New Year's: A Prequel to The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

by Adelle Waldman

She felt some part of herself relax when she was with him. She could shut off the part of her brain that was always monitoring whether she was talking too much, being 'selfish.'

A few years before the start of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., twentysomething writer Nathaniel Piven admires a piece of published work by a young woman named Aurit Arazi, and writes her an email expressing his appreciation. After this introduction, they meet for a drink. At the time, Nate is dating gorgeous, moody Elisa, and Aurit has an older, successful novelist boyfriend named Carter, but Nate and Aurit become friends. In the months, even years, that pass, Nate’s and Aurit’s romantic partners change, but their friendship carries on. And then, one New Year’s eve, it seems that the nature of their relationship may change. Like many readers who got to know Nathaniel Piven in The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., Aurit is pretty sure that, when it comes to relationships with women, he can be an asshole, but is there more to him than that? In New Year’s, author Adelle Waldman exposes the mating psyche of one brilliant young female writer, with the same shockingly accurate eye that brought the world Nathaniel P.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, New York, Novella, Contemporary, Writing

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

Adelle Waldman is the author of the novels, Help Wanted, coming from W.W. Norton in March of 2024, and The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., which was published by Henry Holt in 2013 and was named one of that year’s best books by The New Yorker, The Economist, The New Republic, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, The Guardian and others. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[Kseniya Melnik]

I will read anything Waldman writes.

[Laila]

A must-read for those who enjoyed The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (But do read that one first or this one won't do much for you.)

"She was kinder to him than he deserved." That pretty much sums it up.

[Julie Ehlers]

Word of caution: As the clunky subtitle implies, this novella doesn't really stand on its own--you need to have read The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. to appreciate it. Still, I loved this. I hope Adelle Waldman is at work on another full-length novel because I want to read more from her ASAP.

[Laura]

The author does a good job at the subject. But it's still just the complications of a relationship between two unremarkable people.

[Sarah]

A fun return to the world of Nathaniel P--though it was more backstory than story, it felt as always extremely well-observed and almost anthropologically accurate!

[Gail]

The subtitle of this novella really should be "my editor made me do it". But, hey, I for one am glad! This prequel to the great "the Love Affairs of Nathaniel P", gives the backstory of Nate's only girl friend who we meet spradically in the book. Quite surprising, actually, that Nate, who is one of these jerky Brooklyn intellectuals and who haphazardly treats women terribly, can have what seeems to be a genuine sexless friendship with a woman. This little story is a shout out to Waldman's fans and should be read in the order she wrote it. It does not have any of the bite the novel has so would have a limited interest to those who don't know the characters. But for those of us who were completely hooked by Nathaniel and his world, so great to be back in Brooklyn. it is a nice extra slice of dessert. More please!!!

[David Sasaki]

My closest guy friends and I all read The Love Affairs of Nate P. We usually go to great lengths to disagree with one another on just about everything, but we all loved Waldman's first novel. It was fun to read our own shameful inner thoughts in the voice of a relatable 30-something Brooklynite dude, but somehow written by a woman. So when I stumbled across this addendum - an alternative perspective of a segment of the original novel, but told from the perspective of Nate's friend, Aurit - I couldn't resist. And I'm glad I didn't. Both of these books should be required reading for every 20-year-old guy on the verge of entering the fraught phase of adult dating. (Though my guess is that Waldman's books are mostly read by women.)

[Melissa]

This short story reminded me that I didn't like the book it was spun off from all that much either...

[Dylan Groves]

really short. really perceptive.

[Sylvia]

I liked the concept (gimmick?) and was happy to read it right after finishing The Love Affairs, but was quite disappointed that the voice sounded so much like Nate's.

[Preston Pendergraft]

I didn’t find this one as interesting as the main novel it is based on. Like Aurit was interesting in the first novel this kind of makes her seem really insecure. I enjoyed it that we see Nate from a different perspective, much like Hannah’s email. But this just didn’t do it for me like the original.

