Customer Reviews

I Just Want My Pants Back: A Novel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are a budding novelist, but worry about getting your work into print - take heart in the fact that Broadway Books, a division of Random House published "I Just Want My Pants Back: A Novel." The bar has been set pretty low.

Pros:

Pleasant writing style, essentially conversational
Some humorous bits
A little sleazy sex
Some realistic depravity

Cons:

There are not enough interesting ideas to support 226 pages of text.
The passage of time has been substituted for a plot
Characters, including the protagonist are poorly developed
No issues are resolved

I can't help but feel that Rosen's, "I Just Want My Pants Back" is largely autobiographical.
It reads like a diary chronicling a series of very, unexceptional events in a young man's life.
As a reality show template. "I Just Want My Pants Back." may appeal to some TV producers.

Used copies of I Just Want My Pants Back: A Novel are available on Amazon for 22 cents. The shipping will cost you more than the purchase price.

A marketplace testimonial if ever there was one.

Caslo

Jason Strider is a loser, and he's lost. He has an Ivy League English degree, but rather than taking a step forward, he's content to just skate by in zombie-mode with a meaningless job at a small-time casting agency where he spends half the time fighting hangovers, and the rest on instant messenger. He spends his evenings getting plastered, stoned, and then searching for a similarly inebriated woman who he can convince back to his place for a nightcap. A particular one-night stand, Jane - who was part of a run-in with a refrigerator and a wild-cab ride - borrowed jeans from Jason upon waking up, and the story truly begins. Life for Jason is repetitious if anything. He's just like many others, except he cares more about his favorite pants than most else, and he wants them back. Unfortunately, Jane won't return calls, texts, emails, or IMs. Through this dilemma, along with being asked to act as a rabbi (i.e. Universal Life Minister) at a friend's wedding, the book follows Jason from one humorous ordeal to the next, through the promiscuity, booze, and sleaze of the New York single life.

Essentially, it's about a post-college man drifting through life until he knows what he wants to do. At the first true turning point in life, when one must truly move into individuality and responsibility, when the growing up happens, Jason struggles with his lack of ambition, his dead-end job, his rampant drug use, and his misunderstandings with the fairer sex. He also manages to add the difficulty of dealing with and relating to a terminally-ill friend along the way, which clearly affects him deeply.

Reading "I Just Want My Pants Back" reminded me quite a bit of the movie "Knocked Up". The protagonist in each is a reefer-smoking slacker who lacks direction. Both end up going through a life change as a result of drama - specifically with a friend's medical difficulties - and eventually come through responsibly when most needed. Through Rosen's pleasant writing style and use of contemporary, hip lingo and situations (e.g. searching for a job on Craigslist, and pretentious parents giving their kids horrible names like Tristen), the story flows as smoothly as a conversation amongst friends. I highly recommend this for a light read.

First of all, I hate that there aren't "abstracts" for most of the books here, so I'd like to give a general outline for those thinking about buying the book, without giving much away. This book is a first person account of a very average guy named Jason, who some would call "down on his luck." He is a college graduate, but working an entry-level job at a casting agency where he shows up late and hungover most days of the week. He has two friends getting married who ask Jason to conduct the ceremony, which involves him going to classes held by a Rabbi at his nearby Synagogue. This prompts some comical interactions and wonderful inner dialogue for our protagonist. Jason takes his audience through his drug and alcohol induced adventures of sex, lust, loneliness, and loss. It was incredible how the author's writing style matches the level of lucidness and intoxication perfectly. As a reader I felt stressed when he was stressed, high when he was high, etc... Whether you take drugs or not, it is fascinating to experience the changes in thought patterns and physical control that comes with controlled substances. Jason loses his favorite pair of pants in a "tryst" with a girl, and agonizes about them throughout the story. We follow him through several encounters with women, some ending rather abruptly. The story deepens with emotion when Jason begins a friendship with an older woman in his building who shares her wisdom and her drugs with him. I think her character (Patty) is responsible for giving Jason more drive and meaning in his mediocre life. In many ways over the course of the book she teaches him life lessons and gives him a kick in the ass to get his life together. When Jason becomes a self-loathing idiot who feels he's hit the bottom, Patty is the one who slaps him around and tells him to grow up. It felt very real to be in Jason's shoes and watch friends find success and happiness all around in life, and to feel as if maybe it passed you by. A feeling of "Hey, is it my turn yet?" I must say, there are parts that may offend people who are easily offended. But that's ok, they don't have to read it. Like I said earlier, whether you do drugs or not, it's a fantastic read, but may appeal more to people who have some personal experience to draw on in that department. The story is incredibly written, but flows easily. It has depth, and creates a spectrum of emotions, just how any great book should. I gave the book 5 stars because I couldn't find anything wrong!

