From Publishers Weekly
Big shticks often sink lightweight romantic comedies, but Israel manages to keep this (relatively) high-concept lad-lit debut afloat with wry humor, earnest romance and endearingly dopey self-doubt. The shtick is the second-person narration, which can seem contrived and a little bossy at first ("Put on a nice pair of jeans and a white shirt. Vacillate between tucking it in and wearing it out") but is capably handled. The unnamed narrator behind all the "you"s is the Everyman of the title, a menschy unnamed guy in his early 30s who's funding his budding screenwriting career with a job as an administrative assistant in New York City. His life gets a major boost when he meets Sonja (online, of course). Despite the fact that she's from "please god nooo LongIsland," and is inconveniently afflicted by chronic fatigue syndrome, the narrator falls for her. He's particularly smitten by her wacky stand-up brand of humor, which he shares—and mines for material. But then Sonja drops a bombshell, and he must decide whether to let her go or give up some of his long-cherished dreams. Readers may groan at the novel's many dorky jokes, but the lovably annoying narrator will come as a relief to those turned off by some of his snarky, misogynistic counterparts.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
