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As Philip Roth did for a generation before, Smith explores the mind and libido of the young male in a candid and broadly humorous work sure to hailed by fans of Nick Hornby, Irvine Welsh, and Jonathan Safran Foer.
About the author
Kyle Smith is the author of Love Monkey, the hit novel that was adapted into a CBS television series starring Tom Cavanagh and Jason Priestley. He is also a movie critic for the New York Post, which posts his reviews online each week at nypost.com. He lives in New York City.
Summary
Many men aim high; Tom Farrell dares to be average. While his friends accumulate wedding rings, mortgages, and even, alarmingly, babies, Tom still lives alone in his rented apartment with nothing but condiments and alcohol in his refrigerator. He spends Saturday mornings watching cartoons and eating Cocoa Puffs out of an Empire Strikes Back bowl, and devotes the rest of the weekend to his other favorite hobbies: sports and girls. His credo, to think and act like a thirteen-year-old boy at all times, has worked well enough to land him a decent job writing headlines for the New York Tabloid. But neither his personal life nor his professional life has any forward momentum; hes occupied the same cubicle since the first George Bush was president and is currently "between girlfriends." At thirty-two, it starts to occur to him: Theres a fine line between picky and loser.
Enter a sly, beautiful coworker named Julia. After a few torrid dates, Tom is hooked. "Shes like cleaning behind my refrigerator. A once-in-a-lifetime thing." But the closer he gets to Julia, the more elusive she becomes. Frustrated, Tom seeks the dubious advice of his buddy Shooter, a shallow sexual gladiator, and wonders why he keeps getting into arguments with Bran, his smart, sarcastic "default date." But then tragedy strikes, and everyones attitudes toward life and love change -- and even Tom begins to see himself in a new light.
By turns riotous and tenderhearted, Kyle Smiths Love Monkey is the most candid and excruciatingly funny exploration of the male mind and libido since High Fidelity.
Additional text
"This is the funniest book I've read all year. "
