What do you think?
Rate this book
Duplex
Mike Nagel is spending too much time in his duplex. Mostly he's hungover. There's a squirrel in the attic, the ceiling's caving in, and he's not sure who to call about it. Not much else seems to happen in Mike Nagel's Duplex, except of course everything happens a distinct mind is constantly working over the absurdity, meaninglessness, and mundanity of contemporary life in ways both laugh-out-loud funny and thoughtfully compelling.
69 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 8, 2022
3 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
February 14, 2024
He lives in a duplex with J.
“Easy! I didn't do things all the time. I was practically a LEADING WORLD-EXPERT at not doing things. When I looked back at that long thirty-two-year malaise that had been my life, it was mostly me not doing things.”
He has an unsuccessful career as a writer.
“I used to think I was going to make my living as a successful writer. Now I make my living as an unsuccessful one. Our lives are just whatever's left over after everything else doesn't work out. Reasons to drink abound. Nothing else in the history of maritime has floated more boats. But be warned: whatever it is that floats your boat is also the thing in which you might drown.”
He spends his days drinking and hiding away from others.
“‘But what about the God-shaped hole in you?’ a friend asked me once in an attempt to lure me back into The Kingdom. ‘That's the great thing about vodka,’ I explained. ‘It can conform to any shape.’”
“Easy! I didn't do things all the time. I was practically a LEADING WORLD-EXPERT at not doing things. When I looked back at that long thirty-two-year malaise that had been my life, it was mostly me not doing things.”
He has an unsuccessful career as a writer.
“I used to think I was going to make my living as a successful writer. Now I make my living as an unsuccessful one. Our lives are just whatever's left over after everything else doesn't work out. Reasons to drink abound. Nothing else in the history of maritime has floated more boats. But be warned: whatever it is that floats your boat is also the thing in which you might drown.”
He spends his days drinking and hiding away from others.
“‘But what about the God-shaped hole in you?’ a friend asked me once in an attempt to lure me back into The Kingdom. ‘That's the great thing about vodka,’ I explained. ‘It can conform to any shape.’”
October 1, 2022
A slim collection of slice of life essays about drinking too much, being a ‘load’, not being able to fix things/one’s life, and living in a duplex—what the narrator can’t take care of there is a direct mirror of other things their neighbor can’t take care of on the other side of the wall. A funny book, with a voice that is soothing and always smart. Aspires to belong to the grand tradition of stories about being a loser (one of my favorite type of things to read), and succeeds at everything it sets out to do because Nagel is both entertaining and wise in self-awareness, not trying to look like a hero of anything, just a human, which is usually lacking from most pieces of art. We’re told to root for somebody, something, but what the fuck? Why can’t I just lay here in my slime.
February 23, 2022
Went into this with no knowledge or expectations, and I literally smiled reading every page (well…I rarely smile…so the smiles were mostly on the inside….which, I suppose, makes it not “literal,” but you get the idea).
There are shades of Vonnegut here, with dialogue (intern and external) that is so smartly observed and timed that it hits like a punchline.
Loved the voice here, and it’s honestly such a quick read that you want more time with the narrator. I bet this author kills at live readings.
There are shades of Vonnegut here, with dialogue (intern and external) that is so smartly observed and timed that it hits like a punchline.
Loved the voice here, and it’s honestly such a quick read that you want more time with the narrator. I bet this author kills at live readings.
July 14, 2022
I wanted to forgo all responsibilities and plans just to continue reading this book in one sitting. I either laughed out loud, smirked, or relaxed my brow on every single page (!!) at least once, it not multiple times. Not exaggerating. You can relate to Mike. He tells you life essentials, and he does it with style. He is the love child of Kurt Vonnegut and your best friend. “The oven has a setting for BEEF HAM, an animal I only assume has since gone extinct.” You, Reader, are that animal. Cause of death: enjoying a book too much.
Read
January 21, 2026I relate to Mike Nagel because I too lived in a duplex and then a culdesac. I never had squirrels living in my house though.
September 6, 2022
I was lucky enough to read the paperback version, not kindle, but somehow couldn't find a way to write up a review for any other edition.
This is a book you pick up, you read, you cannot believe how brilliant and hilarious and mesmerized you become! I never put it down and was SAD when it ended! I must have underlined the entire book! If you haven't read this masterpiece, GET A COPY PRONTO!
