Manhattan Loverboy

by Arthur Nersesian

A novel of a young man’s adventures in New York City by an author who is “part Lewis Carroll, part Franz Kafka” ( Library Journal ).
 
This tale introduces us to Joey, a New York City graduate student. Brought up by emotionally—and physically—distant adoptive parents, he has no idea what his heritage really is, though he did decide to try being Jewish after being dragged into a mitzvah tank by a Hasid. Now he has worked his way through most of a graduate history program at Columbia University—but when his academic fellowship from a mysterious benefactor is suddenly rescinded, he will be led into a furious and bizarre quest—in a novel from an acclaimed author praised for his ability to blend dark, fantastic satire with genuine human feeling.
 
“Paranoid fantasy and fantastic comedy in the service of social realism . . . At its best, [ Manhattan Loverboy ] assays the grittiest, funkiest urban-magic-realism yet, creating a satirical fiction avidly in search of the truth it’s all too aware is even stranger than itself.” — Downtown
 
“Nersesian renders Gotham’s unique cocktail of wealth, poverty, crime, glamour, and brutality spectacularly . . . But in the end, it is Joey’s search for his own identity that makes this book a winner.” — Rain Taxi Review of Books on East Village Tetralogy

Genres: Fiction, New York

203 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Arthur Nersesian is the author of eight novels, including The Fuck-Up (Akashic, 1997 & MTV Books/Simon & Schuster, 1999), Chinese Takeout (HarperCollins), Manhattan Loverboy (Akashic), Suicide Casanova (Akashic), dogrun (MTV Books/Simon & Schuster), and Unlubricated (HarperCollins). He is also the author of East Village Tetralogy, a collection of four plays. He lives in New York City.

From arthurnersesian.com:
www.arthurnersesian.com/

"Arthur Nersesian is a real New York writer. His novels are a celebration
of marginal characters living in the East Village and trying to survive.

Nersesian's books include The Fuck-Up, The East Village Tetralogy, and now just published by a small press based in New York, Manhattan Loverboy. Nersesian has been a fixture in the writing scene for many years. He was an editor for The Portable Lower East Side, which was an important magazine during the 1980s and early 90s.

When The Fuck-Up came out in 1997, MTV Books picked it up and reprinted it in a new edition for hipsters everywhere. Soon Nersesian was no longer known only to a cabal of young bohemians on Avenue A. His work has been championed by The Village Voice and Time Out."

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 7/10

Πλάκα είχε, αλλά δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ξετρελάθηκα. Πρώτη επαφή με το έργο του Νερσέσιαν και σίγουρα δεν θα είναι η μοναδική, απλά δεν θα βιαστώ ιδιαίτερα για το επόμενο προς ανάγνωση βιβλίο του. Εδώ έχουμε να κάνουμε με ένα αρκετά ιδιόρρυθμο, παρανοϊκό και σε σημεία παραληρηματικό μυθιστόρημα, γεμάτο σαρκασμό, μαύρο χιούμορ, ανελέητη σάτιρα και αφασία, που σίγουρα δεν θα ταιριάξει με όλα τα αναγνωστικά γούστα. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι κάτι τέτοια βιβλία τα απολαμβάνω από καιρό σε καιρό, αλλά μάλλον τώρα δεν είχα την κατάλληλη ή απαραίτητη διάθεση για κάτι τόσο τρελό, για μια πλοκή που δεν έβγαζε πάντα νόημα. Βέβαια, μπορεί έτσι κι αλλιώς να μην με ξετρέλαινε, ακόμα και αν είχα την όρεξη: Όλα αυτά είναι σχετικά. Γενικά το βιβλίο δεν με κράτησε, από ένα σημείο και μετά το διάβασα περισσότερο σαν αγγαρεία παρά σαν κάτι που θα με ικανοποιούσε λογοτεχνικά, αν και υπήρξαν γενικά στιγμές στο βιβλίο που μου άρεσαν και με έκαναν να γελάω σαν χαζός. Απλά δεν συμπάθησα καθόλου τον πρωταγωνιστή (υποθέτω ο συγγραφέας δεν είχε ποτέ πρόθεση να τον κάνει συμπαθητικό), οπωσδήποτε δεν ταίριαξαν τα χνώτα μας. Όμως δεν είναι καθόλου άσχημο βιβλίο, απλά διαφορετικό από τα συνηθισμένα. Προτείνεται υπό προϋποθέσεις.

