Rating: 
Summary: Donating it to the local library
Review: I felt kind of embarassed buying this book, but I had to see what it was like. Well, I could kind of relate to what Tom was going through, but I found the writing to be too self-indulgent and Tom's interpretation of women a bit simplistic and misogynistic. Since I am too ashamed to have this novel on my book shelf I will donate it to the library.
Rating: 
Summary: WICKED HUMOR, HIP DIALOGUE, AND SHARP INSIGHT
Review: He's been dubbed "The male Bridget Jones." You can call his debut novel Guy Lit if you wish, but gals will find it unputdownable, too - it's a rare glimpse into the male mind related with wicked humor, hip dialogue, and sharp insight. An editor at People magazine, Kyle Smith said, "Someone has to speak up for that dwindling minority, the non-metrosexual straight male." Speak up he did producing one of the most clever debut novels of the year. Protagonist Tom Farrell (who may, for all we know, slightly resemble the author) works at a fictional Big Apple daily, Tabloid. He's been there for ten years now, coming up with such forgettable headlines as "The Stripping News" for an article on topless bars, and "Sects and the City" to top an article about a new Jewish group. Distraction and love enters his life in the form of a shapely, tiny-waisted co-worker, Julia. Tom is hooked but he's not quite deft at hooking her. To this end he receives advice, support, and tongue-lashings from his buds, including Shooter, A-Rod, and Bran (a gal pal). There's a wide divide between dating and mating. Is Julia really the one? How's a guy to know? However, the year is 2001. It is summer and September is yet to come, and with it many changes. Put "Love Monkey" at the top of your To Read list - it's not to be missed. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: Americanized Hornby with a dash of 9/11...
Review: This was a book I wanted to love. It was a book I ended up liking a great deal. First it is very, very funny. Lots of great references to the '70s, '80s, '90s, and 2001. He knows he is like Nick Hornby is mocks himself for it. Tom works at a thinly veiled NY Post. THe characters are really funny. Tom wants us to think he is unattractive, but he sure knows a lot of women and dates even more. However, he is madly in love with Julia. Julia is tough to fall in love with--I couple of times I was hoping she would be hit by a bus. But, as we must with friends, we support TOm in his love anyway. I think Smith wanted this to be heartwrenching and a few times it succeeds. It is very honest about men and loving the wrong woman. But, seriously dude, Julia is not that great. The 9/11 "change" is not cliched--he handles it really well--with respect but also with the kind of exhaustion that many NYers felt. It is not Nick Hornby circa High Fidelity, but it beat Nick Hornby in his last book. Smith writes a book that is better than many of the Hornby imitators, but not better than the master at his best. IF that makes any sense. I must sound wishy washy. That is sort of how I feel (like Tom). Good stuff, but not National Book Award stuff.
Rating:
Summary: ribald & real--a really great book
Review: This cover caught my eye in the bookstore on Wednesday--ordinarily these books (lad lit, chic lit, the whole SEX & THE CITY gloss on being young & hip & searching for love) put me off, but for once the testimonials on the jacket seemed more intriguing/convincing than usual, suggested something a little more sophisticated. So I bought it, got onto the subway, cracked it open--that was it, I was hooked, I missed my stop, by dinnertime my dinner hadn't been cooked but I'd finished the funniest, most surprisingly honest (if not entirely honorable) portrait of the male mind since, dunno. This goes against the grain of political correctness, and at the beginning it defies even the basic rule that the protagonist be likeable: at times throughout the book, this protagonist is anything BUT. Which means, I think, that what we get here is a view of a REAL guy as he is, not when he knows you're watching, but when he's on the other side of his locked apartment door, switching back and forth madly with the t.v. remote between porn and cartoons while potato chip crumbs grow personality between the cushions on his couch. He's funny, he's instinctive (like a monkey, I guess that's where the title comes from), he's self-obsessed, but his cravings are real and they strike a deep chord. It's Thursday night and I'm halfway through my second reading, and I'm going to go out on a limb here & say that this is a book that boys & girls are going to read and like in equal measure, but perhaps for opposite reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Love Monkey Review
Review: Love Monkey is sensational. The book is laugh out loud funny and Kyle Smith has the rare ability to express what most men think and feel about women and life in general. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Read
Review: The book gives an exceelent insight to the way men think. I found myself laughing out loud and then calling friends to tell them that someone had finally got it right. Just a great guys book.
Rating:
Summary: Dating, Loserdom and Hilarity
Review: He's been dubbed 'The male Bridget Jones.' You can call his debut novel Guy Lit if you wish, but gals will find it unputdownable, too - it's a rare glimpse into the male mind related with wicked humor, hip dialogue, and sharp insight. An editor at People magazine, Kyle Smith said, 'Someone has to speak up for that dwindling minority, the non-metrosexual straight male.' Speak up he did producing one of the most clever debut novels of the year. Protagonist Tom Farrell (who may, for all we know, slightly resemble the author) works at a fictional Big Apple daily, Tabloid. He's been there for ten years now, coming up with such forgettable headlines as 'The Stripping News' for an article on topless bars, and 'Sects and the City' to top an article about a new Jewish group. Distraction and love enters his life in the form of a shapely, tiny-waisted co-worker, Julia. Tom is hooked but he's not quite deft at hooking her. To this end he receives advice, support, and tongue-lashings from his buds, including Shooter, A-Rod, and Bran (a gal pal). There's a wide divide between dating and mating. Is Julia really the one? How's a guy to know? 'Love Monkey'is truly a hilarious novel about the great divide of dating and losing and wondering what the point of it all is; it's not for guys only! Another Amazon quick-pick, I recommend is THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez
Rating:
Summary: Lamest Monkey
Review: I give it two stars because I was able to finish. Admitting you steal from the far superior Nick Hornby doesn't make it OK. And not admitting that you borrow from Seinfeld and Woody Allen is just plain wrong. For example, the narrator kills a bug as a woman cries and says "did you want me to capture and rehabilitate it." That's from Annie Hall. Constantly having to remember where I first heard a reference might have distracted me from enjoying a really good book -- but I don't think so. The narrator was unsympathetic, and not because he was cynical (I didn't find him that hard-boiled), but because he was bland (a movie reviewer who doesn't like foreign films, only listens to songs from 20 to 30 years ago and never grows in any meaningful way). Cynical and perceptive is interesting -- the narrator is neither. The minor characters added little (Shooter was particularly unbelievable and I believe the author decided to make him black because this book had so few surprises) and the 9/11 part added nothing. I could forgive all these things if it was funny, but it just wasn't. I might have smiled once or twice. It seemed like it was written by a woman or gay man trying to imagine how straight guys really are. Re-read a Nick Hornby book or rent "Roger Dodger."
Rating: 
Summary: slick writer, don't know about the love story
Review: Kyle Smith turns a classy phrase, no doubt. And his hero is wise in the petulant way these guy heroes usually are. And he sticks the hero in the sort of situations that you want to see: strip club, amateur suburban dance recital, the kitchen. What he didn't sell me on was the girl. She's a little evil, stringing our guy along while involved with someone else, and she's 23 or something - a decade younger than him - and after a while I was like: move on, buddy! Just being hot doesn't explain this obsession. Enough with the sturm und drang! That plus a sort of confusing jump cut approach to time (I wasn't sure where we were in their unfolding relationship until, like, the last page) ended up detracting from the polished product. One great thing: the other women in the book were portrayed very funnily as people who maybe didn't have enough fun, at least not the way our debauched main character did. Tough to do that without sounding cruel, but, as I said, there's no doubt that Kyle Smith is talented. Next thing: open that heart a little wider.
Rating:
Summary: Funny good
Review: Infectious. Received as a gift and tore through it. Drawn first to the terrific humor, dense wordplay from a cynical POV. Inside jokes are better if you get them and these are aimed at today's culturally literate. I'd (favorably) compare the density of good jokes to a Dave Barry column. At least at the beginning; they slow slightly as the story elements take the front burner. It would be a mistake to read this book if you're looking for a sympathetic protagonist: you follow Tom's story more from interest in where he is going than from any "caring" about where that might be. Also avoid this book if you're looking for the true male POV (there is no such thing). Tom's shallowness may strike some as honesty and it probably is for that character. No reason to extrapolate it to anyone else. Read it for the humor which is first rate. Read it as an example of a first-person, self-obsessed narrative that zips like a full-throttle crotch-rocket. deech
| 