I plan to write a book review of this stellar novel, and I'm not big on writing reviews! But this is absolutely unparalleled and unforgettable! So hopefully soon, a review will be out from some lit magazine! And hopefully another book by Mike Nagel! WOW! DEEP LOVE!
This is a book you pick up, you read, you cannot believe how brilliant and hilarious and mesmerized you become! I never put it down and was SAD when it ended! I must have underlined the entire book! If you haven't read this masterpiece, GET A COPY PRONTO!
I plan to write a book review of this stellar novel, and I'm not big on writing reviews! But this is absolutely unparalleled and unforgettable! So hopefully soon, a review will be out from some lit magazine! And hopefully another book by Mike Nagel! WOW! DEEP LOVE!
February 21, 2023
On New Year's Day the Marines announce they will be issuing silencers to troops around the world. The wars will continue but they're going to try to keep it down. I'm at the grocery store buying more wine. I need more wine for a thing I'm doing later. The thing I'm doing later is drinking more wine. I put six bottles of Yellowtail merlot onto the checkout conveyor belt and they wobble their way toward the lady. 5$ a bottle. 12.5% alcohol by volume, same as me. I stopped drinking last year but I also kind of didn't stop drinking last year if you know what I mean. I'm still drinking. That's what I mean. I should have just said that. Before I leave the store I see a kid wandering around the produce section wearing a pair of gun range ear muffs and wonder what he knows that I don't. Recently on Wikipedia I read about a new type of ballistic missile that hits first and then you hear it coming. It's called Perseus, after the guy who chopped off Medusa's head.
December 26, 2024
This book is the 1st book in this EPIC DUOLOGY. I read the 2nd book in this EPIC DUOLOGY 1st which means I read this EPIC DUOLOGY wrong I think.
Oddly enough, I still don’t know exactly what BEEF HAM is. Apparently this book is not about BEEF HAM. Neither is the 2nd book. What I’m saying is you should check it out this EPIC DUOLOGY.
I also recently learned the word DUOLOGY. I actually already knew the word EPIC.
Oddly enough, I still don’t know exactly what BEEF HAM is. Apparently this book is not about BEEF HAM. Neither is the 2nd book. What I’m saying is you should check it out this EPIC DUOLOGY.
I also recently learned the word DUOLOGY. I actually already knew the word EPIC.
Read
November 16, 2024There's a lot going on in this book where seemingly nothing happens. It's hilarious, yes, but also deeply sad as you see this guy doing his best to navigate adulthood and everything that comes with it (especially the relationships we feel like we need to cultivate, but don't feel all that necessary).
February 17, 2022
This is such an enjoyable literary read. It's about a writer who lives with his wife in a duplex in Texas and the humor, wry insights into theme, plot, and the structure of stories, including the book itself, are so well-written that I couldn't put the book down. I read it all in one sitting. Highly recommended.
May 31, 2022
It's one thing to support indie lit by buying a book, but what an amazing feeling when that book is also really, really good. You feel like you're hearing a great song that hardly anyone else knows about. Though, I feel like Nagel's work will reach more and more people if DUPLEX is any indication. This book is a transitional suburban purgatory story that perfectly captures an Americana suburban hellscape. Highly recommend. Support indie writers and presses and read a damn good book--what's not to love?
March 11, 2022
This book kept my wife up at night because I couldn’t stop laughing. Even after I put it down and turned out the lights I couldn’t stop. I’d be laying there, convulsing and shaking the bed as I tried to stop thinking about what I’d just read. Nagel’s comedic timing is impeccable. And then out of nowhere he’ll land a hard combination that knocks me on my ass. Or the joke isn’t so much a joke but a sad truth I also see in myself. I love it when I’m reminded that the dumb things I do aren’t really very special, because we all do dumb things, and don’t know as much as we’d like to think we do. About anything, really.
Not sure what I can tell you this book is about—and that’s what I like about it—but some of the subjects that bring this novel together include family legends, drinking, mayflies, junebugs, beef ham, hangovers, changing air filters, and not knowing much of anything.
If comparisons to well-known writers guide you then I’d say this book reminds me of Vonnegut.
Not sure what I can tell you this book is about—and that’s what I like about it—but some of the subjects that bring this novel together include family legends, drinking, mayflies, junebugs, beef ham, hangovers, changing air filters, and not knowing much of anything.
If comparisons to well-known writers guide you then I’d say this book reminds me of Vonnegut.
