Carter Bays (creator)

I think I just read the start of Carter Bays's new tv show, and it's going to be great. Instead of focusing on a group of friends, here he spreads the attention among several New Yorkers who are interconnected in ways they don't even know about. Most of the characters are in their 20s or 30s and are quite attached to social media, which becomes one of the ways that they find and lose each other.

Is it possible that one too many storylines were included here? Yes, probably. I feel like there show more were a couple that could have been minimized, if not eliminated, without damaging the overall thrust of the book. However, even those characters added to overall gestalt of the book in a positive way.

Bays has a deft hand with dialogue and scene setting and all the things that go into a successful TV show. It turns out he's also pretty good with narrative flow, and puts it all together to make a pretty darn good book.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review. show less

Hilarious and thoughtful which isn’t an easy combination – at first it seems like a satire of our current relationship with technology – social media especially as the author takes you through the day via cell phone of 20-something (says her Suitoronomy profile) Roxy Miao as she scrolls and flips through a dizzying array of data – 99% of it useless. Then there is the MeWantThat app that made Bill Quick a millionaire before 40 and the affluenza he and his wife Pitterpat as a result show more – not to mention that he has spread far and wide with the app that dangles unneeded but enticing stuff in front of its users. There is the new streaming dating show Love on the Ugly Side that has all its watchers enthralled. And there is Alice Quick, the new roommate of Roxy arranged through some tenuous connection who is determined to go to med school because she posted on Facebook that she would. And there are the horrible viral fails that stay forefront for a short cycle: the mayor’s dirty pics, the blind date’s meltdown and subsequent negative Suitoronomy rating. And though this is NYC, there are dozens of other crucial characters who fade in and out and are slightly connected together through the circuitry that social media creates. The author goes on to develop some of these relationships further, but the pervasive influence of technology is always present and the omniscient narrator continues to weave copious data about each person into the story. At one point I thought it could be about 100 pages shorter, but ultimately all of it is needed to bring the story together so fully and make the point so poignantly that we are more connected than ever, but also more apart. And while you are laughing at some of the ridiculous escapades that some sort of technological component, Bays sneaks in what is ultimately a paean to the wonder of computers and the minds that create them. There is the final reassurance (or warning) that any individual in today’s world who has any sort of online interaction has left a mark on the world. I'd put this in the same category as Hank Green's An Absolutely Remarkable Thing or Tahmima Anam's The Startup Wife - clearly these stories have a pulse on the Information Age - and we need to pay attention, which isn't difficult when the writers are so entertaining. show less

The Mutual Friend is an all-encompassing novel spread over a group of family and friends in New York City one summer. There are many characters, all quirkily fascinating and a range of events occurring all over the city. It’s like reading a limited TV series, and once I thought of the book in those terms (rather than traditional one main character etc) I loved it.

The one person all these characters eventually lead back to is Alice. She’s made a decision to study for the exam to enter show more medicine after a late-night Facebook post several years ago. Why she posted that is gradually revealed over the course of the novel. Alice has decided that the summer will be her study period, but a number of friends and family will make sure that there are heaps of distractions. First, there is Alice’s new flatmate Roxy. Not only does their kitchen have a blue tree in it, but Roxy is just as chaotic and spontaneous. This throws the pair into the path of Bobert Smith, who gets his own narrative and redemption involving early internet chat and a model train enthusiast. Alice’s brother, toast of the town due to his app, also makes some lifechanging decisions that throws his marriage with Pitterpat off course. Holding all these characters together are phones and social media. There’s a lot of texting and Facebook messaging, as well as Instagram pics, internet outrage and the problems of dating apps. Social media could also be considered another character in this novel – perhaps even the mutual friend – as it’s involved in so many of the plot points. But overall, this is a character driven novel and from the very first page, the reader is thrown into the deep end. It’s a bit difficult to understand at first, but Bobert and the trains had me sucked in to keep reading. Ultimately the novel is rewarding, for the growth of the characters and what happens to them, good and bad. There are some hilariously funny moments and some ‘I’m sorry but this is funny even though it’s shocking for the character’ moments.

Carter Bays knows just when to switch focus to another character as you’re thinking about them, or bring in an intricately interesting backstory, or scandal. It’s like an episode cliff-hanger every now and then, made more mysterious by the ambiguous narrator. Who are they and how do they know all these things? Once the answer is revealed, it was a bit weird for me but it really kept in with the themes of the novel. Initially I was annoyed that Every. Single. Character. was always on their phones or social media instead of talking to people (including famous ones!) who happened to be in the room. I’m still not sure if it was toned down, or if I just got used to it (or it just made me feel guilty about my own phone use). The way of telling Alice and the other characters’ stories is a little unconventional, but it worked in the end as I couldn’t put the book down. I want to know more about all of them – Roxy, PItterpat, Bobert’s former girlfriend, LEO, Bill’s next obsession and how Pitterpat moves forward. Finally, it goes without saying that there’s enough scandal, drama and quirks for The Mutual Friend to make a great TV series!

Thank you to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less

The Mutual Friend was a funny, yet scarily realistic look at how much social media and the internet control our lives and distract us. I chose it because it’s written by the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother and I love that show.

Alice Quick posted on Facebook three years ago that she was going to medical school. It’s time for her to bite the bullet and actually study for and take the MCAT. After all, tons of people liked that post. But there are so many distractions, like making the show more perfect Spotify playlist for when she is studying. Her new roommate Roxy, who has the attention span of a gnat and her nose permanently in her phone, is not helping. She is always twisting Alice’s arm to go to a party or somewhere else.

There are a lot of supporting characters too. It’s one of those books where you know they all end up being tied to each other in one way or another even though it doesn’t seem like it at first. The connections the author made between them were really clever. The internet is a small world!

This book was my book club’s May selection and it got mixed reviews. A couple of us – like me – loved it. Others thought it was too slow. I thought it started out slow but drew me in as I kept reading. I could totally relate to Alice and Roxy – I have a social media addiction that I’m constantly fighting. TikTok is my latest obsession! I’m glad I put my phone down long enough to read this book.

Recommended. show less