My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Bookshelves: brit-lit, humor, literary-fiction, love-story-not-a-romance, pop-culture, dick-lit, coming-of-age
This is the first I’ve read that I can recall in the genre opposite to chick-lit and which others have called guy-lit, he-lit, and dick-lit (my personal favorite). I’d have given it a pass if I’d known there was a movie starring John Cusack, so sometimes it’s a good thing that I largely ignore pop culture.
Because this wasn’t a bad book. It’s about love, yes, but it’s also about self-realization, and the nerdy guy coming of age in his thirties, and figuring out that life and love are mostly matters of compromise and diving in and going for it and that’s really not so bad. The top-five lists of various things (TV episodes, records, break-ups) have depth of meaning under the wry surface. Humorous, and full of those little “you-mean-other-people-think-this-stuff-too?” and other weird psychological insight moments.
“It’s like everyone’s a supporting actor in the film of your life story.”
Of course. Isn’t that how it works for everybody?
New words:
Interregnum: Temporary suspension of normal government, such as between successive reigns or regimes (or when the Republicans are throwing a tantrum — okay, I made that up)
99 Monkeys 