The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adelle Waldman - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!  

Tonight I bring you a lovely review for Adelle Waldman's novel The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.   This isn't a book I would normally pick up to read on my own, as it seemed a little *gasp* too literary.  However, in my bookish adventures I've decided to join a books & brunch book club with complete strangers! Because as you know, I like books but I LOVE brunch.

Do you see that pretty little gold key?  It's to our
For the Love of Dewey P.O. Box.  See below.

The main character annoyed the heck out of me.  Seriously, I wanted to shake him.  Part of his psychological personality remind me of a relationship gone wrong that I experienced, but really that's stretching it quite a bit.   Nathaniel P. was an asshole.     

Before I continue my rant let's have a little back story.  This novel, as you may have guessed by the title, is about the many love affairs of Nathaniel P.  Now, Nathaniel is a writer.  He went to school for literature, he has a book published, and he's a total book and writing snob.  In my first paragraph where I wrote "Because as you, " would probably piss him off.  But this is a blog and grammar rules are blurred.  Actually, they're nonexistent.  Let's make them up as we go.  Just because Nathaniel P. has love affairs, does not mean that he hasn't had lengthy relationships.  He lived with one girl shortly after college, but that tanked, and his main and most recent love interest, a six month relationship with Hannah, takes up a good portion of this novel.  But this relationship also fails because Nathaniel P. is really just a jerk.  He claims to be proactive with women's rights, but he gets annoyed with Hannah for wanting to "talk" or when her arms jiggle in a way he finds unflattering, which causes him to distance himself and then return.  These little disgust-ions (I made that word up. Take that Nathaniel P.) continue throughout this novel, causing a continues ebb and flow of Nathaniel being really into the relationship and then pulling back.  To quote Taylor Swift, he would "give love and take it away." So it's not a surprise that Hannah gets frustrated.  

So Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 2.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.... because you know... brunch.  

~Jessica

P.S. 
Some 20-somethings, photograph keys to new apartments, we photograph keys to our P.O. Box!  Yes, you read that right!  You can now send Reviewer's Copies to P.O. Box 1481 Clifton, NJ 07015.  

Friendly Disclaimer: We can't guarantee that it will make the blog, but we WILL read it and put it on our bookstagram!