Trust Exercise

Sarah and David are performing art students coming from different socio-economic backgrounds: Sarah lives with her mother in a working-class milieu; while David's family is financially comfortable. The two fall in love despite their contrasting circumstances, but their relationship ends in a bitter breakup.

Choi said that the book's setting was not as important as its location. She chose a "sprawling sort of suburban-style American city",{{Cite web |last=Rowe |first=Elizabeth |date=2019-04-16 |title=Trust, Serendipity, and Consent: An Interview with Trust Exercise Author Susan Choi |url=https://www.bookish.com/articles/interview-susan-choi-trust-exercise/ |access-date=2019-06-08 |website=Bookish}} similar to areas that she grew up in, such as Houston, Texas. She elaborated on the location to Bookish:

{{blockquote|text=The other thing was that I wanted the characters to be in a place that isn't a cultural capital, or at least it isn't at the time of this story. It isn't a New York or a Los Angeles, and because they're aspiring performers they're acutely aware of being from a place that's not a cultural capital. They're always yearning for and aspiring to go where the bright lights are. That describes the place where I grew up, but it also describes so many other places. I wanted to generalize the specificity.}}

Choi further commented about her writing process saying, "I'm conscious of having been so mad during so much of the writing of this book ... . Like really mad."{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Hillary |date=2019-03-31 |title=Susan Choi Complicates the Plot |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/susan-choi-trust-exercise.html |access-date=2019-06-09 |website=Vulture}} Choi explained that when she was writing the book, Donald Trump had just been elected and she was also going through personal issues stemming from her separation with her husband. Choi tapped into the reaction following the publication of the Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape, realizing that discussions about sexual abuse and harassment had taken on a new urgency.

Trust Exercise received very positive feedback from critics.{{Cite web|title=Trust Exercise|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/trust-exercise/|access-date=2020-12-07|website=Book Marks|language=en-US}} According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on twenty-seven reviews: thirteen "rave", nine "positive", three "mixed", and two "pan".{{cite web|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/trust-exercise/|title=Trust Exercise|work=Book Marks|accessdate=May 12, 2021}} In Books in the Media, the book was scored 3.85 out of 5 stars, from six critics.{{Cite web |title=Trust Exercise Reviews|url=https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/trust-exercise|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814053811/https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/trust-exercise|archive-date=14 Aug 2020|access-date=11 July 2024 |website=Books in the Media}}

Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic wrote, "Trust Exercise is an elaborate trick; it's a meta work of construction and deconstruction, building a persuasive fictional world and then showing you the girders, the scaffolding underneath, and how it's all been welded together."{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/05/susan-chois-trust-exercise-review-fiction-vs-reality/588763/|title='Trust Exercise' Is an Elaborate Trick of a Novel|last=Gilbert|first=Sophie|date=2019-05-09|website=The Atlantic|access-date=2019-06-08}} Writing for The Washington Post, Ron Charles noted, "This author never takes you where you thought you were going, but have faith: You won't be disappointed."{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/susan-chois-trust-exercise-invites-you-to-recall-the-highs-and-humiliations-of-adolescence/2019/04/04/07b6eb2c-56d4-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html|title=Susan Choi's 'Trust Exercise' invites you to recall the highs and humiliations of adolescence|last=Charles|first=Ron|date=2019-04-04|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-06-08}} John Boyne of The Irish Times wrote, "Once in a while, a novel's plot takes such an unexpected turn, breaking the unspoken contract between reader and writer, that it's hard to know whether to fling the book at the wall in anger or proclaim it a brave attempt to push the boundaries of the form."{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/trust-exercise-review-a-bold-novel-that-might-leave-you-feeling-cheated-1.3891843|title=Trust Exercise review: A bold novel that might leave you feeling cheated|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2019-06-08}}

In November 2019, Trust Exercise was awarded the National Book Award for Fiction.{{cite magazine|url= https://ew.com/books/2019/11/20/2019-national-book-awards-winners/ |title= Here are your winners for the 2019 National Book Awards |first= David |last= Canfield |magazine= Entertainment Weekly |date= November 20, 2019 |access-date= December 22, 2023 |archive-date= December 22, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231222113357/https://ew.com/books/2019/11/20/2019-national-book-awards-winners/ |url-status=live}}

In December 2019, former President Barack Obama picked it as one of his books of the year.{{cite news |title=Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2019 List Is Here |url=https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a30362154/barack-obamas-favorite-books-2019/ |publisher=Oprah Magazine |date=30 December 2019}} Trust Exercise was named one of the top books of 2019 by The New York Times book critic Dwight Garner.{{cite news |title=Times Critics' Top Books of 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/books/times-critics-top-books-of-2019.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=STYLN_bestof2019_menu&variant=1_bestof2019_menu®ion=header&context=menu |accessdate=4 January 2020 |work=New York Times |date=5 December 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40046059-trust-exercise Trust Exercise] on Goodreads

{{NBA for Fiction 2000–2024}}

Category:2019 American novels

Category:American bildungsromans

Category:National Book Award for Fiction–winning works

Category:Henry Holt and Company books

Category:Literature by Asian-American women

Category:Works about performing arts education

Category:Serpent's Tail books