What do you think?
Rate this book
L'Objet de mon affection
Nina et George partagent un appartement à Brooklyn et forment un couple hors du commun. Nina attend un bébé d'Howard qu'elle refuse d'épouser et souhaite élever son enfant avec George. Homosexuel affranchi, George a fait la rencontre de Paul qui lui demande à son tour de venir habiter avec lui dans le Vermont. Le chassé-croisé des sentiments se complique.
382 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
86 people are currently reading
1,761 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
February 8, 2012
Friday Afternoon:
Ian: Don’t worry about cooking Saturday night, dumpling, I’ll take care of it.
F.M. Sushi: What have you got planned, love?
Ian: I was thinking of inviting George and Nina over for drinks and then going out for dinner.
F.M. Sushi: Who the fuck are George and Nina?
Ian: I met them on GoodReads.
F.M. Sushi: More of your pretend friends?
Ian: No. They’re real characters.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: They’re pretend friends of Stephen McCauley.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: They’re in “The Object of My Affection�.
F.M. Sushi: What the fuck is “The Object of My Affection�?
Ian: It’s a novel, sweetness. You’ll love it.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: You’ll love George. He’s gay.
F.M. Sushi: Because he’s gay?
Ian: No, darl, you’ll love him and he’s gay.
F.M. Sushi: Good.
Ian: You’ll love Nina, too. She’s beautiful.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: I mean you’ll love her and she’s beautiful.
F.M. Sushi: Needless to say, they’re not a couple?
Ian: Um, yes, um, no.
F.M. Sushi: So you think Nina is beautiful?
Ian: Um, yes, um, no. I mean, she’s not as beautiful as you, petal. She’s funny, too. And witty.
F.M. Sushi: Good, another one of your perfect women.
Ian: One’s enough for me, dearest.
Saturday Night Cocktails:
Nina: Thank heavens, it’s just you two. I was expecting a crowd of casually dressed intellectuals devouring each other with condescending smiles. In a word, Good Readers.
Ian: Would you like to sit down. What about here, on my favourite couch?
Nina: Ooh, comfy.
F.M. Sushi: It’s served us well, but its life is limited, I’m afraid.
Ian: Oh no, babe, I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out� I doubt I’d ever find something that weighed so much and cost so little again.
F.M. Sushi: It’s a repository for couch potatoes and slobs.
George: Ian, I immediately decided that, far from being a slob, you must be one of a small minority of people on the face of the earth lacking vanity.
Ian: Why, thank you, George.
F.M. Sushi: I’ve never stopped being amazed at his ability to accept a compliment.
Nina (winking at F.M. Sushi): He’s cute, Sushi. There’s something sexy about him.
Ian: Oh, Nina, nothing’s more insulting than an undeserved compliment.
F.M. Sushi: Don’t be deceived by his pseudo-charm, he’s rigid, compulsive, orderly, and fanatically tied to precision and logic...not to mention old couches and clutter.
Ian: Oh, dumpling, lighten up. During our courtship, you regarded my precision as determination to succeed, and you admired it.
F.M. Sushi: True, that’s what I said at the time. I didn’t realize that behind it all, you were such an anal asshole…oops, sorry, George.
George: Never mind, Sushi. What originally attracted you to Ian...other than his couch?
F.M. Sushi: He thinks it was his eyes…but they had the kind of fierce intensity I associated with the eyes of religious fanatics and mass murderers.
Ian: If not my eyes, then perhaps my body as a whole?
F.M. Sushi: Hardly, love.
George (winking at F.M. Sushi): He has a body shape that’s considered attractive only in people with money.
F.M. Sushi: Ha ha. He doesn’t even have that to recommend him. Honestly, it was his voice, George…it was curiously flat and toneless, as if he’d had speech lessons or was an anchorman on network news.
Ian: What is this, gang up on Ian night?
F.M. Sushi: Tell me about your relationship, Nina. How long have you been married?
Nina: Oh, we’re not married, Sushi.
F.M. Sushi: But you two seem so in love?
Nina: Oh, no, not even that. A love affair can be wonderful, but a courtship is far more enduring.
George: The best way to describe our friendship is as a long and unconsummated courtship between two people with no expectations.
F.M. Sushi: That has a lot going for it. I think we both expected the consummate marriage, but our courtship ended the day we consummated it.
Nina: How did you meet?
Ian: We were both doing dance lessons and we were the only people there under forty.
F.M. Sushi: He was so romantic in those days. And witty. He could make me swoon with words alone.
Nina: What sort of things did he say?
F.M. Sushi: Well, the night I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, he said, “I think of every dance with you as a three-minute love affair.�
George (spilling his martini): Oh no.
