Maynard and Jennica

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 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 show more 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 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.

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 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 show more 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

Reads like an interview. Very clever and witty, straight to the point love story told from many different points of view. The characters are down to earth and easy to relate to....i could see a lot of myself in Jennica, the flighty non-commital dreamer.....although i'm not flighty or non-commital and am a realist...come to think of it we have nothing in common and yet i could still identify with her, rudolph delson is a genius! Highly recommended.

(from my blog, b/c I am lazy)I don't remember how I heard about Maynard & Jennica, by Rudolph Delson. Doesn't really matter - it ended up on my list so I requested it from the library. It's billed as a love story, with a lot of minor characters. In this it is perhaps like Beginner's Greek. But this is missing a lot of the sweet. You're not rooting against these lovers, but I'm not convinced that you like them very much.I'm having trouble knowing what to say about the book, and perhaps that's because it is a very talky novel. It's a little like a written documentary - a series of (mostly) monologues by a variety of different characters, explaining what's happening from their point of view. And the characters include family, childhood show more friends, a kid on the subway, and a rap artist. Somehow this all makes sense. And they all have plenty to say, mainly about an ambitious California girl seeking an "illustrious" life in NYC, and a completely pretentious filmmaker who dresses like he's someone's grandpa. These are Jennica (aka Jenny) & Maynard (aka Arnie, aka Manny, aka Gogi). And these monologues are introduced like this: "Maynard Gogarty, in paradise, tells us something he isn't certain of." The uncertain thing, by the way, is whether Jennica knows he can be a jerk. Jennica follows up by being uncertain about whether or not he plans to propose.Anyway, etc. etc. For just under 300 pages. Also there is September 11, and a really fantastic indictment of the way non-New Yorkers appropriated the city's grief. (I'm not entirely sure I agree, seeing as how I was not exactly innocent of the charge and seeing as how the attacks were on a nation, not just a city, but nonetheless...) And some very funny moments. Which is all to say... what? I liked it; I did. Maybe despite myself. show less

I just picked this up in the airport yesterday, but it was just one of those books that I couldn't put down. "Maynard and Jennica" is the story of, yes, Maynard Gogarty and Jennica Green, but told through their eyes...as well as the eyes of everyone around them, from friends and family to a subway conductor and an artist. As it says on the back, sweetly and succinctly: "Love, fate, and the number 6 train." Admittedly, some of the characters take forever to get to the point - the action's a little slow at the beginning. But it picks up by the time you get to Part Two (And Delson's brilliant at characterization) and pieces start to really fit together. I found Maynard interesting even if Jennica was never quite likable (her parents and show more her "ex" best friend do their best to point out her faults, which prove rather plausible through her actions). The character Ana, however, was a little odd, if completely unbelievable at times. Although I do like her method when it comes to NYC taxis! Recommended as a light read. show less