Condominium

by Daniel Falatko

Charles and Sarah are a typical New York creative class couple -- he's in finance, she works at a hipster small press, yet both are indie-rock East Village veterans who aren't above snorting a little heroin on the weekends. But when they decide to take the logical next step and buy a condo in one of the glass-and-steel skyscrapers now dotting the waterfront of Williamsburg, their lives start to fall apart almost the moment after they sign their mortgage; and this is to say nothing of their creepy neighbors, their possibly haunted apartment, job crises in both their industries, and former friends still in Manhattan who are determined to pull them back into the debauchery. A touching ode to the a--holes ruining Brooklyn, this literary debut of "the Millennial John Updike" is a funny yet wistful dramedy about young urban life during the Great Recession, and you do not need to be a New Yorker yourself to enjoy his smart insights about city living and growing older...although that certainly doesn't hurt. Download a free copy, or order the paperback edition, at [cclapcenter.com/condo].

Genres: Fiction, New York

264 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2015

About the author

The Wayback Machine (2025, Neutral Zones Press) https://a.co/d/28qK0rG

On Neutral Zones (2020, Adelaide Books) https://bit.ly/3e0ny2v

Travels & Travails of Small Minds (2017, Ardent Press) https://amzn.to/3hsLUUH

Condominium (2014, CCLAP Press) https://amzn.to/3hp83TQ

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real Rating: 2.5* of five, rounded up because there's no valid reason to round down

I RECEIVED A DRC OF THIS TITLE FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

A very important part of keeping good records is that people who want your feedback on the books they've quite graciously given you access to rather expect you'll give it in less than three years. That ship having sailed, to my chagrin, here goes.

This tale of a New York City aspirational-lifestyle couple gets good marks for atmospheric, claustrophobic scene-setting and scope-defining narrative. While I quibble with the rather magisterial pace the author sets, there are many precedents for his use of it. Are you a fan of We Have Always Lived in the Castle's or Let the Right One In's unsettling, eerie happenings? This book will scratch that same bump. But you'll be in the company of uniformly and unhappily one-note characters.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure, it's the good ol' "money can't buy happiness" rag but ain't it the truth? A NYC hipster couple throw down their life savings on a brand spanking new million dollar condo with a killer view. The purchase immediately puts their relationship, and their sanity, to the test. Over the course of one week, we watch as Sarah and Charles begin to slowly unravel. Why is the creepy next door neighbor watching their every move? What is the purpose of the non-functioning column in their living room? Why haven't they seen the same doorman twice since they've moved in? And why does Sarah wander the apartment at night, suppressing the urge to scream?

Full review to come

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

(DISCLOSURE: I am the owner of the publishing company that published this book.)

The CCLaP train is rolling along at full force these days, and I'm happy to announce our upcoming book for this October, Brooklynite Dan Falatko's literary debut, "Condominium." This will be right up the alley of John Updike fans who have always wanted to see his types of stories updated for the Millennial generation, essentially a tale about a creative-class couple in Manhattan who decide to buy a condo in one of the new glass-and-steel skyscrapers that dot the waterfront of Williamsburg, and how their lives start falling apart almost the second after they sign the lease. It's a blackly funny portrait of young urban life during the Great Recession, and I'm very proud to be giving a home to not only Dan's first-ever full-length novel, but also his second, the slacker adventure tale "One Thin Dime" coming from CCLaP in October 2016.

As always with CCLaP, we're offering the ebook version of "Condominium" COMPLETELY FOR FREE TO ANY GOODREADS MEMBER WHO WANTS ONE, in exchange for your promise to post a few thoughts about it here, good or bad; to express an interest, simply drop me a line at ilikejason@gmail.com or just send me a message through Goodreads itself. Word-of-mouth is the number one way we generate new customers, so I hope you'll have a chance to take advantage of this offer soon. (The book comes out to the general public this October 12th, but the advance reading copy is available as we speak.) I look forward to seeing what you think of this funny, dark book!

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed this novel a lot. I've put myself trough a regimen of paranoid condo novels prior to buying my own last year and unfortunately for Falatko, I've read J.G Ballard's iconic HIGH-RISE, which stands tall in the shadow of CONDOMINIUM, but I have to admit this was great nonetheless. There is part Ballard-ian paranoia, part Bret Easton Ellis' erasure of the self, yet Falatko has a faith in humanity the two others don't and it keeps trying to peek through the bureaucratic darkness of competitive real estate.

