The Disappointment by Broker, Scott

Set during a doom-fated vacation to the Oregon coast, The Disappointment follows a couple trying to hold close to one another while a bent reality--warped by personal losses and an ever-increasing drift toward the surreal--threatens to unravel them

It's the night before a much-needed vacation, and Jack--a former playwright mourning his failed career--catches his husband, Randy, packing his mother's urn. They had agreed: no mother on this trip. Parents, living or otherwise, aren't the ideal guests for romantic getaways. But Randy has been carrying his mother's remains everywhere since her death, and he isn't ready to let go now.

Despite its natural beauty and kitschy charm, the Oregon coast does not provide the respite the couple seeks. Instead, their surroundings and encounters with locals grow increasingly surreal as the days pass. An overly -dedicated Method actor, tantra-obsessed neighbors, and a child environmentalist who may be able to communicate with the dead are but a few of the characters whose presence exposes long-simmering tensions that threaten to undo Jack and Randy's marriage--to say nothing of their hold on reality.

Told with sly, irreverent humor, and shot through with dark currents of envy and longing for something other than what one has, The Disappointment explores the mutual exhilaration and terror of being placed center stage in one''s own life.

Author: Scott Broker
Publisher: Catapult
Published: 03/03/2026
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 8.54h x 5.89w x 1.08d
ISBN: 9781646222858

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 02/01/2026
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2026
Publishers Weekly 01/05/2026

About the Author
SCOTT BROKER is a queer writer, bookseller, and teacher based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in New England Review, Guernica, Fence, Ecotone, and The Idaho Review, among other publications, and he has received fellowships from Tin House and Lambda Literary.