F.M. Sushi: What’s wrong?
George: It’s just that, um,�
Nina: Sushi, that’s a line out of our novel.
Post-Script:
I've read two Stephen McCauley novels in my quest to read everything he's done.
He has wonderful powers of observation and description of all types of relationship.
Fiction can do more than describe the shopping lists of modern families and partnerships, nuclear or otherwise.
McCauley is doing it with consummate wit and insight and beauty.
If a dance is a three-minute love affair, a McCauley novel is, at the very least, a 320 page love affair (or courtship).
In 1998, the book was made into a film, which I haven't seen.
The plot summary on Wiki is different. I can't tell whether it combines plots from different books.
I am not a fan of Jennifer Aniston (who stars as Nina), and I might not see the film.
If you've seen the film, I still recommend the novel, whether or not you enjoyed it.
Ian: Don’t worry about cooking Saturday night, dumpling, I’ll take care of it.
F.M. Sushi: What have you got planned, love?
Ian: I was thinking of inviting George and Nina over for drinks and then going out for dinner.
F.M. Sushi: Who the fuck are George and Nina?
Ian: I met them on GoodReads.
F.M. Sushi: More of your pretend friends?
Ian: No. They’re real characters.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: They’re pretend friends of Stephen McCauley.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: They’re in “The Object of My Affection�.
F.M. Sushi: What the fuck is “The Object of My Affection�?
Ian: It’s a novel, sweetness. You’ll love it.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: You’ll love George. He’s gay.
F.M. Sushi: Because he’s gay?
Ian: No, darl, you’ll love him and he’s gay.
F.M. Sushi: Good.
Ian: You’ll love Nina, too. She’s beautiful.
F.M. Sushi: Yes???
Ian: I mean you’ll love her and she’s beautiful.
F.M. Sushi: Needless to say, they’re not a couple?
Ian: Um, yes, um, no.
F.M. Sushi: So you think Nina is beautiful?
Ian: Um, yes, um, no. I mean, she’s not as beautiful as you, petal. She’s funny, too. And witty.
F.M. Sushi: Good, another one of your perfect women.
Ian: One’s enough for me, dearest.
Saturday Night Cocktails:
Nina: Thank heavens, it’s just you two. I was expecting a crowd of casually dressed intellectuals devouring each other with condescending smiles. In a word, Good Readers.
Ian: Would you like to sit down. What about here, on my favourite couch?
Nina: Ooh, comfy.
F.M. Sushi: It’s served us well, but its life is limited, I’m afraid.
Ian: Oh no, babe, I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out� I doubt I’d ever find something that weighed so much and cost so little again.
F.M. Sushi: It’s a repository for couch potatoes and slobs.
George: Ian, I immediately decided that, far from being a slob, you must be one of a small minority of people on the face of the earth lacking vanity.
Ian: Why, thank you, George.
F.M. Sushi: I’ve never stopped being amazed at his ability to accept a compliment.
Nina (winking at F.M. Sushi): He’s cute, Sushi. There’s something sexy about him.
Ian: Oh, Nina, nothing’s more insulting than an undeserved compliment.
F.M. Sushi: Don’t be deceived by his pseudo-charm, he’s rigid, compulsive, orderly, and fanatically tied to precision and logic...not to mention old couches and clutter.
Ian: Oh, dumpling, lighten up. During our courtship, you regarded my precision as determination to succeed, and you admired it.
F.M. Sushi: True, that’s what I said at the time. I didn’t realize that behind it all, you were such an anal asshole…oops, sorry, George.
George: Never mind, Sushi. What originally attracted you to Ian...other than his couch?
F.M. Sushi: He thinks it was his eyes…but they had the kind of fierce intensity I associated with the eyes of religious fanatics and mass murderers.
Ian: If not my eyes, then perhaps my body as a whole?
F.M. Sushi: Hardly, love.
George (winking at F.M. Sushi): He has a body shape that’s considered attractive only in people with money.
F.M. Sushi: Ha ha. He doesn’t even have that to recommend him. Honestly, it was his voice, George…it was curiously flat and toneless, as if he’d had speech lessons or was an anchorman on network news.
Ian: What is this, gang up on Ian night?
F.M. Sushi: Tell me about your relationship, Nina. How long have you been married?
Nina: Oh, we’re not married, Sushi.
F.M. Sushi: But you two seem so in love?
Nina: Oh, no, not even that. A love affair can be wonderful, but a courtship is far more enduring.
George: The best way to describe our friendship is as a long and unconsummated courtship between two people with no expectations.
F.M. Sushi: That has a lot going for it. I think we both expected the consummate marriage, but our courtship ended the day we consummated it.
