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Set for Life
A wryly funny and moving novel that captures the complexities of marriage, art, friendship, and the fictions we create in order to become the people we wish to be.
A creative writing professor at a third-tier college in upstate New York is on his way home from a summer fellowship in France, where he’s spent the last three months loafing around Bordeaux, tasting the many varieties of French wine at his disposal, and doing just about anything but actually working on his long overdue novel. A stopover in Brooklyn to see his and his wife’s closest friends—John, a jaded poet-turned-lawyer with a dubious moral compass, and Sophie, a once-promising fiction writer with a complicated past and a mysterious allure—causes further trouble when he and Sophie wind up sleeping together while John is out serenading Brooklyn coeds with poems instead of preparing legal briefs.
But instead of succumbing to his failures as a teacher, writer, and husband, an odd freedom begins to bubble up. Could a love affair be the answer he’s been searching for? Could it offer the escape he needs from the department chair, Chet Bland, who’s been breathing down his neck? Relief from the gossip of colleagues and generational tension with students? Respite from embarrassment over his wife, Debra Crawford, and her meteoric rise as a novelist? His escapades might even make the perfect raw material for an absolutely devastating novel, which would earn him tenure, wealth, and celebrity—everything he needs to be set for life. If only he could be the one to write it.
A brilliant case of art imitating life, Andrew Ewell’s gem of a debut is a hilarious and poignant tour de force that asks who owns whose story, skewers the fictions created from our lives and others’, and brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “publish or perish.”
A creative writing professor at a third-tier college in upstate New York is on his way home from a summer fellowship in France, where he’s spent the last three months loafing around Bordeaux, tasting the many varieties of French wine at his disposal, and doing just about anything but actually working on his long overdue novel. A stopover in Brooklyn to see his and his wife’s closest friends—John, a jaded poet-turned-lawyer with a dubious moral compass, and Sophie, a once-promising fiction writer with a complicated past and a mysterious allure—causes further trouble when he and Sophie wind up sleeping together while John is out serenading Brooklyn coeds with poems instead of preparing legal briefs.
But instead of succumbing to his failures as a teacher, writer, and husband, an odd freedom begins to bubble up. Could a love affair be the answer he’s been searching for? Could it offer the escape he needs from the department chair, Chet Bland, who’s been breathing down his neck? Relief from the gossip of colleagues and generational tension with students? Respite from embarrassment over his wife, Debra Crawford, and her meteoric rise as a novelist? His escapades might even make the perfect raw material for an absolutely devastating novel, which would earn him tenure, wealth, and celebrity—everything he needs to be set for life. If only he could be the one to write it.
A brilliant case of art imitating life, Andrew Ewell’s gem of a debut is a hilarious and poignant tour de force that asks who owns whose story, skewers the fictions created from our lives and others’, and brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “publish or perish.”
256 pages, Hardcover
First published February 6, 2024
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August 5, 2024In my freshman year of college, Andrew Ewell gave me some of the best feedback I’d ever received on a paper when he wrote “I don’t really agree with anything you have to say, but your argument almost convinced me.” I’ve remembered that for eight years even as I’ve forgotten the bulk of what I learned as an English major, even though Ewell’s survey of contemporary American literature was fine at best (and mostly an excuse to proselytize Lorrie Moore’s Anagrams) – maybe one piece of true praise from a mediocre teacher is stronger than a semester’s worth from a good one. All this is to say, I knew Ewell, just as I knew his ex-wife, and I followed their breakup as it happened with that hazy para-sociality that comes from being a student that was always sitting in the English lounge but never went to office hours. I also can’t say the same of his debut that he did of my essay – I don’t really agree with anything the unnamed narrator of Set For Life says, and his argument is never convincing.
There’s a sense, in the copy on the front jacket and the blurbs on the cover, that this is being sold as a campus novel, a light comedy in the vein of Richard Russo’s Straight Man (the novel that all current iterations seem to attempt to imitate – we are too far gone from the academic atmosphere of Lucky Jim and Pictures of an Institution for them to be reasonable referents). This is somewhat of a misdirection – there are moments here that aim for the comic, but most are haphazard pot shots at contemporary topics of discourse (social media, YA fiction, “wokeness”/DEI/#MeToo) that rarely land and the academic moments outside of the novel’s main plot are little more than window dressing (there’s an old faculty member on campus that is the narrator’s sole confidant…and then he dies; that’s pretty much the extent). Some moments are funny – but only with the outside knowledge of the situation that inspired them. Naming the stand-in for a certain former English chair Chet Bland is funny if you know the man (no offense to him, we never had a class, I shouldn’t say), but only merits a half-smile if you don’t. There’s one late-novel instance of the antics that Russo’s novel was so rife with, but it’s too little too late, and I can’t help but think that when Russo read this for his blurb he likely found it a weak reflection. A comparison to Fred Exley is likewise unfounded – there’s neither depravity nor any particular self-insight in Ewell’s writing; the only similarity is that both their narrators know their way around a whiskey bottle.
