Is turning out to be a goodie. I thought that, given the title, it might be a bit of a modish, US emo-lit type of thing, but it's far less pretentious than that. It tells the stories of Sam - a failed writer of the great Zionist epic, Keith, a failing writer of Democrat political commentary, and Mark, a failing historian of the Mensheviks. Sad is the right word. All three men move from the promise (and the loves) of their twenties into loneliness and disappointment in their 30's. They make a mess of their love lives, put on weight, go bald, obsess over and alienate more women. I'm only two thirds of the way through, so things might improve, but there's a background hum of melancholy that verges on bleakness.
Gessen has a really likeable, honest voice, and the book is often funny and is very compelling.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) it's sort of painfully timely for me, reading this book. Just hopefully not in the literary failure half of things.
Christ, this entry really was book review-ish.
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