Nina: How did you meet?
Ian: We were both doing dance lessons and we were the only people there under forty.
F.M. Sushi: He was so romantic in those days. And witty. He could make me swoon with words alone.
Nina: What sort of things did he say?
F.M. Sushi: Well, the night I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, he said, “I think of every dance with you as a three-minute love affair.�
George (spilling his martini): Oh no.
F.M. Sushi: What’s wrong?
George: It’s just that, um,�
Nina: Sushi, that’s a line out of our novel.
Post-Script:
I've read two Stephen McCauley novels in my quest to read everything he's done.
He has wonderful powers of observation and description of all types of relationship.
Fiction can do more than describe the shopping lists of modern families and partnerships, nuclear or otherwise.
McCauley is doing it with consummate wit and insight and beauty.
If a dance is a three-minute love affair, a McCauley novel is, at the very least, a 320 page love affair (or courtship).
In 1998, the book was made into a film, which I haven't seen.
The plot summary on Wiki is different. I can't tell whether it combines plots from different books.
I am not a fan of Jennifer Aniston (who stars as Nina), and I might not see the film.
If you've seen the film, I still recommend the novel, whether or not you enjoyed it.
April 4, 2020
I felt affection for the characters in this novel but also considerable exasperation. For a "fun" book, the 320 pages were endless.
January 1, 2024
Such a perfect book - one of my total faves! Movie does it slim justice.
May 13, 2007
This book is a delight. One of those books where I smiled most of the way through it. Great depiction of complex relationships. Even the serious parts are told with some humor and the author has a very engaging writing style.
July 11, 2015
I'm a major fan of Stephen McCauley's first two books, The Object of My Affection and The Easy Way Out. The former was made into a really awful motion picture with Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, John Pankow, and Tim Daly. The motivations of the characters were completely changed, and a major sub-plot inserted that made no sense.
The novel is vastly superior. Like much of LGBTQ writing, it is full of witty, wry, cynical, thrust-and-parry writing that tries to speak to the bitchy drag queen in all of us (sic). It may lack the Frasier-esque wittiness of Joe Keenan's Blue Heaven or the drag-speak of Josh Kilmer-Purcell's I Am Not Myself These Days, but it nevertheless has a verve and life of its own that in many ways allows the characters to come much more alive and seem more realistic.
The novel is narrated by George Mullen, a somewhat good looking (he won't agree) Bostonian transplanted to New York City and the graduate program in English literature at Columbia University. Much of the first third of the novel is taken up with introductions, as George discusses how he came to New York and how he met Robert Joley -- a handsome professor of literature with whom George soon begins a relationship.
George is kind-hearted, but also selfish. He wants unqualified affection from others, but realizes he also has to be less selfish in order to attract people who'll be nice to him. He's intelligent, but intellectually lazy. He's brutally honest about life and other people, but lies constantly about his own feelings and motivations. He's lazy, a bit of a hoarder, lacks self-esteem, and has big-time commitment issues.
The novel takes a left turn when Joley loses interest in George. At a party, Joley introduces George to Nina -- a zaftig counselor at a women's crisis center who is getting her Ph.D. in psychology. Nina is looking for a roommate, and Joley says George wants to move out. (!!!) The not-so-subtle hint at breaking up is well-taken, and soon George moves in with Nina.
Nina's personality is much like George's (although she has gallons more self-esteem), and she barely works on her dissertation. Neither of the two can cook, they share an affinity for junk food and crossword puzzles, they both enjoy '50s pop music, and like poking fun at the hypocrisy and foibles of other people and the culture at large.
Nina is dating Howard, a somewhat slovenly, pudgy, sweetly overbearing feminist and legal aid lawyer. Howard is constantly apologizing for things he's said or done which he believes has caused offense, and his love of cooking has a tendency to force other people to eat the things only he enjoys eating. His attitude toward Nina is loving, but infantile (he constantly refers to her by a host of funny nicknames: Pudding, Puddle, Brisket, Butterbean, Munchkin...).
One day, Nina discovers she's pregnant with Howard's child. She doesn't want to marry Howard; she doesn't even want Howard in her life any more. She does want George to help her raise the child....and George swiftly agrees to do so.
Then everything changes again.
The level of self-loathing in novel can be tiresome at times. These are also people who have such a ready, rapier-sharp wit at hand that you will grimace a bit and wonder if they are really exist. And not much happens, frankly.
And yet..... These are characters which are alive and breathing. These are people whom you really want to know when you close the book, and wish they were real. You cheer for Paul and Gabriel, you hiss at Joley, you smirk at Timothy, you laugh at Molly, you wonder what the hell is up with Melissa.