CONDOMINIUM operates within a busy and competitive field itself, but while it might not shine the brightest I'm sure going to remember it for a long time. There was a satirical edge to Daniel Falatko's novel, but it sure did ring true.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hipster's coming of age story: a young, downtown vibe couple has to come to grips with the inevitable transition awaiting them when they purchase a chic, desirable condo with a view. Moving on up? Yep, they want that luxury crap, but at the same time, are not particularly ready to sacrifice the sniff, snort, and puff party factor that has been a part of their lives up to...the condo, where rules and the obligatory respectability clause hamper their too cool for school, freestyle existence. The novel is about 90% observance of said lifestyle and about 10 % plot, which leads me to think of it more as an atmospheric refection on "what happens when we cross to the other side" than anything else, but it was kind of entertaining for the most part, with all the slacking at work and hanging with pals in ironic tones, as hipsters do. I did wonder why the hell they ever wanted to "move up" at all (yes, the view, of course) but then, who can blame them for wanting to have that luxury cake and puke it all out too, as all successful rock stars and top models have done before them.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC for a review of this book, and I'm pleased to say I absolutely loved it. It's a super dark comedy with a messed up duo at its center. It's the first week in Charles and Sarah's new home and it's driving them even crazier than they already are. Their neighbor is totally creepy, their friends are trainwrecks, and they can barely hold it together. It's NYC at it's most crass. I look forward for more from this author and will def. be looking into more books from this press too.

[This fish likes to read]

I couldn't finish this. I reached about 16% of the book and i wasn't gripped by it. It was too descriptive for my taste and I lose patience with that sort of writing. After enduring 16% i was like "get to the point". Sadly for now its shelved on DNF.
That is not to say it couldn't be a good read, not just for me.

[Indydriven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided with an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

SPOILERS CONTAINED IN REVIEW: There was a line in the book that I absolutely loved – something to the effect that it doesn’t matter whether you live in a million dollar high-end condo or a trailer park, on Monday morning, you still have to go to work. This line turned out to be so appropriate because although the title of the book makes one think that the majority of the story is about the condo, a large part of the story is about the two main characters’ work lives. The story focuses on a New York City couple, Charles and Sarah, who recently moved into a newly built small (660 square feet) condo on the 16th floor at a price tag of nearly 1 million. The author does a good job (I’m not sure whether it was intentional or just my opinion) of making Sarah an unlikable character. Sarah has not contributed a penny towards the purchase of this condo; Charles has made the down payment and Sarah’s job doesn’t even cover any costs towards the maintenance or mortgage payments yet many times throughout the book her character brags about the views and the high-end kitchen to her friends and co-workers. As the reader, I am gritting my teeth thinking “yeah, isn’t it nice you didn’t put a penny towards it but are doing all the bragging about it”. After they settle in, Charles and Sarah start to feel the pressure of owing expensive property and Charles especially starts feeling the pressure of having such debt. They also have a creepy neighbor that watches their every move and gives them grief about making noise, sleeping on their balcony and smoking marijuana in their condo. As the book progresses, the couple become disillusioned and disappointed about their new condo and themselves. I think it fair to say that they had an unrealistic view on what living in the condo would be like. Charles seemed shocked that the condo was getting dusty and dirty and when the coffee maker made a mess over the granite countertops and hardwood floors, he almost had a complete melt-down. After a blow-out housewarming party at their condo, the place gets a bit trashed and the next day Charles and Sarah come to their senses and realize that it is just a roof over their heads – just because it is expensive and high end doesn’t mean that life’s problems will just go away.

I have rated this book 3.75 stars out of five. I think the author has a nice writing style but the story and to some extent, the characters are too simplistic to rate it higher.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so good and so so close to being genuinely great, but it just lacked a little something in my opinion. I think Falatko did a fairly good job of capturing a moment and vibe, but there is little driving force throughout the book. So much of it reminded me of what brett easton ellis did capturing LA's and to some extent America's snake eating its trash-fire tail cultural wasteland, but he never really does better than ellis did and I think he does worse. He may not have been intentionally or unintentionally channeling that vibe, but in my opinion it did resemble that style somewhat. If you aren't going to try and do it better, or at least as good, why try at all? I haven't read any other Falatko and this debut was certainly good, maybe he has improved his formula for later books, I was left wanting more.

[Hobart · Rating 3 out of 5]

★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
Okay, we have Charles -- a worker bee in finance in some NYC firm, on the verge of a drug problem (well, maybe past the verge) -- and Sarah -- a worker bee in a small press, on the verge of actually working. Charles is making pretty good money, so they decide to buy a condo. They've been together for a few years now, and seem to be getting along okay, this seems like a good next step -- Sarah has dreams of a ring in the near future, and leaving workforce not too long after that (maybe even before her employer realizes that she doesn't do much).

The book follows them in the week following them "moving on up." Somehow, they seem to think that changing their address is going to change their lives. I mean, really, they're obsessed with this place. They can't stop talking or thinking about it.

