One night shortly before Christmas, two especially finicky customers—including an old woman who returns a book A.J. recommended because it made her cry and contemplate death—bother A.J. He leaves for a run, a former pastime he recently re-introduced into his life, and when he returns, there is a two-year-old girl named Maya sitting in the children’s section. A.J. finds a note attached to Maya’s Elmo doll explaining that whoever left her hopes that A.J. will raise her and teach her to read. A.J. takes Maya to the police station where Chief Lambiase says he will report the issue to the proper agencies but that the child will most likely need to be cared for a few days before the government will send someone to take her. A.J. agrees to care for Maya since it “[d]oesn’t seem right to keep a baby in a police station” (59).
At home, he calls Ismay for advice about how to feed Maya. Ismay insists she come over even though she is six months pregnant. She brings tofu lasagna, and A.J. feeds Maya before putting her to bed on a futon. Ismay asks if A.J. will keep the child, and A.J. insists he is simply caring for her for a few days. On behalf of his deceased wife, A.J. attempts to be nice to Ismay–including inquiring about her job teaching drama–but he finds her flaky. His kindness, however, gives Ismay hope that her husband—Daniel—might lighten up once his own child is born.
A few days pass, and the body of Marian Wallace, a “smart and pretty” 22-year-old black woman, washes up on shore (67). Authorities determine that this was Maya’s mom and thus, Chief Lambiase prepares Maya for foster care. After telling A.J. the plan, A.J. considers keeping her but then concedes that he is too “poor” and has too little knowledge about children to care for her (70). He expresses concern for where Maya will end up but doesn’t want to take sole responsibility for her.
A.J. gives Maya a bath and sings to her. She says “[l]ove you” to A.J. who admonishes her for being so careless with her love (74). A young social worker named Jenny Bernstein arrives to take Maya to her foster home. When she details the process Maya will endure, A.J. offers to foster Maya. Jenny is hesitant but wants to help since A.J. and Maya seem to have a connection.
Surprised that a curmudgeon would take on such a challenge, the town begins to gossip about A.J.’s decision to foster Maya. Many women from town visit Maya and donate both items and unsolicited advice. A.J. is aware of the town’s apprehension but is not worried—between Google searches for parenting tips and the donations, he finds himself well equipped to care for Maya. The women who help him do so in exchange for the use of his bookstore for their book club. He stocks books for them and their children that he normally would not have on his shelves. A.J. even begins to love picture books, and finds them similar to short stories and full of “talent” (83).
Chief Lambiase stops by the bookstore to discuss the latest detective book he has read, and A.J. divulges that he has officially adopted Maya; the two celebrate with a drink in her honor. Chief Lambiase suggests that A.J. throw a party at the bookstore to commemorate the adoption; he also suggests that A.J. name him as Maya’s godfather.
A.J. takes both suggestions and when he sees Maya in her pink dress at the party, he realizes he loves her. Ismay—recently named Maya’s godmother—tells A.J. she doesn’t feel well and needs to leave. She has her fifth miscarriage; A.J. visits her in the hospital (because Daniel is too busy) and when he gets there, Ismay tells him she has had it with Daniel’s lies and lack of affection. She tries to kiss A.J., who turns away. Ismay shares that she can see what Nic saw in A.J. and tells him she would rather stay at the hospital than go home where she will have to be “alone” (92). She repeats that she deserves all the bad things that happen to her.
Chapter 1-3 Analysis
The power of human intimacy—versus isolation—is one of the most moving themes in the opening section. The protagonist, A.J. Fikry, is a character who initially can’t open himself to human connection. He instead sates his emotional needs through a narrow selection of literature; the predictability of narrative structure gives A.J. comfort. The fact that Zevin begins each chapter with A.J.’s notes on a piece of literature underscores this theme: Relating to books offers A.J. a way to connect to life—and the reader a way to connect to the story.
A.J. is nevertheless capable of forging strong connections with others—with Harvey Rhodes; with his wife, Nic; and, in the present timeline of the narrative, with his child, Maya. The importance of intimacy is obvious when A.J. discloses that, despite his cold reaction to Harvey’s death in Amelia’s presence, he feels awful over losing this man. Specifically, he regrets the loss of connection to Harvey via literature. Though it is hard for A.J. to admit, his conversations with Harvey were worth much more to him than their business relationship.
A.J.’s relationship with his deceased wife, Nic, was especially precious; her humanity helped him to step out of his narrow comfort zone. Nic enabled A.J. to be gentler and more open. Now, in her absence, A.J. has returned to his bitter, miserly ways. But Maya challenges him to open up once again. Her uninhibited affection knocks down A.J.’s walls. Suddenly, a man who abhorred children’s books and their intended audience enthusiastically serenades a soapy two-year-old during bath time.
The unpredictability of life also emerges as a theme in this section. A.J. attempts to force his life into a near, linear narrative, but life resists. The plot is full of accidents and surprises: Nic’s car accident , the mysterious death of Marian Wallace, Maya’s arrival in the bookstore, the disappearance of A.J.’s rare book, and Ismay’s many miscarriages.
At the same time, Zevin juxtaposes this unpredictability with the dull monotony of life. She does so through repetition. Whenever A.J. is collapsing boxes in the store, for example, the repeated words “Knife. Flatten. Stack” beat a drumbeat of tedium (20-21). Similarly, Zevin repeats elements of A.J.’s doctor visit (39). For A.J., the only antidote to the inherent monotony of his life—as well as its unpredictability—is literature.
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