Chat

by Nan McCarthy

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Erotica

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 6, 1998

About the author

Nan McCarthy is the author of the Since You Went Away series, Chat, Connect, & Crash series, Live ’Til I Die, and Quark Design. A former magazine editor & technology writer, Nan founded Rainwater Press in 1992 and began selling her books online in 1995. Nan and her husband, a veteran who served 33 years in the Marine Corps, are the proud parents of two adult sons.

To find out more, visit Nan's website at www.nan-mccarthy.com, like her on Facebook www.facebook.com/nanmccarthywriter, or follow her on Instagram www.instagram.com/nanmccarthy, Twitter www.twitter.com/nanmccarthy, and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/nanmccarthy.

Reviews

[Julie (jjmachshev) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the whole $%@* thing and it ends with a whimper...not a happy ending either. Just a lot of buildup and then poof. ARGH

[Sophia]

Will and I found this series in a free library at a park. They’re really funny because it’s about people falling in love over EMAIL. And they use outdated internet jargon. Lots off about this book but it was a fun and quick read. We took turns reading it out loud

[Lara Vehar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to have gotten this book for nearly free years ago so I read it years ago, I happened to find it again a few days ago and I realized that I was lucky enough to have all three books from the series translated and slapped together into one book yahoo!

The first part/book "Chat" introduces us to main characters Beverly/Bev and Maximilian/Max and the way they chat you wouldn't really figure out that they are 30ish and 35ish years old, the lingo is... dated at best but I can't blame the book for that because it was written in 1995.

They get to know each other, Bev is careful and wants to keep a casual friendship and doesn't want to cheat on her husband until one day Max asks her to tell him something she didn't tell anybody else before and she tells him that she cheated on her husband once, she goes into the detail and at the end of the first book Max realizes that he was in fact the one she cheated with because they were both on a fair and they happened to click and they went to bed together, and that plot twist was good and unexpected.

She decides to walk off afterwards and at the end of the book she starts ignoring him and stops speaking to him for months but she still reads every e-mail he sends to her during that period of time, she just doesn't respond.

[Britta ★ Nachteule ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dies ist die Geschichte von Beverly und Max, die sich online kennenlernen. Wir begleiten die beiden wie sich aus ihren Emails eine Freundschaft entwickelt.

Dieses Buch und die beiden Folgebände sind im Original zwischen 1995 und 1998 erschienen. Seitdem hat sich im Bereich Internet/Computer natürlich so einiges getan, daher mögen einem einige Details vielleicht etwas seltsam/veraltet vorkommen.

Ich hatte die drei wirklich kleinen Bücher irgendwann vor über 15 Jahren gelesen und auch heute lese ich sie noch genauso gern. Die Autorin schafft es, das man selbst nur durch die Emails der beiden, spürt wie sich die Gefühle der beiden füreinander entwickeln und man "mitfiebert" wie es wohl weiter geht...

Ich denke, es ist schon an und für sich ein gutes Zeichen, dass ich mich nach so langer Zeit gefreut habe, als sie mir zufällig mal wieder in die Hände gefallen sind.

[Jax Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series initially in the mid-90s when they were first published. Revisiting Beverly and Maximilian once again, twenty-four years later, was refreshing and a wonderful trip down memory lane. 

Beverly is a married editor who begins receiving emails from a persistent man named Maximilian,  a copywriter who contacts Beverly after seeing her messages on a writer's forum asking for advice on weather he should upgrade to a Mac or stick with a PC. She tried to blow him off but he won't take no for an answer and continues emailing her.

The book follows as their emails become more involved and intimate and leave the reader with a surprise ending.

As satisfying today as it was back in 1995. All the fun and innocence at the newness of the internet back then and email was new to so many of us still come shining through in this wonderfully romantic tale. 

Highly recommended! Nan McCarthy is an outstanding writer. I treasure these books. 

[Tina KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verjetno ni za 5 zvezdic, vendar spomini na chat in cyber ljubezen naredijo svoje ;)

[Sahel's · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always believed in the reality of online relationships ever since I realized what internet is! I have no idea why "virtual relationship" or "long distance online dating" has been so stigmatized.

I cannot understand it since I met some of the most interesting and unforgettable people of my life online. Some we still are in touch!

