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Liz's Reviews > The Nix
The Nix
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I don't know if everyone will find this book as funny as I did. But to me, scenes were laugh out loud funny. When Laura gives all her excuses she shouldn't be failed for turning in a 99% plagiarized paper, I was beside myself. Professor Sam Anderson is a grammar nerd, so I immediately bonded with him, other than all the crying. Stuck teaching English literature to kids that don't care at a second rate college, he finds enjoyment playing online Elfin war games.
The story veers between 2011 when Sam agrees to write a book concerning his mother, who has achieved celebrity status for throwing stones at an ultra conservative presidential candidate, and the stories of both her and his youth.
Great writing, great characters. I'm not sure who was my favorite, Laura or Guy. In one sense, both are peripheral characters, but in another, Hill saves some of his most biting sarcasm for these two.
The novel is divided into ten sections. The story bogs down occasionally, which is the reason this is four, not five stars for me. In particular, I struggled with the sections written about Pwnage, Sam’s online gaming friend.
This is a fast read for a book coming in at 628 pages. It is by turns funny, moving, philosophical and biting. It definitely doesn’t come across as a debut novel. It’ll be interesting to see where Nathan Hill goes from here.
The story veers between 2011 when Sam agrees to write a book concerning his mother, who has achieved celebrity status for throwing stones at an ultra conservative presidential candidate, and the stories of both her and his youth.
Great writing, great characters. I'm not sure who was my favorite, Laura or Guy. In one sense, both are peripheral characters, but in another, Hill saves some of his most biting sarcasm for these two.
The novel is divided into ten sections. The story bogs down occasionally, which is the reason this is four, not five stars for me. In particular, I struggled with the sections written about Pwnage, Sam’s online gaming friend.
This is a fast read for a book coming in at 628 pages. It is by turns funny, moving, philosophical and biting. It definitely doesn’t come across as a debut novel. It’ll be interesting to see where Nathan Hill goes from here.
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 22, 2017 11:22AM
I loved this book and feel that readers who gave up early on this book really missed out. However, life is too short if you don't like the read. I was in stitches for the whole student/professor part. But one of my fav quotes was, "blaming his students for being uninspired was so much easier than doing the work required to inspire them." I loved Sam with all his flaws and insecurities. I may be moving to the favorite shelf. It never lagged for me.
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I've added it to my Want To Read list as a result of your review, which has definitely piqued my interest.
Sounds interesting, Liz. I am also amazed that a debut novel came in at 600+ pages. His editor must have been impressed.BTW, yours was an outstanding review. I'm adding the book.
Howard wrote: "Sounds interesting, Liz. I am also amazed that a debut novel came in at 600+ pages. His editor must have been impressed.BTW, yours was an outstanding review. I'm adding the book."
thanks. Hope you enjoy as much as I did.
I found it laugh out loud funny too! Nice review!
Looks like we find many of the same things funny, Liz. That plagiarizing student and her lame arguments made some people think Hill had it in for Millennials, but they made me laugh. The iFeel app was another spot on indictment, I thought. And Guy Periwinkle had some terrific lines, too -- ringing true despite being cynical and hollow. I kind of liked Pwnage's failures at the Whole Foods equivalent as well. Anyway, great job bringing this book to light.
Great review. An impressive novel, that's for sure. Laura's character and the scene with Sam, when she was defending her cheating was out of this world. I laughed out loud and also felt so sorry for teachers.
I also laughed out loud over that Laura segment, but later found her antics somewhat beyond the realm of believability - pretty much like my feeling at the conclusion of the book - simply unbelievable and rather cynical..!
Bianca wrote: "Great review. An impressive novel, that's for sure. Laura's character and the scene with Sam, when she was defending her cheating was out of this world. I laughed out loud and also felt so sorry fo..."Thanks Bianca. It was OTT but yet totally believable.