What is this then, if not a campus comedy? The answer should be clear to readers of Hannah Pittard’s We Are Too Many or anyone who knows what happened between Pittard and Ewell somewhere around the time I was a sophomore. This is Ewell’s reckoning with his affair and the subsequent fall-out – where Pittard chose to write a memoir and change the names, adding the “this is true – as I remember it” caveat, Ewell has gone for the “it’s not autofiction, it’s a fictionalizing” defense, but (conveniently? or not) left the novel’s narrator unnamed. We can’t help but read it as him. I had the man for class, I’ve read the memoir, I know that his lack of publications has chielfy been a failure of imagination. There’s a good amount here that reads as invented, but just as much seems pulled from the truth, not least the character’s rationalizing of his affair and separation. As I read it, that comes down to three reasons: 1) resentment of his wife’s success, especially insofar as he reads it as selling-out 2) resentment tied to the emasculation (lol) of being a spousal hire and 3) the marriage was already ending and his wife was already emotionally cheating with the chair. Leaving aside the third reason, which may be born of spite and isn’t my place to speak on either way, there’s not really any justification – and that would be fine IF the narrator came to any realization, felt any guilt, or did anything besides spit halfhearted venom at his former wife and department. But he doesn’t. The failure of this novel isn’t that the narrator learns nothing and then nods towards the chance of a happy ending – a novel could do this and still be good – it’s that it’s never interesting or funny while it’s doing that. It reads exactly like the novel promised by its own weak stab at metafiction (a groanworthy “the novel you’re reading is the novel that I wrote” denouement that rings as false as the “just a dream” endings that the narrator criticizes his own students for writing) – an attempt to set the record straight about what really happened, and also to (finally!) get published.
And yet, Set For Life is fiction, or sold that way at least, so it can’t be a rebuttal to Pittard’s portrayal of the marriage. All it can be is a half-baked debut novel about a man who finds his life isn’t the life he had idealized and instead of confronting that, burrows deeper into it. He becomes a man who has an affair not just to have an affair, but to have something to write about, but then only writes about it because his ex-wife has already written it. Sure, his book may be twenty pages longer and a dollar more expensive, and have a blurb from Jay McInerney, but there’s nothing to it. Teddy Wayne’s Loner is one of my favorite books and has a similar predicament at its core, but it is always clear that Wayne has no sympathy for his narrator. The same cannot be said of Ewell. The author has never been less dead in his writing, and none of the actual prose (fine, often good, with the enjambed use of ten dollar words, reading like Ewell talked in his classes) can save the empty shell of the narrative’s “I didn’t do anything wrong, not really.” In the author photo on the back-flap, Ewell looks at us like a wounded puppy, eyes pleading for forgiveness, or at least acknowledgment. Please, he seems to say, let me share MY story. It's a good one. Sure, Andy. Whatever. Maybe next time.
There’s a sense, in the copy on the front jacket and the blurbs on the cover, that this is being sold as a campus novel, a light comedy in the vein of Richard Russo’s Straight Man (the novel that all current iterations seem to attempt to imitate – we are too far gone from the academic atmosphere of Lucky Jim and Pictures of an Institution for them to be reasonable referents). This is somewhat of a misdirection – there are moments here that aim for the comic, but most are haphazard pot shots at contemporary topics of discourse (social media, YA fiction, “wokeness”/DEI/#MeToo) that rarely land and the academic moments outside of the novel’s main plot are little more than window dressing (there’s an old faculty member on campus that is the narrator’s sole confidant…and then he dies; that’s pretty much the extent). Some moments are funny – but only with the outside knowledge of the situation that inspired them. Naming the stand-in for a certain former English chair Chet Bland is funny if you know the man (no offense to him, we never had a class, I shouldn’t say), but only merits a half-smile if you don’t. There’s one late-novel instance of the antics that Russo’s novel was so rife with, but it’s too little too late, and I can’t help but think that when Russo read this for his blurb he likely found it a weak reflection. A comparison to Fred Exley is likewise unfounded – there’s neither depravity nor any particular self-insight in Ewell’s writing; the only similarity is that both their narrators know their way around a whiskey bottle.
What is this then, if not a campus comedy? The answer should be clear to readers of Hannah Pittard’s We Are Too Many or anyone who knows what happened between Pittard and Ewell somewhere around the time I was a sophomore. This is Ewell’s reckoning with his affair and the subsequent fall-out – where Pittard chose to write a memoir and change the names, adding the “this is true – as I remember it” caveat, Ewell has gone for the “it’s not autofiction, it’s a fictionalizing” defense, but (conveniently? or not) left the novel’s narrator unnamed. We can’t help but read it as him. I had the man for class, I’ve read the memoir, I know that his lack of publications has chielfy been a failure of imagination. There’s a good amount here that reads as invented, but just as much seems pulled from the truth, not least the character’s rationalizing of his affair and separation. As I read it, that comes down to three reasons: 1) resentment of his wife’s success, especially insofar as he reads it as selling-out 2) resentment tied to the emasculation (lol) of being a spousal hire and 3) the marriage was already ending and his wife was already emotionally cheating with the chair. Leaving aside the third reason, which may be born of spite and isn’t my place to speak on either way, there’s not really any justification – and that would be fine IF the narrator came to any realization, felt any guilt, or did anything besides spit halfhearted venom at his former wife and department. But he doesn’t. The failure of this novel isn’t that the narrator learns nothing and then nods towards the chance of a happy ending – a novel could do this and still be good – it’s that it’s never interesting or funny while it’s doing that. It reads exactly like the novel promised by its own weak stab at metafiction (a groanworthy “the novel you’re reading is the novel that I wrote” denouement that rings as false as the “just a dream” endings that the narrator criticizes his own students for writing) – an attempt to set the record straight about what really happened, and also to (finally!) get published.