Υ.Γ. Θα του έβαζα τριάμισι αστεράκια, αλλά αφού δεν υπάρχει τέτοια δυνατότητα στο Goodreads, του βάζω τρία, γιατί υπάρχει περισσότερο μια τάση προς τα κάτω παρά προς τα πάνω.

[M.E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

experimental, deeply ironic, hipster novel about a guy in new york city and his adventures with sex and working for a global capitalist. it was insufferably misogynistic, and i still don't buy the basic assumption of much of hipster culture that irony is an adequate excuse for being offensive.

[Liv Greene · Rating 1 out of 5]

reading this book is something i wouldn’t wish upon even my greatest enemy. no one deserves a punishment as cruel as the utter torture that is this “book”

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an OK book. Not nearly as good as "The Fuck Up," but still a fairly entertaining read. The ending was a bit too much for me, shoving the entire story almost to a complete hault - but sitting back and thinking about it makes me laugh a little bit now.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wacky, convoluted coming of age story of a many who will never grow up who will never outgrow his need for roots and parental love who will evermore experience neglect and betrayal until that final page so eagerly awaited. New York City is strong strong everywhere, its minions bowing to the streets and structure of the city. Nersesian will damn almost everything you almost believed in, and sees destruction in the future, presaging the Five Books of (Jacob) Moses, can't wait to read this monument to a man, to a city, to its boroughs.

[Jim Pownall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. It's almost a bit nightmarish, but totally entertaining throughout. The voice is brilliant too. I heard that Nersesian actually released another version of this in 1993 but then reworked it. I'd love to get hold of that earlier version.

Anyhow, I highly recommend Manhattan Loverboy. But, if you're new to Arthur Nersesian's work, then start with The Fuck-Up or Chinese Takeout, then read this one.

[Decker Blades · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very invested after the first 50 pages or so, but things go off the rails quite quickly after that. Entertaining and thought-provoking, but also very disjointed to the point that some things don’t make sense even in the context of the story. I enjoyed it, but it feels like the unfinished draft of some literary-wannabe author rather than an actual narrative.

[Ryan Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like taking a hit off a gravity bong loaded with salvia and PCP. If there was a greater theme at play, some kind of allegory or metaphor Im too much of a literary luddite to recognize it. Regardless, Manhattan Loverboy was an exhilarating read.

[Dan O'Neill]

DNF'D

[emmer jaysin · Rating 4 out of 5]

see like. 3.5 stars. a good story but it pisses me off so much.

[Lanell Gardiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun bit of comedy.

This book is like a cross between Fight Club, American Psycho, and The Truman Show. At times confusing as fuck, yet the wit and references were quick and relentless. The anarchist, anti-capitalist/establishment vibes were comical but in a way that, even in its ridiculousness? I got it. I actually ended up finding it humorous and very enjoyable.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

huh?

[everett · Rating 3 out of 5]

did not charm me in the way some of his others did, but still appreciated it

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

All right, well one should read a whole book before one opens one's big fat mouth.
So yes, in my preliminary review I said the book's developments were too outlandish for credulity. Let's just say without giving up a HUGE spoiler that there is reason for this: it all has a grand purpose, a grand design as it were. There was more than a decade ago a film called, "The Game"... this is all I will say.