So, Remember Yahoo Msngr? Remember Yahoo 360 degrees? Remember MeBoo and the Iranian Cloob dot com? I had some of The Most interesting and exciting conversations of my life through these platforms! The memory of years of online chat and friendship with people I might have never come across in my life is still alive on my mind!

Generally, people might have a dubious attitude toward online relationships because most we have heard and most stories coming out in the open have been about face-to-face love and happy ending relationships which have all happened in-person. There has not been much written about online friendships, or they have not been much discussed. And by written I don't mean the typical "17 ways to online dating"! Maybe Covid-19 has changed that to some degree?

Ok so, before this exciting trilogy, I never knew I was looking for a book like this that takes online relationships as serious as face-to-face ones!

Here's a tiny summary: This book recounts the story of how an online relationship used to form and how this specific one in the trilogy developed.

The whole trilogy is steamy hot and funny. It's a quick read as the story grabs you tight with all the suspense and energy oozing from every chapter. For instance, I read the whole trilogy in one sitting!

Taking me back through time to a period when internet, chatting and being online was actually cool, a bit sneaky, hot at times, and super exciting not knowing your person would go online tonight or not! It talks of a time when finding creative ways to being closer to each other like watching a game at the same time was a rather hard way to date, but a really exciting one!

I enjoyed every word and cherished the creative way Nan McCarthy has formed the story. I believe this trilogy, as a forerunner in this genre could also be a way to not take the internet we have today for granted! To think about it in real ways, not to stigmatize the online relationships of people for whom this way actually works, and maybe be inspired to share our true stories of that era!!

[Zinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reaching for the book next to this book on the library shelf... and I plucked loose this one. Chat? As in online? Hmm.

Frankly, I miss letters. A letter in my mailbox, especially with an exotic overseas stamp on it, with its lines of handwriting... loops and angles and curliques that give a reflection of personality and, perhaps, secrets tucked inside the letter-writer... opening the letter, reading, sipping coffee, reading it again... and that faraway place, even if only across town, evoked on the slip of paper... Opening my mailbox to find a letter always felt just a little like Christmas. Yes, there is a romance in writing and receiving letters that seems almost entirely lost to us now. Not to mention how our switch to email and instant messaging has created an entirely new kind of language - of shorthand, emoticons, graphics, poor or nonexistent grammar, missing punctuation, computer slang.

The other side: email and instant messaging are quick and easy. I write more of these shorthand "letters" now than I ever did on paper. Granted, they are much shorter, and surely much blander, but the increased contact with colleagues eases the conducting of efficient business, and the increased communication with loved ones has drawn them nearer still. What would my work day be like without a message window popping up mid-afternoon with a little emoticon pursing big red lips with a "sweet sumthin" message attached, sent by the one I miss the most? Gets me through the day. Indeed, online chat can do wonders for any relationship. A little goes a long way.

A little in this cybernovel, however, does not go as long a way as it could, or should. The idea is undeniably relevant to today, and it is intriguing. Online chat provides an anonymity that allows people to reveal more than they ever would F2F (face to face). It also allows temptation to overcome good sense, and the results can be devastating. The couple portrayed in this online exchange of messages seems drawn to each other too easily, too predictably, and without enough explanation as to why. I'm just not convinced that a few dull exchanges can create such havoc. That they meet unknowingly in "real time" seems completely implausible. The whole exchange takes less than an hour to read, which would classify it more as a novelette than a novel, but it is probably an hour better spent.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read CHAT literally in one sitting -- in the tub -- so I doubt the review will be particularly long ... because how much can I really say about a book that was THAT quick of a read?

I checked before starting the review and it appears this little book originally came out in 1995, hence why the chatroom lingo and constant communication through email felt a bit dated. But, it wasn't enough to really deter me from continuing with the series.

Basically, CHAT is the story of two people who met online on a Writer's Forum and this novel follows their email communication as they get to know one another online. Max, an advertising copyrwriter, is the one to initially strike up the conversation with Bev, a book editor, because he wants advice on what time of computer to purchase. Bev is hesitant to write back to Max, because she is happily married and suspects Max is just another guy trolling the forums to find a quick date. Max, though, is fascinated by Bev and wants to get to know her as much as he can without crossing any questionable lines.

