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chillcox15's review against another edition
5.0
This is exactly the type of novel that will get under most readers' skin (look at the top rated reviews here); it is conceited, smug, and unabashedly masculine in the Updike/Roth sort of vein. It's about an upper class (at least in lifestyle and education if not in actual wealth) dude willing to blow up his life and hurt the women in it just because he can't deal with things responsibly. I'm choosing to read this as my own chosen diet of guilty pleasure. I loved it! I love the writing, how smarmy and caustic and funny it is. I don't want this review to be taken as some sort of "the canon/masculinity is under fire" type thing, because I don't believe that; I do think that our shifting expectations of literature warrant a discussion, though. This is the exact type of novel that would have gotten heaps of praise in the 60s or 70s, and even if it is self-conscious of what type of bourgeois thing it is aping, it still is the thing that I wouldn't necessarily want to proclaim from the rooftops as one of my favorite books of 2018.
kishka's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ericfheiman's review against another edition
3.0
A witty, well-written book that I *might* have raved about in my twenties. Alas, now (as I approach 50) I found myself mostly chuckling, “You silly, spoiled kids. Grow up already.”
sujuv's review against another edition
4.0
Entertaining story of hipsters mainly failing in love and life, though there are glimmers of success, too. And despite that description, not painful to read :) The characters who from a distance would seen pretentious or full of themselves, close up had complexity and insecurities. A fun, easy read with something to say about the pitfalls of life and creativity and intellectual ambition.
rocketiza's review against another edition
4.0
Felt like I was reading about my friends, though they were slightly better read, or better read than me at least.
hillsax's review against another edition
4.0
A book about not finishing books and having no idea what you’re doing with your life.
bianka42's review against another edition
4.0
This is the kind of book you hate to love. A story about pretentious, privileged, anxious, and depressed creative types wasting away their youths judging other people and their art while procrastinating and ultimately failing to produce anything, much less anything of worth?? Utterly unrelatable!
edomeier's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25