And yet, Set For Life is fiction, or sold that way at least, so it can’t be a rebuttal to Pittard’s portrayal of the marriage. All it can be is a half-baked debut novel about a man who finds his life isn’t the life he had idealized and instead of confronting that, burrows deeper into it. He becomes a man who has an affair not just to have an affair, but to have something to write about, but then only writes about it because his ex-wife has already written it. Sure, his book may be twenty pages longer and a dollar more expensive, and have a blurb from Jay McInerney, but there’s nothing to it. Teddy Wayne’s Loner is one of my favorite books and has a similar predicament at its core, but it is always clear that Wayne has no sympathy for his narrator. The same cannot be said of Ewell. The author has never been less dead in his writing, and none of the actual prose (fine, often good, with the enjambed use of ten dollar words, reading like Ewell talked in his classes) can save the empty shell of the narrative’s “I didn’t do anything wrong, not really.” In the author photo on the back-flap, Ewell looks at us like a wounded puppy, eyes pleading for forgiveness, or at least acknowledgment. Please, he seems to say, let me share MY story. It's a good one. Sure, Andy. Whatever. Maybe next time.
January 1, 2024
Straight white man finds out, for the first time, that his actions have consequences! But it is ok because his straight male friend helps make everything ok!
October 17, 2023
I'm not sure if it was the book I didn't like or the fact that I couldn't stand any of the characters! The main character (did we ever get his name?) was such a mess and didn't seem ashamed about it. Third tier college writing professor gets a job because his wife negotiated it for him, spends his summer drinking in Europe when he was supposed to be writing a novel (publish or perish), then comes home and has an affair with his wife's best friend... just yuck! All of it.
December 22, 2023
The description of the book calls it, “wryly funny and moving.” When I think of that, I think of authors like Richard Russo, Jonathan Tropper, or Nick Hornby. This, unfortunately, was not wryly funny nor moving. It centers around a main character who is a university professor, failed author, and all-around ass.
After coming home from a three-month stay in Paris, he starts an affair with the wife of his best friend, who is also his wife’s best friend. The author treats us like morons. Like we couldn’t figure out that this would come to light.
What I like best about books is character development. I love a good character arc. But all we get in this book is an alcoholic idiot who has no drive or ethics. In fact, there isn’t a single character to like in the entire novel.
I will say that the writer has obvious talent. Although he uses archaic words in an attempt to impress, he can turn a phrase. That’s the only reason it isn’t a one-star book.
I did not enjoy this book and feel like the blurb intended to sell it is deceptive.
After coming home from a three-month stay in Paris, he starts an affair with the wife of his best friend, who is also his wife’s best friend. The author treats us like morons. Like we couldn’t figure out that this would come to light.
What I like best about books is character development. I love a good character arc. But all we get in this book is an alcoholic idiot who has no drive or ethics. In fact, there isn’t a single character to like in the entire novel.
I will say that the writer has obvious talent. Although he uses archaic words in an attempt to impress, he can turn a phrase. That’s the only reason it isn’t a one-star book.
I did not enjoy this book and feel like the blurb intended to sell it is deceptive.
January 10, 2024
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to love the characters in a book to enjoy the story and the journey. I requested this ARC on Netgalley after reading a positive review or two on the internet, and I finished it in about 48hrs.
The plot follows a male protagonist with no name, after a failed sabbatical to France when he returns to his professorship with nothing to show for the trip. He shortly after begins an affair with his wife’s best friend and slags off on pretty much every other responsibility he has. As the story progresses, this protagonist makes just about every worst decision you can make, slacks off from work, and eventually gets caught by his wife, who turns his whole spiral into a fiction novel, written by her. Overall, very juicy and very engrossing towards the end.
The writing was the best part of this novel. It was witty, descriptive, and kept you engaged in the story. This is particular noteworthy because every single character in this book was insufferable, from maniac Debra to aloof and annoying John. If the writing wasn’t top tier, I wouldn’t have been able to get through this. I think there is definitely beauty in writing about the foibles, missteps, mistakes, and consequences that regular people face every day, and this book succeeds at that. No overarching message or big point to glean. Just good writing about the every day. This book didn’t change my life. It was clearly written by a man, with little insight or revelations about society or who we are as humans. But the writing was good, the main character was a dumpster fire you couldn’t look away from, and the plot made you want to know how it all ended. Overall, a very pleasant read.
Thanks again to NetGalley for access to the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
The plot follows a male protagonist with no name, after a failed sabbatical to France when he returns to his professorship with nothing to show for the trip. He shortly after begins an affair with his wife’s best friend and slags off on pretty much every other responsibility he has. As the story progresses, this protagonist makes just about every worst decision you can make, slacks off from work, and eventually gets caught by his wife, who turns his whole spiral into a fiction novel, written by her. Overall, very juicy and very engrossing towards the end.
