"Νιώθω σαν νά 'χω πάθει υπερκόπωση".
"Υπερκόπωση; Από τι;" είπε η Τζούλια.
"Απ' το να είμαι... ο εαυτός μου, υποθέτω. Ο εαυτός μου με εξαντλεί".

Όλο το κείμενο (και το zeitgeist του σήμερα) σε μία στιχομυθία.

While there are some funny moments and well written lines, the story overall is lacking. This is essentially a story about two people falling in love while living with little directions in their late 20s. There is a lot of sex, drugs, music, and of course, books. Sometimes the amount of references thrown in feel overwhelming, as if the author wants to prove badly to us just how well he/the characters are versed in arts and culture.

The main character, Peter, while interesting enough for us to follow him through the story, is really only interesting because of his lust for Leslie. And I suspect that his good fortune may be short lived since Leslie is no picnic. Overall, none of the characters are particularly likeable, yet they are self-destructive enough to hold our attention. But, I wonder what the point of this is in the end, because none of the characters change. Perhaps that is the point? They are young, figuring things out, and have all the time in the world to fuck up while indulging in the reveries of becoming writers.

A bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who have substituted having a personality with drugs and liking books, go out of their way to make their lives more difficult. It didn't really go anywhere, and maybe that was the point, to reflect the lives of the characters, but those lives just weren't interesting enough to warrant it.

This is the type of book I thought I would love b/c I enjoy books about dysfunctional, even selfish people (probably more than I should!), but the ending felt like little more than a shrug.

basically about me

Though at times pretentious beyond even its own self-derision, this book made me laugh out loud countless times. Reads a bit like a mumblecore movie that you write off because it was written by a Duplass brother, but is ultimately redeemed in its being directed by Greta Gerwig.

There are few characters, if any, to root for — certainly not our protagonist. Still, this was a very funny read with surprisingly illustrative prose. Pretty but not lyrical, well-paced but compact.

I take most issue with a scene involving a Kendrick Lamar song, which occurred early and almost soured me on the book entirely. Otherwise, I recommend.

I mostly agree with a prior review from someone else below:

"Mildly amusing story about a lazy, dissipated young writer who drinks a lot, cheats on his hard-working girlfriend and doesn’t do much writing."

I'd also add, there is a lot of sex, introspection, lazing around, and drugs. I couldn't bring myself to care for any of the individuals in this book, so that always makes it tough to get into. Maybe I'm just getting too old and becoming a curmudgeon, but basically its a view into the lives of those starting out in life, trying to figure it all out, but all in all not that compelling because they begin and start mostly in the same spot with little going in between except for the aforementioned, sex, drugs, and bar hopping.

It's not about anything and it's about everything. Captures the voice of a never-will-create-but-always-believes-they-will "writer" adrift in the land of FOMO and YOLO.

The few moments where someone forced to actually "work" interjects and Peter, the narrator and the narrated, acknowledges his true place, are powerful and perfectly empty.