Then things just started to get a little TOO coincidental as Bev, who refuses to give Max her phone number but has no problem with blatant intimacy over email, makes a secret confession to Max involving a previous infidelity, and Max relates to the story a little TOO conveniently, which ends this story on a cliff hanger.

Based on the cover, I was expecting this to follow two teenagers, but it turns out Max is in his early 30's and Bev is a few years older. That threw me off a bit, as did some of the weird chat lingo, which I'm sure was relevant in 1995 -- but honestly, I wasn't even in chat rooms or forums or any of this at that time.

So, I think that's my only "disconnect" here -- it felt like a YA type story but it was a bit too dated to really appeal to that crowd right now.

Despite the fact that it felt too convenient, I did think it was a quick, fun, enjoyable read, and I do plan to keep reading the series...

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book grouped with the next two in the series at a used book store, and thought it looked like fun. I had few expectations when starting this book, but after reading it I'm a bit disappointed. I expected since the books were published in different years for them to have a complete story within each, with maybe a bit of a open ending that led into the next one. This book was far from that. It basically was all build up to a big reveal that left things majorly open. Fortunately I have the next two books, but I have to say if I was a reader who bought this when it came out, I'd be pissed and not waste my time buying the next one. Why publish a book as it's own story if it doesn't actually finish the story in some sort of satisfying way? The three books in this series should have been one book, honestly, and while I get the author or publisher was going for a cute little trilogy kind of thing, I think it probably serve to piss off more readers than please them. Hopefully the next two mini-books finish the story in a satisfactory way, otherwise these little books are just a complete waste of time - even if they don't take long to read.

I will say, that the story is a fun one and the characters are interesting. It was a bit predictable, and the ending wasn't a shocker (at least for me), but it was enjoyable. I just don't think it was a complete story.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

"Chat" follows Max and Bev, two strangers who slowly become friends through their exchanging of e-mails. As their friendship goes on, Bev becomes less reserved and more uninhibited while Max becomes more and more enthralled by Bev.

I saw this book in my mom's bookshelf a long time ago. I was young, but I was interested in it. I don't think I knew a lot about the world of computers back then, but the easy text in McCarthy's book made it understandable for someone who had no knowledge about computers, whatsoever.

This was a fast book to read. It was interesting to read and learn about the more formal ways of chatting and e-mailing. The use of , asterisks and many more, were interesting to read about, seeing as there are now animated emoticons available and people have the choice of making text italicized, underlined or etc. I also liked reading about chat forums and how they're organized.

The friendship between Max and Bev seemed certainly believable. Funny, serious and just plain connected. I can't speak the same for *other* events, though.

[Biserka · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is composed out of mails between two people that soon transcend into romantic conversations. It started off very interesting, it felt very realistic, both of the characters felt like real people and had some depth to them, but the ending... so goddamn laaaaame! It took so much strentgh for me to not just write "Laaame!" and post this review. Just because the format of the book could not be continued, we get a stupid internet article and the book ends?! It felt so impersonal. It felt like an ending of a poorly written and badly designed single player computer game. Other than that the book wasn't even that bad. A very quick and easy read. I just can not get over the ending.
And one more thing. A word of advice for some readers. If you are in a good relationship and this is your seceret fantasy, do it with your partner and not a stranger from the internet! Firstly because that stranger could turn out to be a serial killer or something worse and secondly because your partner might just like it.

[Jamison · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book i read didn't have this neon cover on it. it was a distinctive black cover, and it was very small. i don't read things with lips on the front of them. heck, i even wince a little when i walk by magazine covers with angelina jolie on the front of them. or, God forbid, melanie griffith. how *did* she get a hunk of man meat like antonio banderas?? i mean, really . .

but, i digress. massively.

this was a short book, using chat, and email to show us a growing friendship between a married woman and a single man. it's like we are looking over their shoulders as they get each message . . immediate. short. but with two distinctive voices.

the problem i had with this book is that it ends just when it should start. and it's a very abrupt ending. but, i guess that goes with the realism that the author was going for. still . . it made me want to finish the story in my head. and, boy, no auther wants that!

[Unapologetic_Bookaholic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bev and Max meet online and become friends through emails. Bev is married and does not provide personal info omline other than general interest and location. Max is flirtatious but not rude or perverted (unless said jokingly). Thier friendship continues over a couple of months with emails consisting of a few paragraphs or just a line. The twist happens in one online chat session. You see it coming but want to read on to see how it plays out.