The writing was the best part of this novel. It was witty, descriptive, and kept you engaged in the story. This is particular noteworthy because every single character in this book was insufferable, from maniac Debra to aloof and annoying John. If the writing wasn’t top tier, I wouldn’t have been able to get through this. I think there is definitely beauty in writing about the foibles, missteps, mistakes, and consequences that regular people face every day, and this book succeeds at that. No overarching message or big point to glean. Just good writing about the every day. This book didn’t change my life. It was clearly written by a man, with little insight or revelations about society or who we are as humans. But the writing was good, the main character was a dumpster fire you couldn’t look away from, and the plot made you want to know how it all ended. Overall, a very pleasant read.
Thanks again to NetGalley for access to the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2025
Read twice in advance of my interview with Andrew for "Writers on Writing" that will be podcast Feb 5, 2024.
Honest writing. His portrayal of Sophie is tender, and the narrator is hardest on himself. So much discussion these days on unlikeable characters and how awful they are to read. Marriages coming apart are heartbreaking to read but compelling to read.
Was Hannibal Lector awful to read? Humbert Humbert? Tom Ripley? Most of Patricia Highsmith's characters? Please. Stop it. I might not want to hang out with them if they were actual living and breathing people but they are characters in novels I want to follow.
Honest writing. His portrayal of Sophie is tender, and the narrator is hardest on himself. So much discussion these days on unlikeable characters and how awful they are to read. Marriages coming apart are heartbreaking to read but compelling to read.
Was Hannibal Lector awful to read? Humbert Humbert? Tom Ripley? Most of Patricia Highsmith's characters? Please. Stop it. I might not want to hang out with them if they were actual living and breathing people but they are characters in novels I want to follow.
December 1, 2023
While this was not my "normal read", the summary grabbed my attention and I just had to read it. The main character.....Yikes. Hot mess and I felt like he was in a constant alcoholic fog. While the writing was good, the story wasn't my cup of tea and I did not care for a single character.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reading copy and opportunity to give this book my honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reading copy and opportunity to give this book my honest review.
February 20, 2024
The straight, white male energy is too much for me. An alcoholic cheats on his wife for the plot. Neat.
December 15, 2023
“Set for life” is a story of a deeply flawed man whose narcissistic personality, depression and alcoholism has slowly eroded his professional and personal life. This personality and character flaws are not only driving his decisions in the book, but is one of the main themes throughout the story. The fact is he is not satisfied by his lot in life, but also is not taking any responsibility for it. The book is well written and the characters are well developed, with poignant exploration on his character flaws, but at the heart of the book, he is unlikeable with little self awareness making the book hard to enjoy all be it easy to read. I kept hoping that he would redeem himself, but in the end, the character remained true to his character. You may enjoy this book if you enjoy deep dives into very flawed characters
February 14, 2024
Thank you Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read and review Set for Life on NetGalley.
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Humor & Satire
Published: 02/06/24
Hmmm. Several times I reminded myself the genre classification is Humor & Satire. I didn't find anything funny. Ewell has a storytelling writing style and I like this.
He also used the obligatory swearing, out of no where and inappropriately placed. The first time I paused reflecting on a television commercial from years ago. The ad was for pull-ups; undergarments for kids who had outgrown diapers. This immediately summed up the character "I'm a big boy now.".
Satire: I had to look, 30% in and I couldn't wait. Set for Life is written by a male. Okay I say male, do you say man? Did the author pattern the book off himself, someone he knows, or from observations of men.
I'm a fan of debut novels, and the review would be an easy four star review if I had liked just one of the main characters, the subject matter, the acceptance of cheating, portraying professional careers as games, or anything good -- I've got nothing.
I'm confused on the humor/satire: Divulging the plot spoils the book.
The storytelling began page one and I read this in two sittings. I will look for future work by the author. I'm going to write this as subject matter hits a sore spot with me. In 2024, Peter Pan and Little Man Syndromes should not be mocked.
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Humor & Satire
Published: 02/06/24
Hmmm. Several times I reminded myself the genre classification is Humor & Satire. I didn't find anything funny. Ewell has a storytelling writing style and I like this.
He also used the obligatory swearing, out of no where and inappropriately placed. The first time I paused reflecting on a television commercial from years ago. The ad was for pull-ups; undergarments for kids who had outgrown diapers. This immediately summed up the character "I'm a big boy now.".
Satire: I had to look, 30% in and I couldn't wait. Set for Life is written by a male. Okay I say male, do you say man? Did the author pattern the book off himself, someone he knows, or from observations of men.
I'm a fan of debut novels, and the review would be an easy four star review if I had liked just one of the main characters, the subject matter, the acceptance of cheating, portraying professional careers as games, or anything good -- I've got nothing.
I'm confused on the humor/satire: Divulging the plot spoils the book.
The storytelling began page one and I read this in two sittings. I will look for future work by the author. I'm going to write this as subject matter hits a sore spot with me. In 2024, Peter Pan and Little Man Syndromes should not be mocked.