People who have seen the motion picture are often dismissive of the novel. The novel isn't even close to the film; it's 100,000 times better.
I strongly endorse it.
The novel is vastly superior. Like much of LGBTQ writing, it is full of witty, wry, cynical, thrust-and-parry writing that tries to speak to the bitchy drag queen in all of us (sic). It may lack the Frasier-esque wittiness of Joe Keenan's Blue Heaven or the drag-speak of Josh Kilmer-Purcell's I Am Not Myself These Days, but it nevertheless has a verve and life of its own that in many ways allows the characters to come much more alive and seem more realistic.
The novel is narrated by George Mullen, a somewhat good looking (he won't agree) Bostonian transplanted to New York City and the graduate program in English literature at Columbia University. Much of the first third of the novel is taken up with introductions, as George discusses how he came to New York and how he met Robert Joley -- a handsome professor of literature with whom George soon begins a relationship.
George is kind-hearted, but also selfish. He wants unqualified affection from others, but realizes he also has to be less selfish in order to attract people who'll be nice to him. He's intelligent, but intellectually lazy. He's brutally honest about life and other people, but lies constantly about his own feelings and motivations. He's lazy, a bit of a hoarder, lacks self-esteem, and has big-time commitment issues.
The novel takes a left turn when Joley loses interest in George. At a party, Joley introduces George to Nina -- a zaftig counselor at a women's crisis center who is getting her Ph.D. in psychology. Nina is looking for a roommate, and Joley says George wants to move out. (!!!) The not-so-subtle hint at breaking up is well-taken, and soon George moves in with Nina.
Nina's personality is much like George's (although she has gallons more self-esteem), and she barely works on her dissertation. Neither of the two can cook, they share an affinity for junk food and crossword puzzles, they both enjoy '50s pop music, and like poking fun at the hypocrisy and foibles of other people and the culture at large.
Nina is dating Howard, a somewhat slovenly, pudgy, sweetly overbearing feminist and legal aid lawyer. Howard is constantly apologizing for things he's said or done which he believes has caused offense, and his love of cooking has a tendency to force other people to eat the things only he enjoys eating. His attitude toward Nina is loving, but infantile (he constantly refers to her by a host of funny nicknames: Pudding, Puddle, Brisket, Butterbean, Munchkin...).
One day, Nina discovers she's pregnant with Howard's child. She doesn't want to marry Howard; she doesn't even want Howard in her life any more. She does want George to help her raise the child....and George swiftly agrees to do so.
Then everything changes again.
The level of self-loathing in novel can be tiresome at times. These are also people who have such a ready, rapier-sharp wit at hand that you will grimace a bit and wonder if they are really exist. And not much happens, frankly.
And yet..... These are characters which are alive and breathing. These are people whom you really want to know when you close the book, and wish they were real. You cheer for Paul and Gabriel, you hiss at Joley, you smirk at Timothy, you laugh at Molly, you wonder what the hell is up with Melissa.
People who have seen the motion picture are often dismissive of the novel. The novel isn't even close to the film; it's 100,000 times better.
I strongly endorse it.
August 11, 2007
Fiction. George is gay. Nina's pregnant. They fight crime! No, excuse me; I meant to say they're roommates. They share an apartment in Brooklyn and if Nina gets her way, once the baby comes they'll be sharing the parenting too. The first time I read this book, I didn't like it much. Now, ten years later, I thought I'd give it another try, but apparently neither of us has changed in the intervening years because I still find it dull and frustrating. It does have occasional flashes of playful language, and I loved the scenes set in the preschool where George taught, but I never really connected with any of the characters, like they were wrapped in cotton and I could only see the barest outline of who they were.
November 22, 2007
Stephen MacCauley writes novels that are largely about relationships and the family in the context of the changing parameters of gay - straight relations. Like Elinor Lipman, his work is laugh out loud funny, laced with interesting and wry observations about the charming stupidities that humans - straight and gay - engage in over and over again, finally stumbling to something that looks like it might be a happy ending. I met him at a bookstore in Provincetown last year and he is very much like one of his characters -- self-effacing, funny, and a little stumbly, but ultimately very charming. I would recommend any of his books for a light but interesting read.
January 2, 2011
I love this author. His books are pretty light but he has an interesting insight into interpersonal dynamics. I have read all his books, which are center around gay male characters. And even though they pretty much all have the same plot, I still keep my eye out for him, though he hasn't come out with anything forever.
June 20, 2023
An absoutely charming rom-com. Characters are flawed. George is desperate to be liked, and Nina is pursuring an ideal life. Everything that could go wrong does, and its handled with humor. By the end of the story I felt close to the characters and wanted nothing but the best for them. They have an unconventional relationship. Its more of a romantic friendship and I loved every minuate of it.
