I found this story of New York writers offensive and boring. I did not appreciate Nathaniel's negative characteristics as being described as typically Jewish. I read the whole book expecting a surprise ending, which did not appear. I was guided by one reviewer who said she was not familiar with pop culture (nor am I), but the surprise ending made the experience worthwhile. I felt the final page was more of the tedious same. I was sorry to learn of the negative aspects of book publishing. The author obviously enjoyed her experience much more than this reader did. ( )

Ouch! (laughing) ( )

Nostalgia is a powerful force. I say this by way of preface to my review of this book because I am not able to say with any certainty how much of my positive reaction to this book is based on nostalgia and how much is solely based on the book individually, but in the end I don’t really care. I really enjoyed this book a lot, way more than I expected to. It reminded me of a bunch of books I read back in the late 80’s and early 90’s (hence the nostalgia warning) by authors like Bret Easton Ellis, Jay McInnerney, and Tama Janowitz about not entirely (or even marginally) likeable characters, usually living in NYC, and often in the publishing industry. I especially devoured those when I lived in NYC in the early 90’s.

This book had that feel and tone but had it in a fresh, new, and up to date way. I do not read fiction to read only about nice people who act PERFECTLY and do nice things (it’s nice to be nice to the nice!). I read fiction to be immersed in characters, situations, and plot, and this book did that wonderfully. Yes, the narrator is a somewhat immature 30-something who (gasp) does not treat the women in his life as well as one might want. However, I didn’t find him nearly as objectionable or horrible and advance chatter lead me to expect. I would say that if one looks at the women in this book and then wrote from their point of view, they would not come off all that much better. This is a book about flawed people folks, in other words realistic human beings.

I thought that all the characters were nuanced and well rounded, the scene was set very well, even though it has been 20 years now since I lived in NYC I was able to understand and visualize where the action was taking place. The story isn’t one that covers a lot of ground, but to me that is integral to the feeling of the book. The characters, especially Nathaniel P., are somewhat aimless and still figuring it out. I can identify with that!

Anyway, my review is my review. To me, this was easily a five star book and my final conclusion is that this is based on the book, not just on the nostalgia value. If you get incensed at people behaving like people in your books and not being perfect, then you should probably avoid it and read some Disney book. ( )

My rating would be higher but I had such a deep loathing for the protagonist that I just couldn't. I did finish listening to it which says something. Also the voice the narrator used when he was voicing female characters was borderline offensive, maybe crossing the border to downright. ( )

The author has a preternaturally mature insight into human psychology which normally comes from authors much older. But older authors then have trouble writing about a different generation. This is an indepth insight into a certain generation in a certain social milieu (the publishing world of NYC) and it feels very, very real. I'm sure I've met Nate in a different permutation.

There was a casual reference to Aspergers which was wholly unnecessary and slightly ableist. I don't feel comfortable giving this five stars without that one tiny caveat. ( )