January 20, 2024
3.5/5
I flew through this and my biggest take away was being wronged doesn’t make you right. The main character was unlikable. Honestly, all of these characters were. But the writing was very engaging and the look into this flawed character was solid.
SET FOR LIFE is a predictable book, but not in a bad way. You know what’s coming for the main character as he makes transparent observations and bad decision after bad decision. The interesting part was watching as it all implodes around him. He’s listless, unhappy, self-absorbed, self-serving, petty, and jealous. He’s resigned to his life as is because most of the things in the book just happen to him and he reacts without much thought.
This book was a character study about an unsuccessful writer struggling with mediocrity. Is there growth? As much as there can be for someone who cheats and steals his way through two of the biggest relationships in his life.
The particulars of this book won't stick with me but the audacity of the main character will.
Thanks to Simon and Shuster for the free review copy.
I flew through this and my biggest take away was being wronged doesn’t make you right. The main character was unlikable. Honestly, all of these characters were. But the writing was very engaging and the look into this flawed character was solid.
SET FOR LIFE is a predictable book, but not in a bad way. You know what’s coming for the main character as he makes transparent observations and bad decision after bad decision. The interesting part was watching as it all implodes around him. He’s listless, unhappy, self-absorbed, self-serving, petty, and jealous. He’s resigned to his life as is because most of the things in the book just happen to him and he reacts without much thought.
This book was a character study about an unsuccessful writer struggling with mediocrity. Is there growth? As much as there can be for someone who cheats and steals his way through two of the biggest relationships in his life.
The particulars of this book won't stick with me but the audacity of the main character will.
Thanks to Simon and Shuster for the free review copy.
December 18, 2023
As an author myself, any book about writers, novels, or the publishing industry is like catnip. Set For Life absolutely captivated me and, even though the protagonist was extraordinarily flawed, I couldn’t help but root for him. Andrew Ewell’s writing is gorgeous and his character development is spot on.
Themes of marriage, friendship, failure, and success are explored against the backdrop of art, university life, creative productivity, and originality. Questions abound—who has the right to tell “your” story? being the primary one. But questions about fidelity, integrity, and morality are asked in every chapter, and the reader is tugged along by a man’s journey toward defeat or redemption.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review an advance copy of this gem of a book.
Themes of marriage, friendship, failure, and success are explored against the backdrop of art, university life, creative productivity, and originality. Questions abound—who has the right to tell “your” story? being the primary one. But questions about fidelity, integrity, and morality are asked in every chapter, and the reader is tugged along by a man’s journey toward defeat or redemption.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review an advance copy of this gem of a book.
November 4, 2023
WOW! Loved this story of the writer with ongoing writer's block who makes just about every "bone head" decision he could make! He's married to a successful writer / professor, and plays second fiddle to her throughout the book. His affair with his wife's best friend leads him into further trouble in every way. And he still can't seem to write any pages.
I loved the very cerebral nature of the writing, and I loved that this character went from bad to worse. It was all awful, and it was all wonderful! I read this book in record time - I couldn't wait to see how Ewell would finish the tale. The ending was surprising and perfect, and the more I think about it, the more I love it.
Highly recommend!!
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Set for Life.
I loved the very cerebral nature of the writing, and I loved that this character went from bad to worse. It was all awful, and it was all wonderful! I read this book in record time - I couldn't wait to see how Ewell would finish the tale. The ending was surprising and perfect, and the more I think about it, the more I love it.
Highly recommend!!
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Set for Life.
February 26, 2024
This book reminds me of what literature and the publishing world were like decades ago. I mean that as a compliment to the author and the novel itself.
Writing isn’t what it used to be and readers aren’t looking for the next great American novel but more or less what “entertains” them. This book was like stepping back in time. As a reviewer, I very much appreciated this aspect of the novel.
The book (plot) itself isn’t very interesting but the writing is spectacular and the underlying themes give rise to conversation starters. The narrative style and main character remind me of Fitzgerald’s work. This is classic literary fiction. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a modern day version and spin off of Gatsby-esque characterizations.
Writing isn’t what it used to be and readers aren’t looking for the next great American novel but more or less what “entertains” them. This book was like stepping back in time. As a reviewer, I very much appreciated this aspect of the novel.
The book (plot) itself isn’t very interesting but the writing is spectacular and the underlying themes give rise to conversation starters. The narrative style and main character remind me of Fitzgerald’s work. This is classic literary fiction. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a modern day version and spin off of Gatsby-esque characterizations.
December 18, 2023
Set for Life is the debut novel from Andrew Ewell that follows an unnamed narrator after he returns from a writing retreat in France. When things don’t go as planned and he ends up coming home without a book, he begins unraveling his life slowly, making questionable decision after questionable decision until things hit rock bottom.
I enjoyed this book despite it being out of my comfort zone. I think this is a book that will impact different people in different ways. If I was someone who was really struggling to find my place, I believe this would have hit a bit harder. The narrator and most of the surrounding characters are very unlikeable but in a way that feels true to life. I am a huge fan of characters that are flawed and aren’t picture perfect because it allows room for growth and I do think we see some growth in this book.
