Jake Tanner is a 31-year-old itinerant consultant, part-time entrepreneur, quasi-journalist and regular man-about-town in post dot com San Francisco. When he decides to add amateur raconteur and dilettante novelist to his impressive list of credentials, he engages himself in a project of capturing the hopes, dreams and social commitments of the new millennium male- moments big and small.anecdotes of life, love and leisure. But when his relationship takes a sudden unexpected turn, he finds that being the narrator for one's own life isn't. Actually, this is Jake and I have to admit that I enjoy writing back cover copy even less than I like reading it, so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. But I posed in my underwear for the painting on the cover, and I think that demonstrates real commitment to my craft.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
J. Brooks Dann is a strategic adviser to companies and has been a contributor to several national publications on innovation and technology. Currently, he lives in many places, but mostly in Northern California. This is his first novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding debut,
By Joshua Gold (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Anecdotal (Paperback)
I was very surprised when I found out that Anecdotal was this writer's first novel. It plays just right on so many levels: great comedy, distinctive voice, cool short story structure and a page-turner of a plot.
In this novel, Jake (a "semi-employed" business person, as he calls himself) commences a chronicle of his life, short stories assembled in real time. He stops and restarts his writing project several times, as his world changes in unpredictable ways--the other reviewers talk about the twists and turns as well. The author does a great job of capturing the feeling in San Francisco after the internet blubble popped. The relationships between the narrator and his friends reminded me of the fun dynamic created in the movie Swingers. Good male bonding stuff, but it goes well beyond just surface interactions. Several female characters are also particularly intriguing--a woman friend and I had veeerrrrry different viewpoints on all of the female characters in the book. I particularly liked Dann's parody of "chick lit", the narrator's adventures in Las Vegas, a fantastic chapter at an Oakland Raider game and a surprisingly emotional trip to In N Out burger. The book is an easy read, though not simple. I read it in two days. It does start a little slowly, but I didn't mind much. The pace really picks up. You will enjoy this strong debut novel.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It changed my life!,
By
This review is from: Anecdotal (Paperback)
I found a review of this book by someone named "Joey" in the restroom at the Power Exchange. Any book referred to as "vacuous drivel" sounds tempting to me, so I rushed to my nearest San Francisco bookseller to purchase a copy, only to find it sold out and the first three I tried. Finally I obtained my copy and went immediately home to review it. I was quite disappointed to find a humourous and well-written novel instead of the promised drivel, but I consoled myself with the prospect of perhaps learning some lessons about the ladies from this interesting book. After reading and enjoying Anecdotal I thought I might set for myself the goal of emulating the protagonist by becoming a San Francisco "raconteur" myself. I didn't know what this word meant, so I looked it up at Dictionary.com. Unfortunately, it apparently means a good story-teller, not a super stud ladies man, like I assumed. Still, I have high hopes that after reading Anecdotal and following the hero as my role model, I too will someday enjoy romantic escapades with the fair sex worth writing about.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
finally, a guy who looks at relationships the way women do..,
By
This review is from: Anecdotal (Paperback)
Have to admit I was first given this book by a friend, but have since bought a couple copies to send to single friends around the country.
If you're single and a child of the 70s/80s you'll love this book. Tons of references to things we experienced growing up and you can definitely relate to and commiserate with the main character. In my opinion, if a Nick Hornby character married Bridget Jones and they had a son, he would grow up to be Jake (Anecdotal's main character). It's a cute and funny book with a couple major twist and turns - definitely some moments where while reading it I said outloud, "No way!" Great gift for that single friend - male or female. Definitely a fun read for the summer!!
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