So, for most of the way, Nersesian's "Manhattan Loverbody" seems to be several notches below his famous "The Fuck-Up" in terms of readability and narrative smoothness, and even humor, but, after seeming to sputter at the outset the book begins to endear itself with the usual Nersesian wacky humor and incident and irresistible observation. It is fun, even when you're rolling your eyes in infuriating disbelief. It's not the book that "The Fuck-Up" is (it has a lot less heart, especially in regards the somewhat ill-defined protagonist), and having it all lead to an outlandish climax may not set well, but I have to say that on balance I finally found it worth reading. Nersesian has a flair for creating fascinatingly inscrutable women characters. I upped my rating on this by a star. So there.

[Khelani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in a matter of about 3-4 hours while traveling. I was happy I had it with me because it kept me entertained albeit a bit disturbed. I can't give this book more stars because it was like everything else that ends. Maybe its just me though becuase I hate the endings of everything most books, most movies, I think i would rather just stop reading then go through a poorly thrown together ending that seems like it was done minutes shy of some publishing deadline.

BUT I must say I loved Loved LOVED how he namedropped himself in the book by having the character of this book waste time by reading one of the author's other books. The creative audacity and spineless self love/hate of it all was entertaining and gratifying.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read FUCK-UP and enjoyed it, but this one just bombed for me.
The character was pretty pathetic (in a generic and uninteresting way) and the story and writing, cliche. I just couldn't really root for the protagonist and as a result, didn't care too much what happened to him. (He seemed to not care much himself.) Moreover, you could see the twists a mile away (and early on in my opinion) and as a result, the book felt more like an obligation to get through after my interest waned.

Pros: There are a few good one liners. It's a quick read. Recognizable NY locales.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as realistic as his other books and not quite as surreal as The Swing Voter of Staten Island, this book is trippy and twisted in its own right, but at its heart there is a creative and wacky plot. Not the book to go to for sympathetic characters or redeeming qualities, but a fun read about either randomness of life or the meaning of life, depending on how you choose to perceive it. Nersesian doesn't create characters you'd wanna hang out with and you probably wouldn't want to live in his New York, but he can make a good story out of all those unsavory ingredients.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this novel, I felt it had no direction whatsoever. I have always thought writers create some kind of outline before writing a novel. Or at least have an idea of where it will go and how it might end. But it seems like Arthur Nersesian just sat down one day without any clue what he was going to write and started typing away. Part of me liked this schizo free-form and part of me found it very frustrating.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I read this. Its most redeeming element is that the protagonist's naivety was humorous. I pictured him as the boy in elementary school who always had snot running down his nose and papers falling out of notebooks that he carried in his hands rather than putting in his perfectly fine bookbag.

[Andrea Janov · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gradual introduction to the absurdity in Manhattan Loverboy makes us believe it hook, line, and sinker just as Aeiou does even as the narrative gets crazier and crazier. Though, there are some far fetched elements in here, the concept of self-delusion and confronting that, really hits you in the gut.

[Steven jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Nersessian, set in NYC with interesting characters and a twisting plot that circles and folds as the main character searches for himself in an almost surrealistic story that reminded me a little of Kafka's The Trial except Nersessian is a lot more fun.

[Canavo · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book may have just been written about me. this guy cant get a leg up on life! such a fast read and desperately funny. if you like this one check out another of his books written with the same type of desperate humor called "the fuck up"

[Jemiah Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, madcap, intense, hilarious - unfortunately it falls apart completely at the end, as if the author merely wanted to get it over with. Recommended for fans of Hunter S. Thompson and Mark Leyner, but readers should be warned not to expect a satisfying conclusion.

[kleeklaw]

oh yeah... i read this book because it was sitting on the floor at peets house and i was bored. took about eleven oldstyles to finish it, and now i have no idea what it was about.

[Lesley Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heart NY

[Chelsea Hoskisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little slow toward the beginning of the book but nersessian manages to work in a message somehow.

[Elicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read in this genre (which is what, I am still not sure). I almost gave up on it a handful of times, but it was just all so curious and totally bizarre.

[Fawna Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little all over the place, and slow in some parts. But overall I liked it.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good early effort.

[Henry Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book by him I read, It was alright.