I think the strength of this book is the subtle way mental health is dealt with. As someone who has dealt with mental health issues in the past, I found the way the narrator viewed his mental health to feel very realistic.
I think the writing is fantastic if a little bloated for this story. I would really reading this author’s future books as I think that I will really enjoy them.
Huge thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I enjoyed this book despite it being out of my comfort zone. I think this is a book that will impact different people in different ways. If I was someone who was really struggling to find my place, I believe this would have hit a bit harder. The narrator and most of the surrounding characters are very unlikeable but in a way that feels true to life. I am a huge fan of characters that are flawed and aren’t picture perfect because it allows room for growth and I do think we see some growth in this book.
I think the strength of this book is the subtle way mental health is dealt with. As someone who has dealt with mental health issues in the past, I found the way the narrator viewed his mental health to feel very realistic.
I think the writing is fantastic if a little bloated for this story. I would really reading this author’s future books as I think that I will really enjoy them.
Huge thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 11, 2025
Sometimes I really wonder why I insist on finishing books which will obviously be annoying from the get go! This was given to me by a dear, dear friend whose tastes I’ve never shared … to date, I’ve enjoyed only one book he’s insisted I read! But this! Gawd: self indulgent drivel for the most part.
September 8, 2025
Yikes, the drivel!
November 6, 2023
I found “Set for Life” to be a very well-written novel. Its upstate New York and New York City settings are well described. It has a distinct plot and well-defined characters. The prose and dialogue are clear and serve the story well. Its satiric humor sometimes made me chuckle.
That being said, “Set for Life” is a novel I often had trouble enjoying. Ultimately, however, it’s a novel that’s kept me thinking.
The “blurb” does a thorough job of explaining the plot, so I won’t attempt to duplicate it. For the purpose of this review, suffice it to say that the novel stars and is narrated by a very flawed character. He’s an English professor and novelist who, plagued by depression and alcoholism, spends most of the novel disassembling his life piece by piece. He’s a writer who can’t write, a teacher who can’t teach, a husband who can’t remain faithful, a lover who can’t commit, and a man who can’t find a purpose. It doesn’t help that he’s a habitual liar, both to himself and those depending on him, or that he’s completely self-absorbed, and, for most of the novel, seems wholly unable to learn or grow. (In fact, he’s so flawed that he never reveals to us his own name.)
As for most of the rest of the characters, while they’re well-drawn, they’re equally dislikable, fueled as they are by greed, ambition, and self-interest.
Clearly, author Andrew Ewell set himself a tough task: keeping us readers engaged in a story about a debauched and failing protagonist-narrator surrounded by friends, lovers, and colleagues who, for the most part, are just as morally bankrupt. Ewell accomplishes that task by giving his narrator a darkly humorous personality and voice, one that excels at communicating the absurdity of his situation (even if he is wholly unable to correct that situation). As a reader, I could not admire the narrator’s actions, but I liked the way he told the tale and thereby came to care about him. The question that kept me turning the pages as he bounced from one failure to the next was: will he ever be able to redeem himself and, if so, how?
I found Mr. Ewell’s answer to that question surprising yet familiar: and one which made “Set for Life,” for me, a worthwhile reading experience.
My thanks to NetGalley, author Andrew Ewell, and publisher Simon and Schuster for providing me with a complimentary ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.
That being said, “Set for Life” is a novel I often had trouble enjoying. Ultimately, however, it’s a novel that’s kept me thinking.
The “blurb” does a thorough job of explaining the plot, so I won’t attempt to duplicate it. For the purpose of this review, suffice it to say that the novel stars and is narrated by a very flawed character. He’s an English professor and novelist who, plagued by depression and alcoholism, spends most of the novel disassembling his life piece by piece. He’s a writer who can’t write, a teacher who can’t teach, a husband who can’t remain faithful, a lover who can’t commit, and a man who can’t find a purpose. It doesn’t help that he’s a habitual liar, both to himself and those depending on him, or that he’s completely self-absorbed, and, for most of the novel, seems wholly unable to learn or grow. (In fact, he’s so flawed that he never reveals to us his own name.)
As for most of the rest of the characters, while they’re well-drawn, they’re equally dislikable, fueled as they are by greed, ambition, and self-interest.
Clearly, author Andrew Ewell set himself a tough task: keeping us readers engaged in a story about a debauched and failing protagonist-narrator surrounded by friends, lovers, and colleagues who, for the most part, are just as morally bankrupt. Ewell accomplishes that task by giving his narrator a darkly humorous personality and voice, one that excels at communicating the absurdity of his situation (even if he is wholly unable to correct that situation). As a reader, I could not admire the narrator’s actions, but I liked the way he told the tale and thereby came to care about him. The question that kept me turning the pages as he bounced from one failure to the next was: will he ever be able to redeem himself and, if so, how?
I found Mr. Ewell’s answer to that question surprising yet familiar: and one which made “Set for Life,” for me, a worthwhile reading experience.
My thanks to NetGalley, author Andrew Ewell, and publisher Simon and Schuster for providing me with a complimentary ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.
February 5, 2024
Set for Life is the debut novel from Andrew Ewell.