Edit: Do not watch the movie!!!! This a great story that leans into feminism, building a chosen family, and the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, and the movie ripped all of that away. Avoid the movie at all costs and stick to reading the book. The book is 1000% better!
Edit: Do not watch the movie!!!! This a great story that leans into feminism, building a chosen family, and the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis, and the movie ripped all of that away. Avoid the movie at all costs and stick to reading the book. The book is 1000% better!
March 12, 2020
3,5 Sterne
Ich wüsste nicht, welches Buch in meinem Regal am längsten darauf wartet von mir gelesen zu werden (meine Excel Tabelle habe ich erst vor 11 Jahren um die Spalte "Anschaffungsdatum" erweitert). Ich weiß allerdings, dass dieses Buch mindestens 18 Jahre und 2 Wochen ungelesen in meinem Besitz ist. Da bin ich nämlich nach Wien gezogen und hatte nur eine Handvoll Bücher im Gepäck. Dass ich es dann doch nie gelesen habe liegt schlicht und einfach daran, dass ich hier rasch viele Second-Hand-Bücherläden entdeckt habe und so ständig Nachschub kam.
"Liebe in jeder Beziehung" hat dennoch diverse Ausmistaktionen und Umzüge überstanden. Zu schön waren meine Erinnerungen an den dazugehörigen Film mit Jennifer Aniston und Paul Rudd (von dem es im Inneren sogar ein paar Fotos gibt!) Doch obwohl das Buch als Vorlage erkennbar ist, ist es deutlich anders. Die Hauptperson und Ich-Erzähler ist George, ein Vorschullehrer aus Boston, der uns von seinem Umzug nach New York, von seiner kurzen Zeit an der Uni, seinen Liebesbeziehungen, seiner WG + Freundschaft mit Nina und seinen Erlebnissen auf der Arbeit berichtet. Das fand ich stellenweise nur mittelmäßig interessant - auch wenn das Buch gut geschrieben ist! Für mich kam nur leider zu wenig Nina drin vor, und auch der Witz einzelner Szenen und Dialoge fehlte hier (zB die mit der Schwester Constanze, die im Buch nur ganz kurz in Form einer Freundin vorkommt).
Ich wüsste nicht, welches Buch in meinem Regal am längsten darauf wartet von mir gelesen zu werden (meine Excel Tabelle habe ich erst vor 11 Jahren um die Spalte "Anschaffungsdatum" erweitert). Ich weiß allerdings, dass dieses Buch mindestens 18 Jahre und 2 Wochen ungelesen in meinem Besitz ist. Da bin ich nämlich nach Wien gezogen und hatte nur eine Handvoll Bücher im Gepäck. Dass ich es dann doch nie gelesen habe liegt schlicht und einfach daran, dass ich hier rasch viele Second-Hand-Bücherläden entdeckt habe und so ständig Nachschub kam.
"Liebe in jeder Beziehung" hat dennoch diverse Ausmistaktionen und Umzüge überstanden. Zu schön waren meine Erinnerungen an den dazugehörigen Film mit Jennifer Aniston und Paul Rudd (von dem es im Inneren sogar ein paar Fotos gibt!) Doch obwohl das Buch als Vorlage erkennbar ist, ist es deutlich anders. Die Hauptperson und Ich-Erzähler ist George, ein Vorschullehrer aus Boston, der uns von seinem Umzug nach New York, von seiner kurzen Zeit an der Uni, seinen Liebesbeziehungen, seiner WG + Freundschaft mit Nina und seinen Erlebnissen auf der Arbeit berichtet. Das fand ich stellenweise nur mittelmäßig interessant - auch wenn das Buch gut geschrieben ist! Für mich kam nur leider zu wenig Nina drin vor, und auch der Witz einzelner Szenen und Dialoge fehlte hier (zB die mit der Schwester Constanze, die im Buch nur ganz kurz in Form einer Freundin vorkommt).
May 30, 2018
I really enjoyed this. I was in a similar, really strange, overly intimate relationship in my early 20s and appreciate the way the author explored how this kind of thing can devolve into an emotional crutch. Written with humor and compassion and filled with some really lived-in characters.
July 17, 2016
Comical, yet sensitive look into the complexity of love and blurred lines between love and friendship. If you've seen the movie, read it. It's so much better and very different.
May 10, 2018
I don't recall ever experiencing a book so viscerally as this one. I wanted to shake George (and I'm nonviolent) when I could tell he was noncommitting and about to leave someone hanging. He does finally figure out what he wants and the reader won't be disappointed with the ending.
