26. Him, Her, Him Again, The End of Him: a Novel by Patricia Marx

Most people can somewhat sympathize with Marx’s unnamed female character when she spends ten years of her life trying to make Eugene Obello love her. While in Cambridge working on her thesis of West Indian immigration, she meets Eugene who is a philosopher. They immediately hit it off and start a relationship, although when Eugene disappears for a few months and comes back announcing he has been in Eastern Europe with fellow student Margaret, readers begin to see that Eugene and the narrator have different ideas on what their relationship truly is. Over the next few years, the narrator quits school, returns home to her parents, works as a writer for a sketch comedy show in New York, and meets up with Eugene occasionally and has affairs with him. Eugene meanwhile ends up marrying Margaret and having a son, and has numerous affairs.

Although this book deals with serious issues, such as why someone would love someone who doesn’t treat them decently, this is a humorous take on modern day romances. Full of quirky secondary characters, hilarious parents, dark humor, and some great one liners, this novel is for those readers who like high-brow, yet hip comedies. Marx is a former writer for Saturday Night Live and currently writes for The New Yorker. I didn’t thoroughly enjoy the book, mostly because I just couldn’t sympathize with the narrator, but it did have some laugh out loud moments. Another drawback is that this book has one of the most cumbersome titles I have ever encountered and the cover can be misleading to certain readers expecting more of a mystery-type book.