Modern Lovers

Read the vacationers and thought it was okay, maybe more of a library rental. When I saw the description of this book, mainly revisiting the death of a college band singer who later becomes famous, I thought meh. Turns out I clicked buy by mistake and it was quite a happy mistake. This book has very little to do with the college bang, or the singer's death, but is a realistic but beautifully pictured examination of growing old and looking back, juxtaposed with a younger generation coming of age. All of the characters are sympathetic, despite their faults. I thought racial implications might have been fleshed out a bit more, but then I think the focus of the book might have splintered. Maybe ignoring it completely rather than briefly hinting at it would have been more fluid. I found it utterly enjoyable.

When are authors going to realize that people don't actually walk around thinking about how things could of been?....we don't over analyze are marriages and our friendships. For some reason so many books are written about this angst of life and it's so stupid. Everything in this book was so beyond dumbed down that I am not sure who this book was for. I rolled my eyes constantly.

Last year I read The Vacationers and enjoyed it. The same author wrote Modern Lovers. I liked it a lot - writing clever, wove the friendships together seamlessly - liked and felt like I knew all the characters. I especially liked the way the author wrapped up the ending. It was unique and satisfying. Glad I read it...CH

Yet another deep dive into the lives of middle-aged New Yorkers trying to work through the angst of love and vanishing youth. The main protagonists of this novel were once members of a college rock band in Oberlin College. Two of the band members, Elizabeth and Andrew, got married and had a child, Harry, now 17. A third, Zoe, is married to Jane and they run a restaurant in Brooklyn. Their daughter, Ruby, is 18. The fourth member of the band, Lydia, became a troubled rock star, had one mega-hit for which Elizabeth had written the lyrics, and then died of a heroin overdose aged 27. A kind of Amy Winehouse figure. Now a Hollywood producer wants to make a movie out of their early lives. Elizabeth and Zoe are all in favor but Andrew is opposed.

Zoe and Janes's marriage has gone stale and they are sleeping apart. Ruby deliberately flunked her SATs and sent in a terrible essay with her college applications -- and was rejected by every school she applied to. She's at loose ends, drifting, unable to fix on a directions. Elizabeth has given up music and sells real estate. Andrew is between jobs -- but he comes from a rich family and does't have to worry too much about it. He thinks of various new careers but gets sucked into a cult-like group practicing new-age yoga run by an obvious charlatan. Harry is in lust, and maybe in love, with Ruby.

Reading this book, I felt like I'd read it several times before recently. I guess a disproportionate number of authors and publishers and agents live in Brooklyn and have an endless fascination with the lives of 40-somethings -- which they feel the whole world shares or ought to share -- or could be made to share. That's not to say that this book was not well-written and well-constructed. During its course, several of the characters will have their little crises -- and emerge from them hopefully older and wiser. I didn't much care what happened to them -- but maybe that's just me.

One aspect that rubbed me a little the wrong way was the depiction of Andrew who comes across as a complete loser -- weightless,irresponsible, gullible and self-absorbed. Since he's the only adult male character of any consequence, that drags the book in a particular direction. This is a book mainly about women. All of the women -- Zoe, Jane, Elizabeth, even Ruby -- are fundamentally serious, well-intentioned, hard-working and responsible -- and then there's Andrew who is pathetic. The other male characters include a sociopath who was once Ruby's boyfriend, a crook who runs the yoga retreat and Harry who is a lovable teddybear. There is a subtle anti-male bias here, I began to feel.

This book has been lauded by the critics and I liked it well enough -- but to me it all went down a little too easy. The last section, in which we learn what befalls the characters through press clippings, was particularly glib and unsuccessful. All the women came through and kind of dragged their male appendages along, those who bothered to have them.

This book sucked. Boring and cliched. I normally save my books in my library but I was so disappointed in this one that I tried to sell it at a used bookstore. They wouldn't take it. So I donated it at Goodwill. It's garbage.

There were four or five sentences worthy of re-reading.
No single character ever felt like an actual person. Plot and characterization were generated mechanically, without enough real feeling for what actually makes us friends, or lovers.
Nick Hornby does it better.

This book sucked. Boring and cliched. I normally save my books in my library but I was so disappointed in this one that I tried to sell it at a used bookstore. They wouldn't take it. So I donated it at Goodwill. It's garbage.

There were four or five sentences worthy of re-reading.
No single character ever felt like an actual person. Plot and characterization were generated mechanically, without enough real feeling for what actually makes us friends, or lovers.
Nick Hornby does it better.

A good friend recommend this book. So I stuck with it, even though I thought it was flat. As I reached the end suddenly all the flawed characters were polished and wrapped in beautiful bows. I was so sorry I wasted my time.

I thought the first chapter was promising. Took me a long time to get through it. I felt nothing about the characters. Seemed contrived. It's why I rarely read fiction anymore. Why waste time on a story that is only mildly interesting?

I enjoyed reading about these interwoven friends and all the directions life could have gone as each character reviews the "almosts". It was easy to root for Harry most of all, but I found myself hoping for the best for everyone.

Believable plot and emotions. Better than most. Recommend to readers who like real life situations, instead of fantasy, violence, or mystery. Spot on for this day and age with graceful dialogue. Will read other books by this author.

few surprises but quite enjoyable and very well written
great summer read that had reality and a set of personalities in the characters that was quite enjoyable.
and finally-the focus on food and restaurants...who does not like that!

It was entertaining enough once you got a third into it. Some of the stuff was a little hard to believe (Andrew and his guru ) but other parts relatable enough. The end was very tidy. I see many complaints about that but for me personally it works well to know how it ends

So engrossing. Love the author's writing style. Great and believable character development, and story line of aging hipsters in Brooklyn having mid life crises and dealing with teens. Dialogue was spot on. This book was a hard one to put down.

Talk about the lack of passion. This book is slow and very normal. I was really bored with this book. If I am going to spend time ready books, I do expect to be entertained or learn something from the book.