This was an early book by a Vermont 2018 Booktopia author. I am eager to get to his most recent. I love his writing.
This was an early book by a Vermont 2018 Booktopia author. I am eager to get to his most recent. I love his writing.
March 2, 2016
Première lecture aboutie de l'année.
Premier titre issu de mon Challenge 2007.
Un livre en moins de ma PAL (eh oui! ça doit faire plus d'un mois que je n'ai plus acheté de bouquin!! Je tremble! Je tremble! brrrrrrr)
J'ai passé des agréables moments de lecture avec McCauley. Il s'agissait de mon premier roman de cet auteur, mais j'avais déniché une bonne occas sur ebay et m'étais déjà procuré ses autres bouquins....
Georges a quitté sa bourgade natale pour vivre la grande aventure New-York. Jeune instit maternel homo, il rencontre Joley, dont il tombe éperduement amoureux. Il décide d'emménager chez lui en vue du grand bonheur, c'est sans compter les tocs complètement allumés de son ami. Réduit à faire chambre à part, Georges digère plutôt mal son concubinage. Le pire se déroule lors d'un soirée branchée chez une amie "artiste" de Joley. Ce dernier lui présente une jeune femme, Nina, psychologue en état de tentative de rédaction de thèse.
Par le biais de sous-entendu très entendu, Joley invite Georges à apprendre à connaitre Nina afin d'emménager avec elle à Brooklyn...
J'ai apprécié le cadre de cette histoire. Les personnages sont attachants. On apprend à les connaître petit à petit, et même les plus insupportables nous touchent à certains moments.
Mais ils sont aussi comiques. J'ai beaucoup sourit en me plongeant dans les pages du livre.
Je retiens un passage-qui ne me concerne pas du tout, je tiens à le préciser.
Georges arrive chez Nina pour visiter son appartement.
Pour l'occasion, elle lui a préparé un bon repas bien appétissant.
Mais sou prétexte d'un petit régime, Nina précise qu'elle va juste se contenter d'une salade...
La discussion s'installe et au fil du dîner Nina ne cesse de picorer ou plutôt piquer dans l'assiette de Georges.
Je suis entrée dans la vie de Georges et Nina. J'avais un peu l'impression d'être tapie dans un coin de leur appartement de Brooklyn. L'auteur m'y avait laissé une place au chaud. Le style est simple. Le récit sort de la bouche de Georges et comprends pas mal de dialogue. C'est assez dynamique et l'auteur de ne tourne pas en rond ou ne présente pas de passage tirant en longueur. Il se lit donc assez vite- pour autant qu'on accroche au style.
J'avais acheté ce bouquin il y a déjà pas mal..... de temps. J'étais à la recherche d'un auteur, d'un titre qui pourrait me rappeler les chroniques de Maupin. Ma librairie préférée m'avait donc aiguillé vers McCauley.
Je suis contente de l'avoir découvert.
J'ai quand même une petite critique (que j'ai également vue chez Frisette) : la taille de la police.
J'avais plusieurs fois voulu me plonger dans le bouquin, mais l'écriture si petite et si serrée m'avait un peu rebutée.
Néanmoins, cette fois-ci j'ai avancé dans l'histoire, j'ai été plus loin que les deux premières pages, et cet inconvénient finit par devenir moins gênant. Enfin c'est surtout une critique à l'éditeur.
Premier titre issu de mon Challenge 2007.
Un livre en moins de ma PAL (eh oui! ça doit faire plus d'un mois que je n'ai plus acheté de bouquin!! Je tremble! Je tremble! brrrrrrr)
J'ai passé des agréables moments de lecture avec McCauley. Il s'agissait de mon premier roman de cet auteur, mais j'avais déniché une bonne occas sur ebay et m'étais déjà procuré ses autres bouquins....
Georges a quitté sa bourgade natale pour vivre la grande aventure New-York. Jeune instit maternel homo, il rencontre Joley, dont il tombe éperduement amoureux. Il décide d'emménager chez lui en vue du grand bonheur, c'est sans compter les tocs complètement allumés de son ami. Réduit à faire chambre à part, Georges digère plutôt mal son concubinage. Le pire se déroule lors d'un soirée branchée chez une amie "artiste" de Joley. Ce dernier lui présente une jeune femme, Nina, psychologue en état de tentative de rédaction de thèse.
Par le biais de sous-entendu très entendu, Joley invite Georges à apprendre à connaitre Nina afin d'emménager avec elle à Brooklyn...
J'ai apprécié le cadre de cette histoire. Les personnages sont attachants. On apprend à les connaître petit à petit, et même les plus insupportables nous touchent à certains moments.
