The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
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3.8 • 5 Ratings
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- £1.99
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- £1.99
Publisher Description
Nathaniel Piven is a rising star in Brooklyn's literary scene. After several lean, striving years and an early life as a class-A nerd, he now (to his surprise) has a lucrative book deal, his pick of plum magazine assignments, and the attentions of many desirable women: Juliet, the hotshot business journalist; Elisa, Nate's gorgeous ex-girlfriend, now friend; Hannah, lively and fun and 'almost universally regarded as nice and smart, or smart and nice'.
In this twenty-first-century literary enclave, wit and conversation are not at all dead. But is romance? In The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. Adelle Waldman plunges into the psyche of a sensitive, flawed, modern man – to reveal the view of the new world from his garret window, and the view of women from his overactive mind.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brooklynite Nathaniel Piven, "a product of a postfeminist, 1980s childhood," is the modern male inheritor of a dating world where the enduring gender imbalance gives him the upper hand. But when it comes to relationships, he's achingly aware of the hidden traps and unsought responsibility of this power. Nate hates feeling guilty over the many women he hurts (female tears in this novel flow with a tenacious persistence, to Nate's irritation). His well-intentioned missteps with reporter Juliet and editorial assistant Elisa earn him tireless tsk-tsk reprimands and a rep for being "the kind of guy women call an asshole." When he begins dating a seemingly perfect-for-him writer named Hannah, we wonder whether Nate will adapt or strike out yet again. Hannah is nice, smart, and makes him feel "at home," but will Nate, who seems to feed off misconnecting with women, make the right relationship move or is it yet another "dick move"? An acute study of present-day struggles with intimacy, Waldman seems to suggest that love is too constricting a tie for the 21st century, and that, perhaps, a different kind of connection might better define the contemporary couple. She navigates the male psyche and a highly entertaining hipster mindset, and sneaks in an unexpected, understated ending that brings this pulpy read a satisfying poignancy.
