Him Her Him Again The End of Him

I don't normally read books and/or don't finish them. but this was a real page turner, I read it in two days.

I was not sure what to expect from a book dubbed by one reviewer (who claims she has no ties to Ms. Marx whatsoever) to be the funniest book ever. But the intriguing title and Patricia Marx impressive credentials as a former SNL writer and contributer to the New Yorker made me push all the other books in my "to be read" pile to the side and pick up 'HIM HER HIM AGAIN THE END OF HIM' as soon as I received it. The story follows Marx's unnamed heroine through the trials and tribulations of her relationship with a man who is amongst other things a womanizer, liar, cheater and seems to all others (with the exception of our heroine of course) to have no real interest in her. I am sure that many people reading this novel have endured, at one time or another, a relationship like this where the object of your affection is clearly wrong for you, however the humor in this situation is in the heroines hilarious delivery. There is never a dull moment as we watch the heroine flit from job to job and exchange in hilarious encounters with her family, all the while pinning for the un charming analytical philosopher turned philosophical analyst that we come to know as Eugene, for ten (yes ten!) years. Moreover, the ending will have readers laughing out loud and cheering for the heroine at the same time. Marx's dry humor, intelligence and wit make this book one to look out for in 2007 and will leave readers wanting more of our unnamed heroine and Patricia Marx as well!

The best thing about bad boyfriends is dishing about them during and especially after. There has never been a worse boyfriend or a more enjoyable dish than this sharp, funny, and even wise and touching book by Patricia Marx. We know long before she does that Eugene is a narcissistic cad who does not even remotely deserve her affection. But she makes us feel the pull of his attention and learn along with our appealing heroine that just because someone calls your kisses recondite and notional does not mean he is smart and just because he has another girlfriend (whom he marries) but still wants you does not mean you matter to him. We may never know how many grains of sand it takes to make a heap (read the book, you'll know why this is relevant), but we can tell less then three sentences into this book that we are in the hands of an author who has mastered the art of telling a story with wit, heart, insight, and meaning that is far from recondite and phenomenologically notional.

This is a really funny novel! Somehow, despite its cutting edge modernity, it reads a lot like those unintentionally humorous old books that were once the very soul of seriousness but which with time became inane. It tells a story of one woman's quest for happiness and perfection in her life, and of the irritatingly awful man who, much to her and our frustration, keeps wrecking it for her, for which she has largely herself to blame. Meeting this screamingly-ridiculous post-grad as a virginal, idealistic student at Cambridge, a never-named American-born heroine is swept away by a charming and pedantic cad, called Eugene, and even after Eugene ends his wordy romance of the woman by wedding the (perhaps psychosomatically) ill Margaret, the woman cannot quite forget the drivel-spouting Eugene, or stop his serial, self-serving invasions of her life over the next decade. Even when she lands a writing job on an SNL-like comedy show is she not invulnerable to Eugene's snicker-worthy wiles. It's a mistake to dismissively stereotype a book as "chick lit" even if it clearly is. The fact is chick lit has given us some of the funniest and most touching titles in recent decades. Sure in books written primarily for females there is emoting, yes, there is a lot of introspection, certainly, and verily, there are embarrassing moments aplenty, but the good news is, this book, sets them all on their heads with its clever awareness of that. Achieving a rare synthesis of satire and parody and tossing in some good old fashioned hilarity, former Saturday Night Live writer Patricia Marx has cranked out a witty book that made me laugh at least once a chapter. Knowing that true satire tiptoes along a razor's edge on which silliness lies on one side and banality on the other, and that parody, like a delicate hothouse flower that only blossoms in a small temperature range, is easily lost in the effort, Marx treats her tale of a never-named woman who is partly modern and partly old-fashioned, with delicacy that shows. I thought Him Her Him Again The End Of Him was hilarious and a quality novel, one that should translate perfectly to the big screen, and might I add that Hugh Grant, with the right accent, would be perfect for the part of Eugene.

Despite its unfortunate title, which refers to the sections the book is divided into, this book is indeed a fun read, and quite engaging. The author, Patricia Marx, has a unique turn of phrase that will at times bring you to laugh out loud, and will cause you to feel the frustration of our heroine, whose name we never learn. The plot is basic: our heroine, a student at Cambridge, meets and almost immediately gives both her heart and her virginity to Eugene, a cad of the first order. Despite his many faults, our heroine finds herself literally obsessed with Eugene, even after he dumps her for the sickly Margaret. We watch as, over a period of ten years, our heroine pines for the shallow and selfish Eugene, putting aside her own needs and bouncing from job to job as she searches for whatever it is that will make her life perfect. Eugene flits in and out of her life like an annoying fly, and yet she allows him to dictate almost everything about her existence. It is both frustrating and funny as we follow her non-growth into its eventual climax, cheering her on and hoping that she will experience an epiphany that allows Eugene to get what's coming to him. Marx has a brilliant writing style, and she uses it to both string the reader along on the heroine's web of obsession and to make said reader laugh as she reveals bits and pieces that bring the story to its end. At times it felt as though our heroine would never reach enlightenment, and the story dragged as a result. But overall this is a gem of a novel, and should be recommended to all who enjoy an author with a gift for comedy.