The Love Affairs Of Nathaniel P.: A Novel

"Of all the novels I’ve reviewed in 2013, this is the one that everyone — from my middle-aged friends to my hip graduate student TAs — wants to borrow. Adelle Waldman’s debut is a comic novel of ideas that tracks the loves and literary ambitions of 30-year-old Nate Piven, who lives in Brooklyn. Nate and his smarty-arty friends spend their days writing essays on topics like “Yoga as the New Orientalism” and their evenings flirting and quaffing craft brewed beers. You’d think all that erudition might make Nate a “better” person, but, alas, he’s just another well-read bounder — one his girlfriends and Waldman’s readers find hard to resist."