May 30, 2022
It's consistently funny and the perfect length for a one-sitting read.
August 2, 2022
Call it good timing, but Mike Nagel’s Duplex came along right when I needed it. Chaos was taking the upper hand and anxiety loomed in the distance when this slim volume landed in my mailbox. Good thing too. Duplex is a calming, amiable read. Very funny, but without trying too hard. Heartfelt instead of maudlin. Melancholy but not mopey. Just clean, well-written prose documenting the little things that cumulatively make up life when the water’s rising but you haven’t gone under. A damn fine book that has me looking forward to what Mike’s got coming next. And a hat tip to his publisher, autofocus books, who put together something that’s genuinely beautiful. Well done, all.
April 17, 2022
I follow Mike Nagel's essays online and expected a lot of these would be familiar. But a lot were new to me. DUPLEX coheres beautifully: the wry, often humorous voice; the writing style (unmistakably his); the themes; echoes and recurrent imagery; the duplex itself. I read this in one fell swoop. It's not exactly funny, but you'll laugh out loud. Read this book!
April 9, 2022
Laugh-riot, touching, too- (or just the right amount of?) real. I just left Mike Nagel’s world and I hope to be back soon. Avail yourself of this book. I could share at least a dozen genius moments, but why would I spoil it for you?
April 11, 2022
An exceptional piece of loser-lit.
November 13, 2023
Duplex, or, “Are you there, God? It’s me, Mike Nagel”?
Will likely reference Nagel’s genius for the remainder of my life
Will likely reference Nagel’s genius for the remainder of my life
November 9, 2022
Sure, I bought Duplex for that killer BEEF HAM cover, oh but the content...
Nagel's narrator comes across as this peculiar machination of philosopher, observer, slacker, guy-at-the-bar pontificator who wants to show you his heart (but not really) that is conversationally disarming in all the right ways. If Seinfeld was a show about nothing, then DUPLEX is a book about nothing, which means it's quite something.
It has been said in other reviews about its funny-not trying to be funny nature. This might be trademark Nagel, perhaps in the form of a modern day Steven Wright: Is this a schtick he's perfected? Is it really him? Is he sullen, sarcastic, indifferent? Point is, it doesn't matter. You just want more of it -- more of the conversation about nothing that speaks a whole lot of everything right into your being.
Duplex is the book you didn't know you needed.
And Mike Nagel is the friend you wish you always had.
Nagel's narrator comes across as this peculiar machination of philosopher, observer, slacker, guy-at-the-bar pontificator who wants to show you his heart (but not really) that is conversationally disarming in all the right ways. If Seinfeld was a show about nothing, then DUPLEX is a book about nothing, which means it's quite something.
It has been said in other reviews about its funny-not trying to be funny nature. This might be trademark Nagel, perhaps in the form of a modern day Steven Wright: Is this a schtick he's perfected? Is it really him? Is he sullen, sarcastic, indifferent? Point is, it doesn't matter. You just want more of it -- more of the conversation about nothing that speaks a whole lot of everything right into your being.
Duplex is the book you didn't know you needed.
And Mike Nagel is the friend you wish you always had.
March 4, 2024
I googled in an attempt to fact check about the part saying what to do when you’re stuck in an avalanche and it checks out, although sadly once you’re stuck in an avalanche, it’s pretty much “lights out” according to Reddit.
Perhaps this Duplex was the authors avalanche in a way and him tilting the bottle straight up toward the ceiling in the dark was his way of getting out. Was there ever really a squirrel, or was it the ghost of one looking for Beef Ham?
Either way, you’ll gain some survival skills, a handful of quotes from books to add to your reading list, and minty fresh DIY apartment fixes.
I highly recommend sitting with this little book, which will go down smooth like a fine bottle of Yellowtail.
Perhaps this Duplex was the authors avalanche in a way and him tilting the bottle straight up toward the ceiling in the dark was his way of getting out. Was there ever really a squirrel, or was it the ghost of one looking for Beef Ham?
Either way, you’ll gain some survival skills, a handful of quotes from books to add to your reading list, and minty fresh DIY apartment fixes.
I highly recommend sitting with this little book, which will go down smooth like a fine bottle of Yellowtail.
December 6, 2023
This book made me laugh out loud and slow down in a way I didn’t know I needed.
It perfectly captures all the absurdity and calamity of knowing and not knowing and trying to not know. The weight and lightness found in the purgatory of everyday humanity. Of finding out too much about your neighbors but not enough about your teeth. Of writing junk mail. Of Sisyphussian time.
