Rudolph Delson

Recommended by Diane E. and Nancy S.Very clever and enjoyable read. The story is told through a series of observations by a variety of characters, some of whom are directly involved in the story and others who are ancillary players. The author was able to capture the personalities of the characters via relatively short monologues and dialogues. Definitely a fun read!

A romantic comedy about neurotic Manhattanites that is also a first novel can very easily go horribly wrong. This did not. It definitely took some getting into, however. The title characters never become entirely likable people, but I definitely have friends who sometimes act like them. Not to mention that I have friends who would definitely say that I sometimes act like them. The supporting cast is very charismatic, fortunately. And I love books with multiple narrators.

Picked it up despite show more the 9/11 angle rather than because of it, but I was fine with how that was handled. There is a rant that could put some people off, but I have heard very similar things from real-life friends in the city.

A favorite line : "And really, I don't believe that I deserve anyone's sympathy. I indulge myself with these tables of data, but I don't think my life is as sad as, like, Wuthering Heights, or Love in the Time of Cholera, or Dave Eggers, or whatever." show less

Eh, oh boy. I didn't finish it. I'm less than 200 pages in and just can't do it.
There are some perfectly written lines in this story. It's really very different. I wanted to stick with it. I kept thinking something great was going to come out of it. Maybe it did. Here's the thing though, we all know there's a lot of narrators. That was fine, it was different. With this many narrators, I accepted that I wouldn't like some of them. I was ok with that. But when I got to The Fourth Part and show more realized that I didn't actually like the main character, I decided to call it a day.

I'm sure plenty of people can appreciate a well written book with less than loveable characters, but it doesn't usually work for me. show less

I picked this book up full of enthusiasm and excited about something that seemed very different. This diminished within pages. It takes a while to get used the style of the book. The tale of how Maynard and Jennica meet and their relationship is told by them and the other characters in snippets, as if they are being interviewed by someone. It really did take me a while to get going with it. It's short enough which meant that as I wasn't thrilled with it I was able to persevere.

I was pleased show more I did, even though it still didn't become brilliant. There were too many characters and I wished I had read Part Five at the beginning as this is an explanation of who all the characters are. They are called "a list of speakers in this comedy" which links in with the idea that all the world's a stage (Richard III?). It was good to read how other characters perceived the decisions that Maynard and Jennica made but it just became confusing at times.

The best bit for me was the inside of the dust jacket with both characters explaining how to select a book. I reached the end feeling that nothing much had happened. I'm hoping that Maynard & Jennica keep their life to this short documentary and don't produce the sequel. show less