Mais ils sont aussi comiques. J'ai beaucoup sourit en me plongeant dans les pages du livre.
Je retiens un passage-qui ne me concerne pas du tout, je tiens à le préciser.
Georges arrive chez Nina pour visiter son appartement.
Pour l'occasion, elle lui a préparé un bon repas bien appétissant.
Mais sou prétexte d'un petit régime, Nina précise qu'elle va juste se contenter d'une salade...
La discussion s'installe et au fil du dîner Nina ne cesse de picorer ou plutôt piquer dans l'assiette de Georges.
Je suis entrée dans la vie de Georges et Nina. J'avais un peu l'impression d'être tapie dans un coin de leur appartement de Brooklyn. L'auteur m'y avait laissé une place au chaud. Le style est simple. Le récit sort de la bouche de Georges et comprends pas mal de dialogue. C'est assez dynamique et l'auteur de ne tourne pas en rond ou ne présente pas de passage tirant en longueur. Il se lit donc assez vite- pour autant qu'on accroche au style.
J'avais acheté ce bouquin il y a déjà pas mal..... de temps. J'étais à la recherche d'un auteur, d'un titre qui pourrait me rappeler les chroniques de Maupin. Ma librairie préférée m'avait donc aiguillé vers McCauley.
Je suis contente de l'avoir découvert.
J'ai quand même une petite critique (que j'ai également vue chez Frisette) : la taille de la police.
J'avais plusieurs fois voulu me plonger dans le bouquin, mais l'écriture si petite et si serrée m'avait un peu rebutée.
Néanmoins, cette fois-ci j'ai avancé dans l'histoire, j'ai été plus loin que les deux premières pages, et cet inconvénient finit par devenir moins gênant. Enfin c'est surtout une critique à l'éditeur.
August 17, 2014
The Object of My Affection by Stephen McCauley
Nina and George have been living in an apartment in Brooklyn for over a year when Nina announces she's pregnant. The father is none other than her boyfriend, Howard.
George Mullen came from Boston. He's currently a kindergarten teacher at St. Mikael's school and has broken up with his faculty adviser at Columbia, Robert Joley, with whom he lived for several months. George has a problem with any emotional involvement.
Nina Borowski is the daughter of Polish immigrants and is a counselor at the local health center. She is almost a psychologist but needs to finish her dissertation. A feminist by definition, has problems with relationships and wants one with George, only because he's unattainable.
Howard Lechter is a layer who is in love with Nina, wants to marry her, but can be a pain in the ass.
The book, narrated in the first person point of view, is a collection of anecdotes of these principal and some secondary characters. There is no plot, and the climax - if you can call it that - is the wedding of George's brother in Boston, where his family can't deal with the fact that Nina is a single mother, or that George is gay. Frank tells his brother George: "Your friends might be a bunch of open minded liberals who don't see anything odd in your life-style, but believe me, it wouldn't make for a romantic evening for me to uncork a bottle of wine and tell Cici my brother is a homosexual. She's a sweet kid. She's the kind of girl who wouldn't understand what the word means." instead of a real climax, we end up with what George is best at - avoiding a confrontation. They don't go to the wedding and George realizes that he wants to be with his newest boyfriend, Paul, and not raise the kid with Nina.
I bought the McCauley books because they were in the list of 100 best gay novels to read and was disappointed with both of them. I can't say i recommend them for anything other that a meaningless fluffy read....
Nina and George have been living in an apartment in Brooklyn for over a year when Nina announces she's pregnant. The father is none other than her boyfriend, Howard.
George Mullen came from Boston. He's currently a kindergarten teacher at St. Mikael's school and has broken up with his faculty adviser at Columbia, Robert Joley, with whom he lived for several months. George has a problem with any emotional involvement.
Nina Borowski is the daughter of Polish immigrants and is a counselor at the local health center. She is almost a psychologist but needs to finish her dissertation. A feminist by definition, has problems with relationships and wants one with George, only because he's unattainable.
Howard Lechter is a layer who is in love with Nina, wants to marry her, but can be a pain in the ass.
The book, narrated in the first person point of view, is a collection of anecdotes of these principal and some secondary characters. There is no plot, and the climax - if you can call it that - is the wedding of George's brother in Boston, where his family can't deal with the fact that Nina is a single mother, or that George is gay. Frank tells his brother George: "Your friends might be a bunch of open minded liberals who don't see anything odd in your life-style, but believe me, it wouldn't make for a romantic evening for me to uncork a bottle of wine and tell Cici my brother is a homosexual. She's a sweet kid. She's the kind of girl who wouldn't understand what the word means." instead of a real climax, we end up with what George is best at - avoiding a confrontation. They don't go to the wedding and George realizes that he wants to be with his newest boyfriend, Paul, and not raise the kid with Nina.