[hizzaire]

even worse than the original

[Pavel Linshits]

Enjoyable sketch but doesn't quite soar to the heights of the novel which I really loved. A couple of good characterisations and turns of phrase, as ever.

[Tiffany Howard]

Observational and engaging

This short story has all the interesting detail of 'Nathaniel P.' with, to me at least, a more empathetic protagonist.

[Stefan]

Apparently, I liked this far more the second time. Will read the novel soon.

[Elliot S]

A short but worthwhile addendum/prequel to The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P, focussing on the one "non-love" affair with what feels like a proxy for the author.

[Nedda]

Sephardic Jews are just as white as every other European settler in America and hummus and pita are Palestinian, not Israeli.

[Drew]

I had one glaring issue with the novelette and that was the last line - I won't spoil it, but it was a flat note pressed defiantly in the midst of an otherwise melodious tune. And, of course, this is a novella and so you can't expect it to do what a full length piece would do. But it does, rather marvelously, slide right back into the mode of Nathaniel P. and the stark social commentary that Waldman did so well that first time around. It was fun to see a little more history between Aurit and Nate, to see a girl's perspective on the whole thing, and to revisit old friends in general. I wish there were more little one-offs like this floating around...

More TK from RB:

[Cara]

I felt like I couldn't get enough of Nathaniel P., so I was excited to see this short from Aurit's perspective. In the main book, she seemed to understand him quite well, so I was interested to see what additional insights she might have. It wasn't really that, though. Poor Aurit develops a crush on him and narrowly escapes joining his string of unhappy girlfriends. Plus there's a bunch of background and rumination about her, which I didn't really find all that interesting. It was fine, and I'm glad Aurit didn't fall into Nate's trap, but it didn't really do that much for me.

[Kristen]

Love Waldmans writing

I love the Nathaniel P boos character development and how real each person felting could barely stomach reading from the perspective of Mage, it was that well written, he was that unlikable. I love this one so much more because it's the same beautiful layered writing, but from a character that is completely static, personality wise, to Nate. I also love that from this PvP we're finally able to see Audit not as a bitchy know it all, it someone who thinks and feels deeply.

[Michelle]

i loved this book. i was completely enamored with Nate and thought that the author did a fantastic job of making me simultaneously hate him and sympathize with him. it's just SUCH a frank and honest description of what dating is like when your roughly 30 - the want and need to be in a relationship and the want and need to have space and be independent, both from the female and male perspective. SERIOUSLY LOVED THIS BOOK.

[Pedro L. Fragoso]

No love affairs this time, just the story of a relevant and ultimately lasting friendship between a man and a women, both young professionals, engaged and urban ("urban" as in New York city). The pitfalls of an on-and-off mutual attraction is particularly well handled. I found it a worthy prequel to The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

[Rachel Aucoin]

It is critical to read "The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P." first but this shows an improvement in writing and character development. Adelle Waldman is definitely a writer to keep an eye on, I greatly enjoyed the character of Aurit being fleshed out (I had many questions about her in the aforementioned novel), and take the time to read this novella.

[LiA]

Too shallow, seems unfinished, maybe a bit of stuff that did not make it into the real novel, and labelled prequel, so that it would sell? Not relevant, but short enough to not feel like a waste of time. And probably there are readers out there, who enjoy this kind of narrative: New York urbanites hitting the age if 30 trying to cope with their love lives? Alas, it is not my glass of chai.

[Mandy]

Fun fluff, and a very quick read. It doesn't stand on its own if you haven't read the novel it's based on, and isn't as tightly constructed. But overall it's an enjoyable character sketch from a new vantage point.

[Nathan Bransford]

So good.

[ALittleBrittofFun]

Nothing special, kind of unnecessary.

[Sallie A]

Prequel

Definitely worth downloading and reading this short story. It provides interesting context and also a peak into the life of the female hipster.

[Juli]

Kind of pointless.

[Vince]

If you enjoyed "Love Affairs of Nathaniel P," this is a nice little post-script.