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Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he'd have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He's got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he's written a novel, but the manuscript he's slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious arch nemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety. Tom's life is crushing his soul, but he's decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness-even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.… (more)
In the beginning, I had a hard time getting into Domestic Violets. The protagonist felt a little too crude and eye-rolly for me to particularly care about him, and the humor of the book was clearly meant to be humor, but put me off more than anything. And yet...I kept going. Perhaps because Norman's prose flowed so easily or I was curious where it was going, or perhaps just from inertia. Either way, by perhaps the midpoint, I was well enough engaged that I didn't want to put the book down and had begun to care about the characters despite myself and their floundering ways.
I'm not sure who I'd recommend this book to--perhaps lovers of quirky domestic comedies in general fiction, or literary fiction on the domestic, quiet side of the aisle. In the end, I did rather enjoy it. ( )
This was a very satisfying read. A novel of love, loss, ambition and the Pulitzer Prize I loved all the DC references. Very enjoyable first novel from Matthew Norman. ( )
This was a fast read and enjoyable, but I sort of hate the main character and probably the author. I am glad I am not married to a man like him. And yes, I got the story. But I still think the character was selfish and childish. I think what bothers me most is the story has been told before and more cleverly done at that. ( )
Eh. It was OK. Well written enough, interesting enough storyline, but not a whole lot going on. Kind of a beach read, or a book for when you don't want to think too much. I read it quickly, but most of it faded from my memory quickly so it certainly didn't stick with me or strike a chord. ( )
When I was little, I read books because I thought that’s what people were supposed to do, because that’s what my mom did and what my dad did. While I stumbled and squinted my way through math and science and everything else useful in the world, I was always confident in words and stories and the things lurking in the brains of the characters who wandered in and out of my life. Sometimes I wish I’d been born to normal people — people to whom a book was just a book and people could be fixed like Fords.
Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he'd have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He's got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he's written a novel, but the manuscript he's slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious arch nemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety. Tom's life is crushing his soul, but he's decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness-even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.
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Tom Violet's life has brought a far different reality from his dreams of having a beautiful wife, a satisfying career as a successful novelist and a happy dog to greet him as he returns home. But his novel is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father has just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. And the dog has acute anxiety. But Tom has decided to do something to control his own happiness, even if it means making a complete idiot of himself.
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I'm not sure who I'd recommend this book to--perhaps lovers of quirky domestic comedies in general fiction, or literary fiction on the domestic, quiet side of the aisle. In the end, I did rather enjoy it. (