I guess I should mention Charles' druggie friends, his co-worker that he's madly in lust with, the people at Sarah's work and her friends that she almost keeps in touch with, but...well, that's enough of them, really.

The most intriguing character is their creepy neighbor, Raymond. He's always around, he knows way too much about them, is possibly a peeping Tom, is a little too militant at cleaning the smoking area and claims to be a day trader (hard to tell how he fits all of that in, but it's explained eventually). He seems to have a thing for Sarah, which is pretty inexplicable.

The only one who seems less likely to be into Sarah is Charles. And you'd think that'd be an issue, but neither of them seems to think of that much.

Charles seems to have a healthy case of acrophobia, yet insisted on getting an apartment with a balcony and a great view. He can barely stand to be out there, and spends a lot of time working on overcoming it. He has a phobic attack on the balcony early on. Probably the best part of the book. It was enough to make you feel the same, and yet funny as you know what he's doing to himself. I'd have reacted the very same way - worse, actually -- no way would I have loved into that place.

At the same time, I spent a lot of time wishing he'd fall off the balcony and stop the mess.

Day by day things get worse as they unpack, get high, miss work, fight, and try to organize a housewarming party. Because, how else do you get to show off your flooring, your high ceilings, and your view?

The writing was good enough, the characters seemed pretty real -- I just couldn't understand why Falatko spent his time and ability on either.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by the author in exchange for this post, which probably didn't work out the way he'd prefer.

[Alysyn Reinhardt]

Click here for my full review.

Falatko’s Condominium takes place within the time span of just one week, with sections separated by day. Charles & Sarah have just moved in their new condo & it serves as a symbol of their semi-fucked up lives. The one thing they have in common is that they feel like the condo owns them instead of the other way around. In Bret Easton Ellis form, it’s a novel about materialism, existentialism, consumerism, & every other ism, but simultaneously about absolutely nothing. But unlike Bret Easton Ellis, it didn’t really have those stand-out sentences of epiphany. There was no “people are afraid to merge” type of sentence that really hits it home hard. However, there were incredible moments of clarity. Several scenes that were so unique, but also seemed almost like non-fiction.

The timing is tricky because each action is described so minutely that the reader can get pretty bored. But it serves as an overall theme that time & space are relative. Time & Space, two subjects Falatko was right to consistently evoke Burroughs in, gives the work a claustrophobic feel.

I had a few gripes with the writing style. But overall it surpassed my expectations.

[Audra (ouija.reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review and *special interview with the author* here: http://shelfstalker.weebly.com/shelf-...

This book spans the first week that young couple Sarah and Charles move into a swanky new high rise in NYC. At first, they seem put together and ready for such a commitment: Charles recently got a raise so he's doing well at work and Sarah is in control when faced with decisions about the condo. But these two are not at all who they appear to be on the surface. And neither is their condo. At its bare bones, this is a story of a girl and a guy who buy a fancy, new place only to find that it can’t solve all their problems and it won’t make them become grown-ups. But underneath, there is a lot to unpack in this book!

I enjoyed reading from both Sarah and Charles's perspectives throughout the book and this is a really interesting (though definitely novelized and satirical) look at a real issue that New Yorkers are dealing with today.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the whole book, but I am not sure why I did it. There were a few times that I laughed out loud, and I was curious as to what made Raymond tick; but for the most part I had little empathy for characters who were drunk, high, and/or down all of the time. Self indulgence at the extreme!

The book was well written and I enjoyed the descriptions of NYC -- hence the three stars -- however I'm glad that those characters didn't buy into my building.

[Frannie Burd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. I mean I REALLY didn't like it. I have a difficult time getting into books where there are no likable characters, and these characters were vile. Spoiled late twenties, early thirties people in NYC who do nothing but drink, snort coke and heroin and not do their jobs. I found the book pointless, over-descriptive and vapid. However, the author had a definite talent for writing. My recommendation would be keep writing, but find different subject matter.

[Ben Arzate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

In the end, despite embodying some of the worst tendencies of literature coming out of New York these days, the humor and overall craftsmanship make Condominium a worthwhile read. It shows Daniel Falatko does have potential to write something excellent in the future.

FULL REVIEW

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

*goodreads giveaway - free*
Man, as much as I wanted to enjoy this book....I just could not get into it. Falatko has awesome writing abilities, but I found the characters to be unrelatable and the story line to drag on forever. Nothing exciting about this book. =(

[Kristen]

Review pending...

[Champaklal Lad]

book never arrived

[Heather Leonard]

Full review to come. Somewhere between ⭐️⭐️ and ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Tikri /Letitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would you like to spend some time in the lives of a young, aimless New York couple who just bought an expensive new condo? Because it was a Goodreads Giveaway, I read it, OK.