Nathaniel Piven is an ambitious intellectual, a few years out of Harvard (which he finds some humble way to drop into every conversation). Unlike an episode of “Girls,” though, Waldman’s novel concentrates on the experiences of a young man. Like an episode of “Girls,” this svelte novel moves through a series of loosely structured conversations - in an apartment, at a trendy restaurant, on the way to the subway. You might think it’d be easier to find a parking space in Manhattan than to say anything new about that subject, but this dark comedy delivers one prickling insight after another.Īdmittedly, Waldman isn’t much for plot. Waldman offers a delectable analysis of contemporary dating among literary wannabes. I’m making her read “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.” in exchange for paying off her student loans.

My daughter just graduated from college, but her education won’t be complete till she’s studied Waldman’s brilliant taxonomy of homo erectus brooklynitis. In the bookstore, reshelve copies back in the “Gardening” section.Īn overreaction? I don’t think so.

Mutter something about how condescending it is to women. is a tale of one young man's search for happiness-and an inside look at how he really thinks about women, sex and love.īright young men, do you feel that chilly wind of exposure? Somehow, Adelle Waldman has stolen your passive-aggressive playbook and published it in her first novel, “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.” You’ll want to tell your female friends that you’ve heard it’s not very good.

Is romance? Novelist Adelle Waldman plunges into the psyche of a flawed, sometimes infuriating modern man-one who thinks of himself as beyond superficial judgment, yet constantly struggles with his own status anxiety, who is drawn to women, yet has a habit of letting them down in ways that may just make him an emblem of our times. In Nate's 21st-century literary world, wit and conversation are not at all dead. When one relationship grows more serious, Nate is forced to consider what it is he really wants. After several lean and striving years, he has his pick of both magazine assignments and women: Juliet, the hotshot business reporter Elisa, his gorgeous ex-girlfriend, now friend and Hannah, 'almost universally regarded as nice and smart, or smart and nice,' who holds her own in conversation with his friends.

The love life of nathaniel p