I had accidentally purched this book and thought great this one probably will end up badly. To my surprise it was one of the best mistakes I have made in a while. A must read for those living and dating in the city of NY

The cover WILL get you noticed if you read this in an airplane. As someone in her 40s, I enjoyed reading about the bar scene of the young adults fresh out of college. Also the means of communication--texting, instant messaging, etc.--and the strategies around them were really fun. The protagonist is such a funny, shameless, original voice. His relationships with his circle of friends are warm, nuanced, and complicated. His search for affection is hilarious. His descriptions of living in New York and St. Louis were very specific and nuanced, which kept this novel fresh from cliches. I look forward to reading more from this young, promising novelist!

I really liked this book! It's refreshing to read something in this genre from a male perspective. Jason is a 20 something New Yorker just trying to find his way. He has a job he's not interested in, he parties too much, he doesn't date, and has a slight disdain for his friends who are so anxious to grow up. Not surprisingly, this carefree lifestyle stops working for him, and he realizes that he needs to do some growing up himself.

The author has a wonderful use of language. Some of the passages are so funny and well-written that I would stop and read them again a few times. I love this - it makes the book so much more enjoyable.

"I Just Want My Pants Back" was a great debut novel. It's about a young man living in New York City, just trying to enjoy life. He wants something more out of it, but he's not sure what yet, and he doesn't have the ambition needed to go for it. For the time being, he just wants his pants back, and for a little while, that becomes his main focus. He loses his favorite pair of jeans to a one-night stand. She won't return his phone calls, texts, or emails. This isn't the main story arc, though. It just creeps up every so often (like a pair of jeans on a hot August day).

The main character, Jason, enjoys drinking, hanging with friends, drinking, smoking pot, drinking, and occasionally getting laid. In between, he tries to get to work on time to a casting agency, fighting nasty hangovers.

While Jason never totally "grows up," he does come to a few realizations and truths along the way. Especially when being asked to perform a wedding ceremony for two of his best friends and hanging out with his cancer-striken next door neighbor. I, thankfully, am glad that the author chose not to totally change Jason's character. After all, he's still a young man who wants to enjoy life...and he should. That's what that time is for.

Rosen's writing is very likable. It provides an easy, conversational read with tidbits of humor sprinkled throughout. Additionally, some of his descriptions were extremely creative, vivid, funny, and really stuck in my mind as fantastic sentences. Examples include:

"I definitely preferred vodka to regular potatoes."
"To say I felt like dogsh*t would be an insult to dogsh*t."
"A virgin running from you is historically not a good sign."
"You had to be seriously committed to be Goth in summer."

I definitely look forward to more novels by new novelist, David Rosen. His humorous, conversational writing reminds me of another of my favorite "new" authors, Adam Davies, and his debut novel, The Frog King.

Overly-verbal, underachieving twentysomething meets existential angst... while these themes are not new, the author approaches them with linguistic flair and off-beat humor.

Although the gritty neighbor having cancer was a bit predictable and thus created little suspense in the plot, the situation seemed appropriate for this protagonist's limited life experience. The protagonist's observations are witty and snarky, without crossing the line into "cynical [...]" like "a million" other "unoriginal" (p. 127) people in NY, NY.

I had mixed feelings about the ending (I don't want to give away as some other reviewers have done). On the one hand, it seems more honest than a dramatic transformation would be. On the other hand, it's still quite sad. I also had mixed feelings about the protagonist's approach to sex, women, drugs, and alcohol, but again, I think that was part of the point of the book. I hope for this generation's sake that this character reflects a small proportion of reality and does not create a group of Jason Strider wannabes.

In any case, it's worth reading for the entertainment value. I will definitely consider anything by this author in the future.

Cute and funny, good light read. 20-something slacker every guy living in NY thinking about women, music, and good times slowly figures out the meaning of his life. The plot's not original but the fresh style of writing is.

This is bound to give you fond memories of at least one college buddy (if not you yourself). It was intelligent and funny, which easily makes up for what it might lack in depth (in terms of subject matter).