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athena56 's review for:
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
by Adelle Waldman
If I wasn't so utterly convinced that this book was meant to be satirical, I would give it 1 star. And I think a lot of people did misinterpret this book. I did at first as well.
Nate is embodiment of all the fears women have about men. He is shallow, moody, and perpetually unhappy. Claiming to want this, but in actuality, really wants that. He criticizes girlfriends for unflattering jeans, a little arm "jiggle", for being too girly or not feminine enough. He is a fickle jerk, who consistently convinces himself that he feels SO MUCH but chickens out the moment the woman in his life asks for his feelings to be vocalized. He makes completely blanket statements about women and their intentions in careers, relationships and goals, but allows a pass to his equally douchy male friends who make the same overarching conclusions about the female gender. He will blatantly check out a woman in front of his SO, but becomes pissy when in that same conversation, the girlfriend tunes out when he starts talking about literature, and brings it up with a very "I'm a guy. That's what I do. But YOU? How dare you not listen to me when I'm speaking?!"
Nate is every asshole I dated between the ages of 18 to the present. He takes many of the worst qualities of my ex-boyfriends, and rolls them up into an equally intolerable ball of insecurity and narcissism.
This book was infuriating, but I think that was the point. As this book is coming from a female author, I can imagine it was written as a field guide of sorts. Ladies, Nate is a guy that you will date when you're looking for your partner, your ONE, your almost-ONE, whatever. In fact, you'll probably end up dating dozens of guys that exude the same self-centered, overly critical-of-you eye that Nate does. Hell, make these people more impoverished and lost (career wise), and this was my life at 22.
Pretty clearly from the way that the character makes me seethe every time he was "annoyed" that his girlfriend invited him to brunch, or how he hated the way she had throw pillows, or how his wandering mental eye made me uncomfortable at pretty much any point in the book is a clear show that Adelle Waldman is a talented writer. The book features more vignettes into a life more than an overarching story, but I feel like that might even be more true to how life is. Sometimes, relationships don't have a climax, and the resolution / end can be less then spectacular.
The only reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is because it did almost TOO good of a job of making me hate Nate, that I can't bear to give his imaginary self the benefit of highest praise. (YES, THAT IS HOW MUCH OF A GIANT DICK THIS GUY IS)
As far as Waldman goes, I look forward to her next release. I know there is a sequel, which views the events of the book from the eyes of Aurit, the only woman in Nate's life that can stand him (mostly because she had the wherewithal to avoid anything romantic with him), but I don't know if I even want to look at this guy again. Nate is a character I am glad to leave behind, and one that I hope I won't have to encounter in my dating life again. He is pre-Millennial entitled masculine ass masquerading as a sensitive and profoundly deep soul. But as we can see from his internal monologue and the way he is painted by Waldman, that this is all a lie. And a damn good one.
Nate is embodiment of all the fears women have about men. He is shallow, moody, and perpetually unhappy. Claiming to want this, but in actuality, really wants that. He criticizes girlfriends for unflattering jeans, a little arm "jiggle", for being too girly or not feminine enough. He is a fickle jerk, who consistently convinces himself that he feels SO MUCH but chickens out the moment the woman in his life asks for his feelings to be vocalized. He makes completely blanket statements about women and their intentions in careers, relationships and goals, but allows a pass to his equally douchy male friends who make the same overarching conclusions about the female gender. He will blatantly check out a woman in front of his SO, but becomes pissy when in that same conversation, the girlfriend tunes out when he starts talking about literature, and brings it up with a very "I'm a guy. That's what I do. But YOU? How dare you not listen to me when I'm speaking?!"
Nate is every asshole I dated between the ages of 18 to the present. He takes many of the worst qualities of my ex-boyfriends, and rolls them up into an equally intolerable ball of insecurity and narcissism.
This book was infuriating, but I think that was the point. As this book is coming from a female author, I can imagine it was written as a field guide of sorts. Ladies, Nate is a guy that you will date when you're looking for your partner, your ONE, your almost-ONE, whatever. In fact, you'll probably end up dating dozens of guys that exude the same self-centered, overly critical-of-you eye that Nate does. Hell, make these people more impoverished and lost (career wise), and this was my life at 22.
Pretty clearly from the way that the character makes me seethe every time he was "annoyed" that his girlfriend invited him to brunch, or how he hated the way she had throw pillows, or how his wandering mental eye made me uncomfortable at pretty much any point in the book is a clear show that Adelle Waldman is a talented writer. The book features more vignettes into a life more than an overarching story, but I feel like that might even be more true to how life is. Sometimes, relationships don't have a climax, and the resolution / end can be less then spectacular.
The only reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is because it did almost TOO good of a job of making me hate Nate, that I can't bear to give his imaginary self the benefit of highest praise. (YES, THAT IS HOW MUCH OF A GIANT DICK THIS GUY IS)
As far as Waldman goes, I look forward to her next release. I know there is a sequel, which views the events of the book from the eyes of Aurit, the only woman in Nate's life that can stand him (mostly because she had the wherewithal to avoid anything romantic with him), but I don't know if I even want to look at this guy again. Nate is a character I am glad to leave behind, and one that I hope I won't have to encounter in my dating life again. He is pre-Millennial entitled masculine ass masquerading as a sensitive and profoundly deep soul. But as we can see from his internal monologue and the way he is painted by Waldman, that this is all a lie. And a damn good one.