It was the perfect existential cocktail.
Very lucky I accidentally picked it up at the Nashville festival of books. Thanks for the BEEFHAM, Mike. It was delicious.
It perfectly captures all the absurdity and calamity of knowing and not knowing and trying to not know. The weight and lightness found in the purgatory of everyday humanity. Of finding out too much about your neighbors but not enough about your teeth. Of writing junk mail. Of Sisyphussian time.
It was the perfect existential cocktail.
Very lucky I accidentally picked it up at the Nashville festival of books. Thanks for the BEEFHAM, Mike. It was delicious.
February 12, 2024
The rare book that made me laugh out loud!
I highly recommend this book. It's either a small memoir or a collection of essays, much of which is written in the "wan little husks" style (take JCO!) similar to Dept of Speculation. The entire book, which is about living in a Duplex, feels like a series of anecdotes, but Nagel weaves themes through with callbacks that are both resonant and very funny.
There's a balance here between anxiety about the world ending and humor at how ridiculous everything really is. It's a delight to read.
I highly recommend this book. It's either a small memoir or a collection of essays, much of which is written in the "wan little husks" style (take JCO!) similar to Dept of Speculation. The entire book, which is about living in a Duplex, feels like a series of anecdotes, but Nagel weaves themes through with callbacks that are both resonant and very funny.
There's a balance here between anxiety about the world ending and humor at how ridiculous everything really is. It's a delight to read.
December 7, 2022
This is easily one of the best books I read in 2022, and I can tell I'm going to read it again and again. Mike has this writing style that feels like talking to a friend going off on a tangent and I absolutely love it.
Came for the BEEF HAM and stayed for the sparks of extreme wit, existential dread, and the way something on every page made me laugh. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough.
Came for the BEEF HAM and stayed for the sparks of extreme wit, existential dread, and the way something on every page made me laugh. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough.
January 9, 2023
Really fantastic book. Short, punchy, really funny, amusing, observational, sad, absurd. You'd think a book about being depressed in a duplex during a pandemic and other catastrophes would be a drag, but this one really hits it out of the park. DEFINITELY worth ordering, if you haven't already. One line I found bleakly hilarious: "On New Years Day the Marines announce they will be issuing silencers to troops around the world. The wars will continue, but they're going to try to keep it down."
April 22, 2025
A quick, fun, cynical read that is filled with a charming existential dread. A man in his 30s caught in a never-ending cycle of drinking at night and hangovers in the morning, trying to navigate his way through life while doing as little as possible. He's not sure of the point of it all, or if there is a point at all, or if maybe everyone has different points and there is no standard, etc. He spins out into a ceaseless quest for knowledge he doesn't want.
I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it.
July 15, 2022
A surprisingly exciting voice, Nagel’s DUPLEX is one of soft nights, hectic days, and philosophical gray areas that fill in the cracked plaster and holes in the shingles. Quick to read, with licks of sincere wit and humor. Highly recommended for lovers, renters, blue-collar workers, and drinkers. Bonus if you’re all 4.
May 11, 2024
Sometimes I'm not sure what the difference between essay and autofiction is. But like most things it doesn't matter. Like this book. It doesn't matter.
Cute, teetering on the edge of too cute. It doesn't fall over the edge though. I thought it did a few times, but when I looked down it was hanging there with its claws clinging to the cliff and shrugging, like 'so what'
Round up 4
Cute, teetering on the edge of too cute. It doesn't fall over the edge though. I thought it did a few times, but when I looked down it was hanging there with its claws clinging to the cliff and shrugging, like 'so what'
Round up 4
February 23, 2023
I don't know quite what to say about this book except that it was an excellently fantastic spinning of life in a duplex in Texas while touching on the pandemic, families, the Big Freeze, and squirrels in attics. A novella about life. That's it. And it was excellent.
June 21, 2023
A brief book of slice-of-life essays from a duplex in a Texas suburb, where author Mike Nagel wiles away COVID and life in general through drinking and ruminating on everything that comes to mind and passes within the property. Sublime in its take on the grand subject of life.
February 7, 2024
Hilarious and honest, I read this in one sitting and couldn’t put it down. A perfect little chronicle of modern American life that is so at once eerily relatable and refreshingly told. I can’t wait to dive into Culdesac next!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews