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The Fuck-Up (Paperback)

by Arthur Nersesian (Author) "Perhaps the price of comfort is that life passes more rapidly But for anyone who has lived in uneasiness, even for a short, memorable duration,..." (more)
Key Phrases: box office lady, New York, East Village, Third Avenue (more...)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (94 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Okay, the narrator really is a fuck-up. Barely employed as an usher at a Village cinema, he falls for a colleague who seems dewily innocent even as he continues dumping his dirty clothes on girlfriend Sarah's floor. Then all in one day he loses his job, his chance for new love, and Sarah herself and winds up sleeping on the coach of a friend who's probably even more of a fuck-up than he is. From here he moves swiftly through trying to score, trying to keep his job at a porno theater by pretending that he's gay, and somehow getting himself involved in a robbery. Nersesian, a former editor at a literary magazine called The Portable Lower East Side and an English instructor at a community college in the Bronx, writes briskly and acutely, with a good sense of detail. At least he's not a fuck-up. But this isn't exactly the "slice of gritty New York life" promised on the cover. Despite the narrator's many astonishing escapades, it's really kind of bland.ABarbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Smug Magazine Touted as the bottled essence of early eighties East Village living, The Fuck-Up is, refreshingly, nothing nearly so limited....A cult favorite, I'd say it's ready to become a legitimate religion. -- Review

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Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: MTV/Pocket Books (May 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0671027638
ISBN-13: 978-0671027636
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (94 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,755 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Perhaps the price of comfort is that life passes more rapidly But for anyone who has lived in uneasiness, even for a short, memorable duration, it's a trade-off that will gladly be made. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
box office lady

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, East Village, Third Avenue, Second Avenue, Saint Mark's Cinema, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights, Twelfth Street, Zeus Theater, Beth Israel, Clinton Street, Fifth Avenue, Helmsley Micinski, Sloane House, West Broadway, Astor Place Hair Cutters, Carroll Street, Court Street, Fourth Avenue, Montague Street, Puerto Rican

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Concordance | Text Stats

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 5 books:

The Decline of the West (Abridged) by Oswald Spengler on page 94
Mother Said by Hal Sirowitz in Front Matter
American Mercury by George Nathan on page 103
Manhattan Loverboy by Arthur Nersesian in Back Matter
Going Down by Jennifer Belle in Front Matter

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Customer Reviews

94 Reviews

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (94 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best!, September 27, 2003

By A Customer

Nersesian's first novel is still his best. This book is a raw, madcap, sometimes goofy -- but always fun -- story of a perpetual screw-up who can't catch a break to save his life. Sound familiar? This novel also offers the best tour of downtown New York City since Richard Perez's The Losers' Club. Of all of Nersesian's books, I prefer this one the best. It's a hilarious diamond in the rough. I guarantee you'll be entertained. Also recommended: Dogrun, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez, Post Office by Charles Bukowski

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A quick and provocative read..., July 26, 2001

By	b.eghan (Old Bridge, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

For better or for worse, The Fuck-Up is the kind of novel that doesn't require too much attention or brain-power to absorb. Not far into the book, we get a good sense of what Arthur Nersesian's definition of a "fuck-up" is: the nameless, faceless [anti-]hero of this novel is a perennial loser whose portrait is painted against the backdrop of "normal" society where people have, and are able to keep, their jobs, significant others, and everything else that might mean anything to them. In his gritty and gut-wrenching text, Nersesian documents with disarming candor the ever downwardly spiraling series of events in the life of this everyman with whom we all willingly or unwillingly identify. If not, why did we even pick this book up in the first place?

The odd thing is that there is a certain level of frustration that comes with reading this book. This character walks away from opportunity, rebuffs advice, and almost always makes decisions contrary to those we would have made ourselves; yet at the same time, his observations -- which are almost never flattering to humanity -- are the same ones we would make. What is the commonality, then, between how we feel and how we live? Nersesian takes us through a world in which nearly nothing is as it seems. Kindness? Honesty? Strength? No way. In the process, the novel subsequently asks questions that are especially important to its targeted audience: Why does his observation of life seem so radically different from our own? Why is he so oddly up-spirited? Is his honesty refreshing or depressing? And perhaps most importantly, why should we even care about his story? We should care because this novel serves a dual purpose as both entertainment and a critical social commentary that probes the hows and whys behind human beings.

We've all heard about the typical "bad day." Nersesian asks us now, is there really any such thing as the "bad life"? The answer to that depends on why you're reading the novel to begin with. As the title might dictate, only certain types of readers would even pick this book up, let alone read it. It is quick and easy to read, very important in relation to this success-oriented society, and refreshing in its portrayal of this particular human being. He could feasibly be any one of us -- it's a sad but true fact. Ideally, this book would get three-and-a-half stars from me because of a ... ending, but on the whole, it is true, honest, and funny. And it certainly needs to be read.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking., September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fuck-Up (Paperback)

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary urban literature. But buy the original edition on Akashic Books, available here at Amazon.com. The Akashic edition is the independent edition, and besides, it has great drawings for chapter headings which the MTV Books edition doesn't have (!)

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyable book
A great book, super easy on the eyes without taxing much brain power. Smartly written, even though nothing really even happens. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Alex

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
This was one of the best written books I've read in a long while. Very engaging characters that make you really glad you're not them, sophisticated plot that was both funny and... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Jenny Black

3.0 out of 5 stars A long time since I read this book
It's been a long time since I read this book, but what I can remember, it's basically an attempt at a modernized version of Catcher in the Rye. It's a little depressing. Read more

Published 12 months ago by E. C. Graham

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
When you finish this book it becomes all too clear as to why it's considered a classic. It is one. I didn't find other blurbs and reviews, although praising the book, honest about... Read more

Published 14 months ago by J-Man

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down.
The title sums it up. I normally sit in bed and read for about a half hour. With this book all of a sudden a few hours would pass by.

Published 16 months ago by Gracie Martini

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy IT
Simply this book is a good one. The title caught my eye and bought it without even really looking at it. Read more

Published 16 months ago by agar

3.0 out of 5 stars Talented writer but story falls apart before the end
Arthur Nersesian is truly a gifted writer. Only the power of his words kept me reading this book until the last page, long after the story itself ceased to be interesting. Read more

Published 22 months ago by Roxanne Adams

3.0 out of 5 stars Ambled Along
I read this book as its author was recommended to those who like Chuck Palahniuk. While I found the book reasonably entertaining, it didn't grab me like Chuck does. Read more

Published on October 9, 2006 by R. Davies

5.0 out of 5 stars Cover to cover read!
I bought this book while at the school bookstore picking up my coursebooks last fall. It seemed interesting, so I bought it and put it on my shelf. Read more

Published on June 9, 2006 by Shawn Horton

5.0 out of 5 stars Taken by surprise
I bougth the book I tried hard to read it, but put it down because I just couldn't get into. Months go by and then I decided to pick up the book and try reading it again and when... Read more

Published on February 13, 2006 by Jacqueline A. Bartelmo

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