Customer Reviews

The Object of My Affection

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A two-word review for this novel would be, "wonderfully bittersweet." If Jerry Seinfeld's TV alter-ego considers helping a friend move "going all the way" in a friendship, he hasn't read this novel. This is the final friendship frontier.

This book poses the question, "Can we be there for each other always and still have other significant others?" far better than that ubiquitous sitcom has in the past six seasons, and the humor is more subtle. Stephen McCauley skillfull enraptures the reader with situations in which we don't know what we would do in the characters' shoes. He more than adequately captures that feeling of being with someone and wondering, "What the heck am I doing here?"

Remember this book was written in the 1980s when a gay main character in a mainstream novel was revolutionary. We like George. We wish that like George, we have a friend like Nina. We're pulling for them all the way to the end of the book, though we're not sure what we want for them any more than they are. When I finished the book, I felt like I was saying goodbye to some old friends whom I like even though they annoy me lots of times.

Notes to those who've seen the movie: This book is told from George's perspective, not Nina's. Nina exudes more self-confidence in the book than in the movie. George, slightly less. I think the book works best from George's P.O.V., but I had no problem with the change in the film. When I was reading the book, I was picturing Rebecca DeMornay more than Jennifer Aniston, who was still good--and whose comic timing made up for the fact that George was less humorous than in the book.

Also, the cousin wonderfully played by Allison Janney in the film is not a character in the book. But George is more humorous than in the movie, so that makes up for it. The character George hooks up with is totally different as well.

In general, the humor in the book is more subtle, and that's all I'm going to say for fear of talling too much. I actually thought the changes made for the film didn't harm it, but I still recommend the book first.

I've only read this book 5 or 6 times so I'm not sure I'm really qualified to review it BUT it's hilarious. If you like intelligent humor you will love all of Stephen McCauley's novels. He's a genius. His word choice is so precisely perfect, his similes are so appropriately amusing, his characters are so refreshingly REAL -- as in weak and defective -- you just adore them. This is a great book to read alone --you'll be howling with laughter and your eyes will water but it's so much fun you'll just be dying to share it . I recommend that you read it aloud to a friend or lover. Male or female, gay or straight, everyone will get a kick out of this insightful so delightful book which is almost NOTHING like the MOVIE. The movie didn't capture the spirit of the story or get much of the plot or characters right either. Skip the movie, read the book. But I dare you to read it just once. IMPOSSIBLE! F.Y.I McCauley fans should check out his new and improved website for more McCauley news including event information, "recent rants" and an interactive message center called the spin cycle forum. www.stephenmccauley.com.

I loved this book because of the story and characters but the clincher was the dialogue. So many authors simply cannot master believable dialogue but McCauley does; in fact he does it so well, I even wondered if he sat around listening to people and taking notes!

A good read filled with the stuff of a great love affair. Excellent writing that is both funny and insightful. The Object of My Affection explores the complicated aspects of relationships, love and friendship. The characters are thoroughly enjoyable, quite likable, and very familiar. I particularly enjoyed George's family. The writing of these characters was a source of good honest humor -- the kind where the truth is so clear, you laugh to keep from crying. I'm anxious to rent the movie to see who was cast as the family. A great first novel and welcomed introduction to this author. I'm looking forward to enjoying more of his work.

How would life be if you fall in love with a man who cannot reciprocate your affection? That happened to Nina, George's roommate. After living together for about a year, Nina tells George she's pregnant. To his surprise, Nina wants to raise the baby with George. This the dilemma: It is not George's baby. George is gay. And that's when it gets interesting.

This novel touches on a subject that many people are reluctant to acknowledge. The humanity and beauty of the story is very touching and realistic. I have seen the movie based on this novel, and it is told on Nina's point-of-view. In the novel, we read George's side of things. I think it's important to watch both the movie and the novel for this one. If you're in the mood for a bittersweet love story, read The Object of My Affection.

This book really taught me a lot about two different types of people being able to love each other.

