Him Her Him Again The End of Him

This book was great!! Such a laugh. The protagonist relates the ups and downs of her relationship with Eugene, a pompous jerk she meets while pursuing a graduate degree in England. Marx makes her character self-deprecating and painfully honest—she discusses the awkward encounters and discomfiting rendezvous with Eugene and his other lovers free from pretense or any attempt to make herself look dignified. This book is a quick, easy read, yet it has a shrewd take on men like Eugene and the women who can’t help but be duped by them, again and again!

Okay - once again I realize that these "hilarious" books about relationships are just not my cup of tea. While I found an occasional phrase mildly amusing, I feel like the overall story tries too hard to be amusing. I guess I don't like reading page after page of "oh woe is me", "love me or love me not", nonsense.

This woman spends years and years of her life pining after a guy who clearly doesn't love her and yet she remains at his beck and call over and over (even after he's married someone else). She doesn't get a job, lives with her parents, bemoans her life, and can't get over this obnoxious man. I didn't like her or him or the story!

Read for "title w/ antonyms" for the 2015 challenge. Not recommended unless you want to wallow in show more someone's story who has a worse life than you! show less

O', Darling, Have I Ever Intuited To You That You Fill Me Past Containment With The Most Wondrous Mirth?: This is a really funny novel! Somehow, despite its cutting edge modernity, it reads a lot like those unintentionally humorous old books that were once the very soul of seriousness but which with time became inane. It tells a story of one woman's quest for happiness and perfection in her life, and of the irritatingly awful man who, much to her and our frustration, keeps wrecking it for her, for which she has largely herself to blame. Meeting this screamingly-ridiculous post-grad as a virginal, idealistic student at Cambridge, a never-named American-born heroine is swept away by a charming and pedantic cad, called Eugene, and even show more after Eugene ends his wordy romance of the woman by wedding the (perhaps psychosomatically) ill Margaret, the woman cannot quite forget the drivel-spouting Eugene, or stop his serial, self-serving invasions of her life over the next decade. Even when she lands a writing job on an SNL-like comedy show is she not invulnerable to Eugene's snicker-worthy wiles.

It's a mistake to dismissively stereotype a book as "chick lit" even if it clearly is. The fact is chick lit has given us some of the funniest and most touching titles in recent decades. Sure in books written primarily for females there is emoting, yes, there is a lot of introspection, certainly, and verily, there are embarrassing moments aplenty, but the good news is, this book, sets them all on their heads with its clever awareness of that. Achieving a rare synthesis of satire and parody and tossing in some good old fashioned hilarity, former Saturday Night Live writer Patricia Marx has cranked out a witty book that made me laugh at least once a chapter. Knowing that true satire tiptoes along a razor's edge on which silliness lies on one side and banality on the other, and that parody, like a delicate hothouse flower that only blossoms in a small temperature range, is easily lost in the effort, Marx treats her tale of a never-named woman who is partly modern and partly old-fashioned, with delicacy that shows.

I thought Him Her Him Again The End Of Him was hilarious and a quality novel, one that should translate perfectly to the big screen, and might I add that Hugh Grant, with the right accent, would be perfect for the part of Eugene. show less

Can you love unreservedly a book that enthralls you but falls apart in the final pages? I think you can. You can love it the same way you love your cat who continually butt drags on the beige carpet. The cat is loving, adorable, a delight in every way except that terrible surprise waiting for you when you walk downstairs. It irritates you fiercely when it happens but mostly you recall all the times the beast has made you happy. That’s the approach I am taking with this book: the great fun of the book overwhelmed the unhappy surprise at the end.

Marx’s clever yet sympathetic prose coupled with an appreciation for the absurd gives us a heroine we can both root for and wish we could throttle. Her depiction of the villain in this piece show more may seem heavy-handed but at the same time portrays perfectly the bafflement others must feel observing any relationships women have with such men. I suspect this book will speak to mostly women of a certain age who have made shockingly dumb decisions in love, but anyone with a love of characters full of self-deprecating humor and wit will find much to love in this book. Read my entire review here: http://ireadeverything.com/him-her-him-again-the-end-of-him-by-patricia-marx/ show less

I can understand all the one-star reviews: our protagonist is neurotic and is obsessed with a narcissistic man for a decade. I like Marx's approach of detailing the relationship without delving into the why. Hilarious, audacious, intelligent, and absurd.

I think this was kind of funny and cute and relatable but I have a feeling I'm going to read the negative reviews and change my mind now

edit: nope I stand by my review. This book was ahead of its time. It's giving dumb bitch lit. It's giving a touch of jen. it's giving mona awad. it's giving my year of rest and relaxation. I liked it because it was a little silly and annoying and you can't tell me that wasn't intentional. Just turn your brain off for two seconds, shut up, and enjoy something.

Hilarious take on the doormat woman who thinks that making herself available to the narcissist lothario will make him love her. The narrator knows how ridiculous her behavior is, yet she just can't stop herself. Biting wit, absurdity, laugh-out loud scenarios. The ending was a bit less than satisfying, but what a fun read. I definitely recommend to any person who's ever been obsessed with a sexy liar (the Offspring song "Self Esteem" comes to mind) and to anyone who likes dark humor.