The Friday Night Club, A Novel [Paperback]

Jacob Nelson Lurie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2009

Davis Robertson is in mid panic attack. His fiancée is walking down the aisle, the love of his life sits watching, he's sure an attack by vengeful strippers is imminent, and there's a little matter of a gun wielding, RV stealing tow-truck driver out to kill him. Read Chapter One at www.thefridaynightclub.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thoroughly enjoyable, fun, escapism creation that will keep you laughing or crying ... but, certainly, turning the pages in anticipation! Great Read!" --Bookreaderheaven.com (G.A. Bixler)

"I loved this novel of Men Behaving Badly. This is both hilarious and poignant, filled with the antics of what men are really like. I highly recommend!" --Susan Reinhardt, author of 'Not Tonight, Honey: Wait 'til I'm a size 6'

"Lurie's style of writing is an admixture of Joyce's stream of consciousness, Jack Kerouac's rambling narrative, and Henry Miller's puckish ability to combine sex and humor. The dialogue is crisp and fast moving; and as far as I can tell, authentic ... Whether you are looking for a good laugh or a chance to reflect on your own adolescence, 'The Friday Night Club' by Jacob Nelson Lurie is a damned good read!" --Ron Standerfer (Reader Views)

"Think of a cross between The Breakfast Club (the 'College Years') and 'How I Met Your Mother,' with a lot more imbibing of alcoholic beverages and gratuitous sex and you might get some glimmering of an idea about the awesomeness that is the The Friday Night Club." --Douglas Cobb (Bestsellersworld.com)

Four Stars (out of Five) "The writing is fresh and witty." "This is a worth first novel from a talented author." --ForeWord Clarion Reviews (Lawrence Kane)

About the Author

Jacob Lurie received an MA in Screenwriting from Chapman University in 2002 and a BA in English from the University of Denver in 2000. Since then, he has completed four screenplays, one novel, and quite a few unfinished shopping lists.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (December 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439262470
• ISBN-13: 978-1439262474
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I received an MA in Screenwriting from Chapman University in 2002 and a BA in English from the University of Denver in 2000. Since then, I have completed four screenplays and am currently working on my second novel ... Scratch that -- I've scrapped the second novel due to overwhelming frustration and a pathetic lack of motivation.

Now, I'm working on adapting another one of my screenplays into a novel.

As for food on the table: Thankfully, the Arizona real estate market has afforded me the ability to continue to work towards a career in writing, because I really didn't want to work at Home Depot.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars WILLIE AND JULIO SING BACKUP, March 24, 2010

By 

Red Rock Bookworm (St. George Utah) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Friday Night Club, A Novel (Paperback)

Okay, so everyone else reviewing THE FRIDAY NIGHT CLUB is reminded of everything from The Hangover or High Fidelity to The Breakfast Club and How I met your Mother. My foray into the pages of Jacob Lurie's semi-autobiographical tome called to mind a plethora of images ranging from Ocean's Eleven (the protagonist Davis has his own personal "rat pack") to I Love You, Man as well as the writings of Albert Camus and Kierkegaard. Now don't say," What, is she nuts? What do Camus and Kierkegaard have to do with some over-grown adolescent standing at the alter ready to wet himself at the thought of actually committing to one woman for the rest of his life?" For that matter, what do they have to do with drunken parties, wild Vegas jaunts and women, women, women you ask? Well both Camus and Kierkegaard were basically existentialists who believed that the individual was solely responsible for giving their own life meaning and living that life passionately in spite of obstacles..........and boy are the characters in this novel into that philosophy.

THE FRIDAY NIGHT CLUB's chief protagonist Davis Robertson and his old college friends have come together in the four days preceding Davis's marriage to Pamela and go into "full court press" mode in their attempt to reminisce about and re-live situations from those good old days of their youth (you can almost hear Willie and Julio singing "To all the girls I've loved before" in the background.")

The discourse is liberally peppered with "F" bombs and the flashbacks into the "buddies" questionable histories and their stories, while amusing in parts, are definitely not for those easily offended by the things that naturally occur when guys are with guys............... like a lot of swearing and overt references to sexual encounters. This is definitely a buddy book, however I feel that young women would probably find it not only amusing but could potentially use it as an instruction manual for understanding and coping with the male psyche.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Funny to Miss, July 13, 2009

By 

Susan M. Malone (Ennis, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Friday Night Club (Kindle Edition)

Davis Robertson stands at the precepice of a great abyss. Before him, the death of his youth. Behind him, the insanity of that youth. And in the middle, the love of his life, soon to be banished for good.
But The Friday Night Club isn't your run-of-the-mill coming-of-age story. Davis is way too self-effacing to be caught up in angst. His defense is profound thought. But it's cloaked in such split-your-sides humor that those insights come to the reader later, once the tears of laughter have subsided.
The Friday Night Club is laugh-out-loud funny, even during the sad, tragic, painful, insightful points. I guarantee you will never forget it. I LOVED this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't stop reading!, July 31, 2009

By 

D. Leitzel (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Friday Night Club (Kindle Edition)

Living in Denver I enjoyed the ability to follow the characters around through the majority of the scenes. But the characters themselves are phenomenal! They're almost too over-the-top sometimes to be true but their flaws turn them into believable people, including Peter. The more I was drawn into their lives the more I could identify and developed a compulsory need to find out what would finally happen in the end. Excellent book!