True Biz by Sara Novic
Published 2022 · 416 pages · 95,000 words · about 6 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction
How hard is True Biz to read?
True Biz scores 28 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 30 out of 100
- Accessible prose with ASL terminology and linguistic concepts introduced and explained in context.
- Sentence structure: 25 out of 100
- Abstraction: 35 out of 100
- Political and cultural arguments embedded in narrative. Informational chapters add conceptual depth.
- Information density: 42 out of 100
- Intercut educational chapters raise density. The novel teaches as it tells.
- Narrative indirection: 22 out of 100
- Linear, multi-perspective narrative. Direct storytelling with informational interludes.
- Symbolic density: 28 out of 100
- The school itself, cochlear implants, and the act of signing carry thematic weight.
- Ironic distance: 18 out of 100
- Earnest and advocacy-driven. The characters' passion is the novel's passion.
- Resolution withholding: 30 out of 100
- Will the school survive? Charlie's implant decision? Multiple threads sustain moderate suspense.
- Structural complexity: 30 out of 100
- Three-perspective narrative intercut with illustrated educational chapters.
How True Biz is regarded
True Biz holds a literary regard score of 47 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.