Farrell of Laughs

Kyle Smith's Debut Novel is a Sharp-Eyed Look at Modern Men and Dating

Go ahead and tell your coworkers that you're reading a book called Love Monkey, and see the reaction you get. Raised eyebrows, perhaps? Outright snickers? No matter -- stick with it. Kyle Smith's tremendously enjoyable novel is worth whatever abuse you get.

Our protagonist and first-person narrator is Tom Farrell, 32, who does editing and rewrite work at the Tabloid, a New York competitor of the Post and Daily News. He's in very deep like with a coworker, Julia, who's involved with someone else but nevertheless strings poor Tom along for months of dinners, New York parties, groping in taxicabs, and the like. While Tom struggles to claim Julia for himself, he's also playing the field, juggling three or four women simultaneously. There's a lot of drinking involved, and very few people ever seem hung over, which is a trick I'd like to try sometime, but other than that, much of Smith's book rings true.

Love Monkey breaks no new ground; Nick Hornby has been writing about thirtysomething teenagers (Tom calls himself a "manboy") for several books now. But Smith is a terrifically engaging writer, combining pop-culture references, pitch-perfect characterization, and just enough introspection to offer a realistic and humorous look at the angst of contemporary, post-collegiate dating. The novel's conclusion feels rushed, as if Smith weren't sure how to end things, but the preceding pages had me both laughing out loud and nodding to myself in agreement. Look elsewhere for Deep and Meaningful fiction; this book's just plain fun and poignant. If Love Monkey were a relationship, it wouldn't be the book you'd marry, but it'd be a hell of a lot of fun on Saturday night.

Rating: **** (of 5)

Comments

[Iain]

Excellent! More Shallow Center recommendations to keep me occupied during the Hot Stove season :-)

[Tom Durso]

Hey, happy to be of service, Iain!

[Tom G]

Is there a TV show based on this book?

[Helene Patterson]

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