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jencunn2024's review
3.0
“No, I mean, if I were the protagonist of a book or a movie, it would be hard to like me, to identify with me, right?”
“I would never read a book like that, Milo. I can’t think of anyone who would. There’s no reason for it.”
Meet Milo Burke, unlovable, cynical, and depressed protagonist extraordinaire who is in constant dialogue with colleagues, friends, himself, or even you, the reader. Milo is that guy who says and does the dumbest things but also really has this endearing humanity underneath his gray and cynical view of the mundane world around him. He is a difficult character to like or appreciate but his wit and cynicism can make you laugh at the same time. As a reader you walk with Milo as a struggling last-string development officer and former artist whom works for a third-rate university in NYC. He gets assigned a new “ask” to bring in the big endowment for the university. When “the ask” turns out to be a former school bully who still considers himself a “friend,” things get interesting. Milo’s life gets entertained once again. Can he keep his job and save his marriage to the wife he loves for the sake of his preschooler, Bernie, every bit the mirror of himself? I wasn’t sure about this book when I started it but Milo grew on me and I really loved his relationship with his son. A good read if yo appreciate dark wit and cynicism with a little bit of trash talk and bad decision-making (sometimes, entertains, and sometimes just regrettable). I liked this book more than expected. I will also say that it is a dialogue-heavy book with lots of banter.
“I would never read a book like that, Milo. I can’t think of anyone who would. There’s no reason for it.”
Meet Milo Burke, unlovable, cynical, and depressed protagonist extraordinaire who is in constant dialogue with colleagues, friends, himself, or even you, the reader. Milo is that guy who says and does the dumbest things but also really has this endearing humanity underneath his gray and cynical view of the mundane world around him. He is a difficult character to like or appreciate but his wit and cynicism can make you laugh at the same time. As a reader you walk with Milo as a struggling last-string development officer and former artist whom works for a third-rate university in NYC. He gets assigned a new “ask” to bring in the big endowment for the university. When “the ask” turns out to be a former school bully who still considers himself a “friend,” things get interesting. Milo’s life gets entertained once again. Can he keep his job and save his marriage to the wife he loves for the sake of his preschooler, Bernie, every bit the mirror of himself? I wasn’t sure about this book when I started it but Milo grew on me and I really loved his relationship with his son. A good read if yo appreciate dark wit and cynicism with a little bit of trash talk and bad decision-making (sometimes, entertains, and sometimes just regrettable). I liked this book more than expected. I will also say that it is a dialogue-heavy book with lots of banter.
plattcraig's review
2.0
I was very excited to read The Ask, Homeland was a very good book, though I was a little disappointed in that one too and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Having read this one I realize that the elements of all Lipsyte's books rest on the objectification of a class of people the narrators feel are unintelligent. What's worse is the sanctimoniousness of the protagonists who eventually realize they are the ones who aren't in on the joke at all. It's as if he took Ignatious Reilly and multiplied him into some awful monster whose affect on the literary world, in my opinion, could be completely debilitating.
It's as if to say that description and the development of a truly fictional world with rich characters and surroundings is unnecessary. Lipsyte relies on the readers knowledge of the world and more importantly their warped view of contemporary sex, love, social networking and the economy. This is is simply a rant and I should save it for the book club, but based on all the press Lipsyte was getting I was expecting the book to be transcendental, but what it truly is, and what it aspires to be I think, is about failure and not just any failure, but the failure of our generation to surpass our parents. And while that's a subject we should all be interested in, I somehow feel like it fails here because Lipsyte never really allows Milo to grow up. Not even slightly. And the last 50 pages or so are a sort of apology. A mea culpa, this is how so many of us have turned out, sorry I made you read about it.
I would recommend this book to you because the language, the way it is written, is very dazzling, a writing workshops dream. But, in the end it is an empty story about nothing.
It's as if to say that description and the development of a truly fictional world with rich characters and surroundings is unnecessary. Lipsyte relies on the readers knowledge of the world and more importantly their warped view of contemporary sex, love, social networking and the economy. This is is simply a rant and I should save it for the book club, but based on all the press Lipsyte was getting I was expecting the book to be transcendental, but what it truly is, and what it aspires to be I think, is about failure and not just any failure, but the failure of our generation to surpass our parents. And while that's a subject we should all be interested in, I somehow feel like it fails here because Lipsyte never really allows Milo to grow up. Not even slightly. And the last 50 pages or so are a sort of apology. A mea culpa, this is how so many of us have turned out, sorry I made you read about it.
I would recommend this book to you because the language, the way it is written, is very dazzling, a writing workshops dream. But, in the end it is an empty story about nothing.
rodcy's review
4.0
The book was interesting but not my cup of tea. It wasn't a bad book so I am giving it 4 stars. I am sure some people would really enjoy this.
dansquire's review
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
davidbuchmann's review
2.0
Lots of funny riffs about the peculiarities of Internet Age life for a man who graduated with a liberal arts degree in the early 90s. But the plot and neurotic main character might have been cobbled together from any number of satirical novels published since [b:Money|18825|Money|Martin Amis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1297100735s/18825.jpg|85999], and so apart from the lingering bitterness of witnessing the protagonist come undone (largely through his own efforts), not a whole lot of the book has stayed with me in the week since I finished it.
burchre's review
3.0
Kind of an odd novel. About an unlikeable guy who wants to be liked but his marriage is over and he's barely hanging on to his career, and, frankly, he's not that likeable or fully interesting. There are some funny passages and a few eloquent ones but overall a bit of a tough read.
ericfheiman's review
4.0
Just short of a modern classic. It takes a pretty great writer to make the many flawed characters in this book funny, fleshed out, and sympathetic all at once. A sort of companion to Daniel Clowes' Wilson with its anti-hero protagonist and mining the disappointment that often colors middle age to produce uneasy humor. If this sounds like your cup of tea, then this is a must-read.
meghan111's review
3.0
One of those novels where the narrator starts in a bad place and just slides downhill throughout the entire book - ending up in a worse place. Milo is a well-educated former painter who now works as a fundraiser for a second-rate, expensive, private college in New York City. He gets fired, but might have a chance to get his job back if he can land a big donation to the college from a man who happens to be one of his old college friends (who has gone on to much greater dot-com success). Oh, and Milo's wife is having an affair and his four-year-old son is somewhat incomprehensible and slightly unlovable. The writing in this is great but the story just slides along until the end.
beth_diiorio's review
4.0
Original, vulgar, poignant, cynical, funny, and real are all adjectives to describe this book!