First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.
I love lad-lit. I’m fairly sure the genre is yet to be sullied by stuff that’s churned out to keep up with demand but then again, maybe I’ve just managed to hit on the best of what’s on offer. Love Monkey by Kyle Smith shows great lad-lit promise – humour, an over-analysis of relationships and a comparison to High Fidelity. Yay!
“Saturday, July 7
My day.
8:00 A.M. Arise
8:00-8:15. Light stretching. Don’t forget those hamstrings. A few push-ups to warm the blood.
8:20. Out the door, hit Central Park Reservoir. Do six laps. Pace: seven minutes per mile. That’s ten and a half miles in seventy-five minutes.
9:45. Back home. Shower, reread The Brothers Karamazov (“Grand Inquisitor” episode only).
11:45. Call Mom.
12:30. Lunch. Grilled quail, wild rice, spinach salad, fresh-squeezed oj.
1:00. To the Met. Check out Vermeer exhibit. Strike up conversation with cute twenty-five-year-old Dutch graduate student I meet standing in front of Woman Wearing Doily Around Her Neck; obtain her numerals, agree to meet her at the Carlyle ‘early next week.’
………
That’s what it says in my Yahoo! appointment book for today, anyway. But back here on Planet Manhattan, I creep out of bed as dawn breaks over Honolulu and skulk in the shower for forty-five minutes. (I know it was forty-five minutes because I had Pink Floyd’s The Wall in my Raindance CD player, and I got all the way through disc one.) Then I pick, off the floor, a few more dead flower petals from The Dinner and plant myself on the sofa that still bears my ass print from last night, surrounded by my twenty-first-century entertainment and sodium-delivery devices: four fiendishly over-complicated, girl-proof remote controls; two near-spent crinkly bags of salty snacks.”
So, two very different pictures of the main character, Tom Farrell.
Buy it or bin it?
This one sounds good! Did you ever read Charlotte Street?
Not yet *hangs head in shame* – still in my TBR stack…
Then bin this one *until* you read that one…
I know! I know!
I never heard of the term “lad-lit” like “chick-lit” with male characters sounds perfect. I’d read some more. Thanks for joining in.
I’ve never heard the term ‘lad-lit’ either, but I do like that opening!
I’m not sure how widely the term ‘lad-lit’ is used but it’s a good name for stories written from a male POV that aren’t quite ‘contemporary literature’!
Intriguing…the author shows us this character is just a few sentences. Thanks! Here’s MY TUESDAY MEMES POST
I have heard some people call it ‘dick-lit’ which is a bit cheeky but makes me laugh. I don’t like books that feel like they’re trying too hard to make me laugh – I don’t think this one would be for me.
Yes, I’ve heard ‘dick-lit’ as well – I don’t tag my posts with that because not sure what searches that would attract! 😉
I thought the humour may be trying too hard as well – it was the ‘Planet Manhattan’ bit I didn’t like… I have the first chapter, so I’ll read that and then decide (although I’m about to impose a book buying ban on myself anyway!).
yes, always have to be careful with search tags!
I’d give it a go…the description of the main character hooked me. “Lad lit” is a new term for me–it’s catchy and not derogatory…
Here’s my Tuesday choice: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2013/05/first-chapter-first-paragraph-12-and.html
And BTW, the Central Park Reservoir is one of the best places to run in NYC–especially this time of year!
Wish I was running (no, make that strolling) around Central Park!
I am intrigued enough to keep reading!
I’ve never heard the term “lad-lit” either, but I have read a few love stories from the male perspective that I really liked. I’d probably keep reading. kelley—the road goes ever ever on