George is a person that seems to have low self-esteem and Nina is a treasure in her own way. The book flows from one sceen to the next with both George and Nina looking for love, but being unable to find it. Nina's boyfriend is so overbearing that it is to the point of becoming ill. George's boyfriend is just a player, and treats him very bad. How can someone kick you out without telling you first?

I laughed and almost cried in the book. It really pulled me into the characters and I could almost imagine the apartment and how it was decorated. I was a little dissapointed with the ending, but then not every ending is happy!

Outstandingly funny & dramatic story of two roommates that become very best friends. Nina and George both go through tough times with their soul mate and their future life. Both help each other out by being there, listening, understanding, and trying to forget their problems by doing things that they enjoy - e.g. ballroom dancing. Nina can't help it and starts to fall in love with George, even though he's gay. I felt so into this novel that made me cry more then the movie itself. It is so touching and reflects a story that might happen to anyone which is very realistic. This is a book for those who love stories of friendship and romance.

George is gay. He lives with Nina, a beautiful soulmate who sentimentally saves photos and cards and clothes, but resists real intimacy. He teaches kindergarten with Melissa, who has a radical haircut but chooses boyfriends based on whether she can teach them to dress correctly. His obsessively neat friend Timothy advises him on love while scrupulously avoiding love himself. But George is comfortable because his standard strategy for dealing with life -- changing the subject when confronted with the unexpected -- seems to work. Then, when Nina announces that she is pregnant and that she wants George to co-parent with her, the flaws in George's approach to life become achingly apparent. Torn between his real affection for Nina and his wish for a truly intimate relationship, George appealingly changes the subject, agrees without agreement, and deflects complements and commitment. This book is tender and funny and deserves a read.

I re-read this, one of my all-time favorite novels, in the wake of expected to really hate the movie. Eventually, I liked the movie fine, but the movie barely resembles the book.

While the movie focuses on the character of Nina, the book is written from the point of view and is about George Mullen, a gay man in his mid-twenties in 1987 New York City. George meets Nina at a party, where his ex-lover Joley has used Nina as the instrument of the break up. Nina tells George that Joley has told her he could use a place to stay, and Nina has an extra room in her Brooklyn apartment.

Thus begins the intimate but chaste relationship of the self-deprecating George and the quirky, mercurial Nina. McCauley creates an atmosphere that is at once both hilarious and touching, filled with quirky characters you would expect in New York: the ultraliberal lawyer boyfriend who dotes on Nina and is always calling her Pumpkin or Muffin or Dumpling; George's co-worker who deals with breakups by riding around crying in taxis all day; the parents who have barely seen each other even though they live in the same house; the Brooklyn landlady who makes you a lasagna an is perpetually stationed in the window next to your stoop.

McCauley follows in the great tradition of "laughter through tears," and explores many themes core to the human--and gay--condition: the desire to be a parent, the intimacy of close friendship, the fear of rejection, and trying desperately to fit in and simply belong to something greater than oneself.

This is a short review, as it is one of my favorite books, and pointing out the flaws would make for many more words than I have provided here. As my friend Tony promised in his inscription in 1990, "This IS what it's like to live in New York. You will laugh out loud at least once on every page." While that's a bit of an exageration, I did laugh out loud on the subway several times. That makes it pretty powerful stuff.

I can't say much more than the other 5-star reviews already have. All of McCauley's novels are so funny, touching and insightful. He definitely captures what it means to be human - with humor, sarcasm and incredible warmth. It sounds so cliche, but I laughed, and I cried. If you're not a gay man with a straight female friend or vice-versa, don't think you wouldn't enjoy this book. Gender and sexual orientation are secondary to love, friendship and the complexities of the human heart. I came to love George, Nina and even the peripheral "bit players." I was sad when the book ended, and I have always carried a little piece of it with me. The book was far better than the movie. In the film, Nina was portrayed as almost pathetic, pining away for George. That's not the way it happened in the book at all. I wish the screenwriter and film makers had left this great story alone. The script seemed like an excuse to write parts for Alan Alda, Nigel Hawthorne, and Allison Janney. Oh, and the Paul in the book is FAR more interesting than the bland little actor twit in the film. READ THE BOOK!