"A creative writing professor is back home from sabbatical. But he's drifting personally and professionally. He can't finish his novel - he can't find a way to deal with his wife's literary success - he's not sure what can lead to fullfillment. He decides on an affair with his wife's best friend. It doesn't go well and he continues his spiral."
Ever read a story with a main character that is so annoying, so entitled and just a terrible decision maker. Make the best of your circumstances dude. Have some conversation with your wife. Stop drinking so much. (Lots of drinking in this novel - I really think your late thirties are a good time to stop getting drunk every single night and some days.) There are consequences to your stupidity.
There are no likable characters here and the MC's behavior is mostly awful. The scene of setting the Dean's office on fire is funny though.
Eventually there is an epiphany so there is a moment of redemption.
Read this if you want a roadmap of how to destroy your life in your thirties.
"A creative writing professor is back home from sabbatical. But he's drifting personally and professionally. He can't finish his novel - he can't find a way to deal with his wife's literary success - he's not sure what can lead to fullfillment. He decides on an affair with his wife's best friend. It doesn't go well and he continues his spiral."
Ever read a story with a main character that is so annoying, so entitled and just a terrible decision maker. Make the best of your circumstances dude. Have some conversation with your wife. Stop drinking so much. (Lots of drinking in this novel - I really think your late thirties are a good time to stop getting drunk every single night and some days.) There are consequences to your stupidity.
There are no likable characters here and the MC's behavior is mostly awful. The scene of setting the Dean's office on fire is funny though.
Eventually there is an epiphany so there is a moment of redemption.
Read this if you want a roadmap of how to destroy your life in your thirties.
July 20, 2025
This is a “love to hate” book. I wouldn’t have picked it up if I hadn’t come across last year’s Vulture article about Ewell and Pittard and their messy divorce and all the subsequent writing it produced. (I think I had just forgotten about all of it until the NYT did a recent article on it in advance of Pittard’s newest book-which I look forward to reading.)
“Set for Life” was a fun read up until the 80% mark or so. I love unlikable characters, especially when they’re trainwrecks, but what pulled me out of this book was that Ewell clearly wanted to give his unnamed protagonist a redemption arc. Or he wanted, at the very least, to humble him and show us he’s not a bad guy—he’s trying to be better. And, I don’t know, it just felt very tacked on and forced, which made the last 20% a real slog for me.
I think the overall story had real potential, but no teeth. And for a novel about writers and writing, I kept wondering what it was that the protagonist even loved about writing to begin with. It really seemed like, for him, it all had to do with the acclaim. He wanted to keep his cushy job teaching intermediate fiction workshops and his summers lounging around residences. I found it kind of funny that this guy was constantly judging his wife for being a hack writer when he, himself, seemed incapable of writing anything truly meaningful.
But the first part of the book was entertaining enough. It moved quickly. For that reason, I’ll give it 4 stars.
“Set for Life” was a fun read up until the 80% mark or so. I love unlikable characters, especially when they’re trainwrecks, but what pulled me out of this book was that Ewell clearly wanted to give his unnamed protagonist a redemption arc. Or he wanted, at the very least, to humble him and show us he’s not a bad guy—he’s trying to be better. And, I don’t know, it just felt very tacked on and forced, which made the last 20% a real slog for me.
I think the overall story had real potential, but no teeth. And for a novel about writers and writing, I kept wondering what it was that the protagonist even loved about writing to begin with. It really seemed like, for him, it all had to do with the acclaim. He wanted to keep his cushy job teaching intermediate fiction workshops and his summers lounging around residences. I found it kind of funny that this guy was constantly judging his wife for being a hack writer when he, himself, seemed incapable of writing anything truly meaningful.
But the first part of the book was entertaining enough. It moved quickly. For that reason, I’ll give it 4 stars.
February 18, 2024
While this was well written, the MC was pretty unlikeable. You don’t really feel bad for him, he’s got a negative attitude, makes bad choices, and doesn’t really feel like there should be consequences for his actions. And then he’s all alone and he’s like how could this happen to me? I mean, sir, really? And he’s always acting like he’s better than everyone else.
None of the other characters were that great either, so again, while the novel is written well, it wasn’t that enjoyable to read. It’s like one of those indie films where they play sad music and everyone is sad.
Thankfully it was short, a very quick read once I got myself to sit down and finish.
Thank you @netgalley and @simonbooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
None of the other characters were that great either, so again, while the novel is written well, it wasn’t that enjoyable to read. It’s like one of those indie films where they play sad music and everyone is sad.
Thankfully it was short, a very quick read once I got myself to sit down and finish.
Thank you @netgalley and @simonbooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
June 20, 2024
Ultimately, this novel is about an unlikable man who refuses to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in his life. Everyone who tries to help him is eventually seen as a conspiratorial enemy, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless!
Not sure who I feel worse for by the end of the book, but definitely not him. 3.5 stars!!
Not sure who I feel worse for by the end of the book, but definitely not him. 3.5 stars!!
February 16, 2024
I'm not a big fan of fiction books about middle aged white men making poor decisions. I decided to read it because the man is an English professor at a small college in upstate New York. I liked parts of the book, especially how it ended.
May 1, 2024
I loved the writing in this book. It was intelligent and I could really understand the main character’s emotions and motivations. This book was not thrilling by any means, but I enjoyed the plot and thought it was an overall pleasant read.