This was my first "cyber novel". I liked the quick easy reading and the characters voices felt even more real because of the email format. Something I am sure we can all relate to is exchanging emails with a stranger and become friends, or not.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book.
I'm a computer operator so I work with computers the internet and stuff like that as my job so I love reading about experiences of using a computer and the internet before I started. This book was written before I had even started school (just) so I can safely say this is something I like to read.
I love the chat room format/ email format. Think its a great way of writing things and expressing conversations I find them very funny.

I will continue onto the next book I think. :-)

[Tim Miles · Rating 1 out of 5]

The woman who wrote this made Quark Design; this book is mostly an exciting tool to illustrate how you could use that to format your own book. It's hard to talk nicely about a book that tries to be a prose analog to those charts that would explain what "LOL" was, a book where two thirds of the text is e-mail headers and where you can see the "twist" coming as soon as it is brought up. QuarkXPress is great, though.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book over 10 years ago, and it really takes me back so I was pleased to discover my library had all 3. Beverly meets Max on a writer's forum. Max emails her to ask her about buying a Mac vs. PC, and they soon start a series of personal conversations. This book goes WAY back to the time when chat rooms were new, email was new, and people were just starting to get online. It's both nostalgic and fun to read.

[Aiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golly! I just re-read this book as it was one of the ones I did not give to Goodwill in our recent 1800-mile move. (I also kept the other two in the trilogy.) There are so many dated references that it makes me giggle, but it's all still true. You know, what they say, "a :* is still a :*" is still true online. What a page-turner, even 15 years later. Hubby is probably gonna walk in any moment and ask, "Weren't you gonna take a shower an hour ago?" Yeah. That good.

[Camila Espinosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting read. The plot unfolds through the e-mails and online communications of two characters - Bev and Max. Complete strangers, they strike up a friendship in what is to their times; the modern way. But what do you tell someone on the other end of a screen? What do you avoid telling?

This is definitely an interesting perspective on modern romance and relationships in the age of technology. I'm really looking forward to the next books in the series!

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read. The way the dialog was it made me feel like I was back in the 90s when we first started using online chat rooms and stuff. These two people were so completely different from each other according to their member profiles, but (without giving away too much detail) they connect quite well towards the end. Ironically enough the next book is called Connect. Definitely worth the read.

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very fast read, I think I read it in about 45 min.

This is the first of three books about two people that meet online in a writer's forum and become friends. Until Bev mentions that she had an affair at a Macworld convention (this book is set in 1995 so lots of "old" computer talk). It is interesting how this revelation changes her online friendship with Max.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute story but I would be super pissed off by the ending of this book if I couldn't pick up the next one right away..... it's a predictable story and I knew exactly what was going to happen, but I still liked the story..... But i'm not sure that this can be called a novel seeing as it is incomplete and ends abruptly.

[grundoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I'm aware of the background (alleged first email/chat style novel, early direct online sales), and have no issue at all with the format, dated or not, having lived right through the era myself. I suppose I'm curious enough to know what happens to read the rest should they cross my path during an otherwise idle hour, but really, it's a trite and predictable story with equally such characters.

[Hamizah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the heck?
That's all there is?

I like the format of this book, how the story is written out, but ugh the ending. I knew the moment Bev talks about her fling at the party it's got to be Max the Goddamn Guy.

Wished there's a continuation to this.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember ordering them all at once and reading them one after the other. I was hooked and was happy to have them all because I gobbled them up. Not sure if they would stand the test of time but I really enjoyed this series.

[Michelle Kizer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun quick read

I loved.how unique.this was. A.great.love story wiyh.interesting twists and.turns. i.recommend the trilogy for.a.quick fun read that doesnt.disappoint. Kudos Nan Kudos!

[flajol · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first in a trilogy. It's very short, so you don't really have time to get irritated with the format. An internet friendship springs up, and we get to read the emails that pass back and forth.

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was cute at the time, but it is quite outdated now and I don't think teens today would relate to it. I liked it way back when chatting was a new thing.

[Jarrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book series is absolutely amazing. I bought the first book one morning, and ran back to the book store before closing for the other two.

Can I just say "Wow"?

[Whitney]

This book was a pretty good book to read!!!!!!!!!!!