A Thing (or Two) About Curtis and Camilla

Rating:
Summary: pretentious and annoying
Review: I disliked this book intensely, though I do think Fowler has some talent. I found his prose overwritten, pretentious and annoying, and I too saw the footnotes as an unnecessary and unfunny gimmick. While I agree with another poster that the first section of the book captured the throes of young love well, the second part -- which deals with Curtis' emotional breakdown-- was completely ludicrous and not nearly as funny as he thought it was. I struggled mightily through the last section and had I not been stuck on a plane for 9 hours I never would have finished it. In addition, I found the climax completely out of left field, a shift in tone that made little sense and even somehow (made me mad).

Had Fowler not tried so hard to show us how clever he is and kept his story grounded in reality, I think he would have had something special. But he tried way too hard and missed the mark.

Nick Hornby? Not in Fowler's wildest dreams.

Rating:
Summary: Not a Fun Read
Review: In "A thing (or two)..." Nick Fowler attempts to win over Nick Horby fans (Is the name cause for suspicion enough?) by offering a systematically predictable tale of the heartbreak, rebound, and triumph akin to a bad copycat rock band concert.

His tame and rather annoying characters fall short of the thirty-something Manhattan hipsters they were intended to resemble. The story begins when the main character, Curtis Birnbaum stumbles upon stunningly beautiful and quick-witted Camilla on a Manhattan (Soho) sidewalk. When Camilla sends Curtis stumbling home with her email address scribbled on his forehead, a hip 90's romance destined for heartbreak ensues. Inevitably Camilla dumps Curtis after he locks the keys inside a cottage on an anything but romantic vacation in France. The dumped and enervated Curtis then embarks upon a topsy-turvy comeback road peppered by scores of brainless antics and not-quite-so-funny gay innuendos that left him a pre-Camilla broke and burnt out guitar rocker in the first place.

Curtis's bumbling, and pathetic attempts to win Camilla back are equaled only by the humdrum and aggravating happy ending Fowler contrives to sell more books. If it weren't for a handful of funny quips provided by Curtis's untrustworthy roommate Gary, this book would have been a severely draining read at best.

Rating:
Summary: Okay, you're a hipster, we get it......
Review: Mediocre purple prose peppered with exasperatingly pretentious bits of hipster esoterica.

Part one was at times insightfull. Fowler almost convinces us that he has some deeper wisdom regarding life and love, but then quickly disproves himself as parts two and three go from bad to worse. The atypically bizarre climax is completely out of sync with the storyline. It will leave you scratching your head, to say the least. This book was beyond disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Well-Written, Funny and Edgy...
Review: My favorite book this year, fowler transports the reader right into the thick of late nineties east village (before it sucked ;-) ) where curtis birnbaum, hapless wannabe, meets the woman of his dreams and then basically goes to pieces in the most delectible and hysterical way.
Reading this book, movies like 'annie hall' and 'manhattan' come to mind, not just for its immersive new yorkiness, but for the almost slapstick antics of the woody allenesque protagonist projected through the razor sharp and rather beautiful lens of the author's prose. I mean, it's gorgeously written. I've read nick hornby's novels and liked them, I liked alain de botton's 'on love' too. But I always wanted the former to be less cheeky, and the latter more edgy. fowler's book totally scratched that itch. (It also reminds me so much of the Downtown NYC scene during its latest heyday.)
Really looking forward to his next book. 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Not a Fun Read
Review: This book disappointed me. Based on the cover description, I thought it would be a light, fun read. It turned out to be anything but, and I had a difficult time finishing it. Although the writing is good, the story is really more pathetic than funny, and it has a few unsettling elements. The character of Curtis is not sympathetic; he comes across as insecure, undependable and untruthful. Rather than rooting for him and Camilla, I was hoping for her to dump him.

Rating:
Summary: Purple prose meets self-conscious hipness
Review: This book starts out so well, and it ends so well, but in the middle, it seemed to lose something. He describes the feelings of falling in love impecibly, and uses pop culture like a master. The footnotes and random photos are very interesting also. But when Camilla leaves, so does anything good he had going, and the book just turns wierd. With an odd gay scene and other random embarrassing stories, it's very easy to lose interest and let resentment fester inside. The end of the book is very good, and you feel so proud for Curtis, but the middle is so wrong. This book was almost great.

Rating:
Summary: Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda...
Review: This is an odd, and ultimately disappointing book. Fowler writes in three parts and each part gets worse. The first part, about falling in love, is good. He captures the longing of love quite well. The second part, after losing Camilla, quickly becomes a bad comic nightmare. The last part, seems out of left field even this Oprah-soaked age (I'm being vague here because I don't want to ruin the ending). Is this part satire? I have no idea. The book had it it's moments (great pop culture references at times). But, in the end, it seems a little (pun intended) creepy and odd.

Rating:
Summary: This book really made me think
Review: When I read the book I thought to myself is this for real. I looked up more information on Nick Fowler hoping he had something else written, or maybe a part two to the book. As soon as I finished reading it I was mad that things didnt end the way I had hoped they would, but then does life ever give us what we truly want. I read that this book was actually an autobiography, so it made me like it even more. I think it is very well written and that its so cool how he is even making money from his misfortune. Poor guy though and hes really good looking too. I would recommend this book to anyone who has never felt heartbroke, I felt so sad for Curtis throughout the entire book. Yeah he was a little insecure, but these days who isnt. My big point with the book was just to make clear that the book is about what happened to him. Maybe this will help some readers who dislike the ending.