Read
July 28, 2024That was a very quick read. I can see why Richard Russo contributed a blurb for the back cover as this was similar to some of his books.
The main character is both likable and not, basically a mess that I still rooted for.
The main character is both likable and not, basically a mess that I still rooted for.
June 21, 2024
I liked it! Could maybe relate to the character?
Read
July 17, 2025i had this book on libby for a month and was able to keep renewing it because nobody wanted to read it up until If You Love it Let it Kill You was released LMFAO
July 24, 2025
This guy (or his “autofictional persona”) seems like a real asshole
February 11, 2024
I was going to give this one more star, but then I read about Andrew Ewell's ex-wife's memoir and...decided not to.
The writing itself is, admittedly, excellent; Ewell's narrative drive is such that I read this whole thing in two sittings. But the content of the novel isn't particularly, well, novel. I found myself bored with the themes and lack of plot and introspection happening, even though it's all based on true events. I'm all for unlikeable characters, but they need to be unlikeable in engaging, intriguing ways.
Hopefully Ewell applies his writing skills to something more interesting. And I'll definitely be checking out We Are Too Many.
The writing itself is, admittedly, excellent; Ewell's narrative drive is such that I read this whole thing in two sittings. But the content of the novel isn't particularly, well, novel. I found myself bored with the themes and lack of plot and introspection happening, even though it's all based on true events. I'm all for unlikeable characters, but they need to be unlikeable in engaging, intriguing ways.
Hopefully Ewell applies his writing skills to something more interesting. And I'll definitely be checking out We Are Too Many.
November 15, 2023
I had mixed feelings about this book. It seems to be a new addition to a cadre of new tales of cutthroat academia, its politics, and the pressure to publish. The foundation for this story is solid. A young writer teaching at a university will have to publish a book if he wants to stay there. It is also true that negotiating the politics of your department can be very dicey.
That being said, I felt like I’d read this before. A story told through the alcoholic haze of a man doing everything he can to speed up his downfall is familiar. Interestingly, the protagonist isn’t even given a name. Everyone else has one as well as a description but not him. I thought that was very telling.
This is the set up. A young married couple leaves Chicago to come to a third-rate college in upstate New York. Debra, the dazzling wife who knows how to upend the system is the one they want. They hire the husband because they want her. She more than exceeds their expectations. She easily publishes, conducts great media interviews, and cultivates success very easily. Plus she is attractive and the chair has the hots for her.
And then there is the poor schlep husband.
Although… as the book opens he is coming home after a three month writing residency in France. Not too shabby. He, of course, blew it off and didn’t write a word. He comes back to the pressure of his failure and the subsequent pretense that will have to follow. Before he even gets back to Debra and his college, he begins an affair with Sophie, half of the couple he and Debra consider their best friends.
Most of the rest of the book, he is drunk and engaged in all the behaviors that further contribute to his downfall. It is only the last ten or fifteen percent of the book—the attempt at redemption— that I felt engaged with.
I don’t know how to rate it. The writing is good. Although the other characters are seen through the eyes of one of the most unreliable narrators I’ve read, they are clear. Stereotyped, but clear. The wife, totally self-involved. The department chair trying to be fair but with ulterior motives. The girlfriend, as damaged as our protagonist.
I’m giving it three stars. The author is a good writer but the story is unoriginal and I think its appeal would be narrow. It's been called wryly funny. I guess I just didn't get the humor. I’d like to try his next one.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reading copy and opportunity to give this book an honest review.
That being said, I felt like I’d read this before. A story told through the alcoholic haze of a man doing everything he can to speed up his downfall is familiar. Interestingly, the protagonist isn’t even given a name. Everyone else has one as well as a description but not him. I thought that was very telling.
This is the set up. A young married couple leaves Chicago to come to a third-rate college in upstate New York. Debra, the dazzling wife who knows how to upend the system is the one they want. They hire the husband because they want her. She more than exceeds their expectations. She easily publishes, conducts great media interviews, and cultivates success very easily. Plus she is attractive and the chair has the hots for her.
And then there is the poor schlep husband.
Although… as the book opens he is coming home after a three month writing residency in France. Not too shabby. He, of course, blew it off and didn’t write a word. He comes back to the pressure of his failure and the subsequent pretense that will have to follow. Before he even gets back to Debra and his college, he begins an affair with Sophie, half of the couple he and Debra consider their best friends.
Most of the rest of the book, he is drunk and engaged in all the behaviors that further contribute to his downfall. It is only the last ten or fifteen percent of the book—the attempt at redemption— that I felt engaged with.
I don’t know how to rate it. The writing is good. Although the other characters are seen through the eyes of one of the most unreliable narrators I’ve read, they are clear. Stereotyped, but clear. The wife, totally self-involved. The department chair trying to be fair but with ulterior motives. The girlfriend, as damaged as our protagonist.
I’m giving it three stars. The author is a good writer but the story is unoriginal and I think its appeal would be narrow. It's been called wryly funny. I guess I just didn't get the humor. I’d like to try his next one.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reading copy and opportunity to give this book an honest review.
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