“I feel like you want to think what you’re feeling is really deep, like some seriously profound existential shit. But to me, it looks like the most tired, average thing in the world, the guy who is interested in a woman until the very moment when it dawns on him that he has her. Wanting only what you can’t have. The affliction of shallow morons everywhere.”

This quote – from toward the end of  Adelle Waldman‘s debut novel, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. – sums the book up perfectly. Well almost. It skews the judgement toward male behaviour which is certainly the intention of the author however I felt Waldman’s careful dissection of relationships – building and destroying them – is as equally telling about women as it is about men. It just so happens that Waldman’s main character is male – Nathaniel (Nate) Piven. And Nate is a bit of a knob. Other words such as self-absorbed and jerk also spring to mind. Thankfully liking a character is not a prerequisite for enjoying a book. Continue reading →