I bought the McCauley books because they were in the list of 100 best gay novels to read and was disappointed with both of them. I can't say i recommend them for anything other that a meaningless fluffy read....
July 18, 2018
I loved this book! I read it several times and it never gets old. The movie was just not the book. Jennifer Aniston was no Nina and Paul Rudd was certainly no George.I admit II went to see it and dragged a friend and felt like the wind was knocked out of me the way Hollywood hacked up my favorite book.Oh well, let's get to the book.This story takes place in New York ( Brooklyn to be precise) and we meet Nina & George, roommates, best friends, and confidants.George ended up living with Nina when the egotistical and narcissistic Professor he was living with took it upon himself to make arrangements for him to move in with Nina.George is hurt but since his relationship with Jory is really in it's final stages.George and Nina find that they really like each other and find the living arrangement perfect.We watch these two dependence upon each other,both are neurotic, self-absorbed, and can be unlikeable at times.Nina is seeing Howard, a needy, funny, and hapless lawyer.Howie, as George calls him, is obsessed with Nina.He wants nothing more but to take care of Nina,but is a man who believes the equality of women.Nina uses and abuses Howard.She likes having him around,but wants her independence.To tell the truth, my favorite character is one who has a very minor role in the book,his name is Tim.Tim is so funny,acerbic, and just tells George some harsh truths about himself that I wanted to read more about him.This is a good read and it takes place during the 80's and I since I grew up at that era,it makes me nostalgic.
August 14, 2018
I re-read this one from time to time. The characters are so well-rounded and real, they feel like old friends. Whenever I start it again and find myself in George and Nina’s cluttered apartment with their old records playing, I feel like I’m somewhere familiar and pleasant. The movie adaptation missed everything that was good about this book, in my opinion. (And I couldn’t ever forgive it for demonizing Howard, a character I love.)
Read
November 27, 2010I first read this sometime in the (presumably early) 90s, and found it captivating. Thus, when reunited with my books recently, it was one (of many) that I looked forward to rereading. While I was not quite as enamored of it the second time around, by the end I was nonetheless hooked again--it's sweet, charming, funny.
August 2, 2011
This book has a great significance in my life as it was the first book I read for pleasure, I wasn't a big reader before I picked up this book. There isn't anything special about it but I figured out that I like real life drama, not sc-fi, fantasy or romance, mystery,suspense or crime novels. It was reading this book when the lightbulb turned on....oh I do like reading.
October 10, 2016
I got this from a friend in the '90s. I remember liking it a good deal. I like the movie too, though in a different way. Good casting, etc. Though, they are a bit more attractive. I still have it, though I have moved twice. Which says something. I never read anything else by the author. I imagine I will sometime.
January 20, 2009
I love Stephen McCauley. A good light read that isn't that light.
December 4, 2010
I loved this movie, which led me to the book. The book is a bit different, but I really liked both. McCauley is such a fun author to read.
June 19, 2012
Gay guy lives with pregnant roomate in NYC. Quirky, warm but just so-so.
December 1, 2014
Very much loved this!
April 8, 2016
My only regret is that I will never again read it for the first time.
November 8, 2017
Years ago, when I first moved to New York City, my closest friend here was a gay man from my hometown. I remember him telling me about a novel he was reading which centered on the fraught relationship between a gay man and his straight female roommate, and it sounded like a good read, but I didn't borrow it. Years later it became a movie with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, and years after that, someone in my building left a paperback with the unfortunate movie cover on the trade table in our lobby.
My friend and I have drifted apart, which I was reminded of at the melancholy conclusion of the novel, when George considers the future of his friendship with Nina. It's an enjoyable book, though quirky Nina becomes somewhat unreasonable when the folie a deux she and George are living is threatened by a new romance of his.
My friend and I have drifted apart, which I was reminded of at the melancholy conclusion of the novel, when George considers the future of his friendship with Nina. It's an enjoyable book, though quirky Nina becomes somewhat unreasonable when the folie a deux she and George are living is threatened by a new romance of his.
June 11, 2021
Not enough Nina
April 4, 2025
i think this is my favorite book of all time 😐
December 27, 2007
SO NOT THE FILM!!!!
i loved this book when i read it in the early '90's - as gay literature was just emerging in its own right, it SO reflected my and my peer group's longings for real relationships, both romantic and non, i.e., how we can fit into this world, told through the story of a very non-"scene" oriented, human gay man.
(then hollywood botched it up by hiring wendy wasserstein to write the screenplay, completely changing it to make it the best girlfriend's story from her point of view - wha? ummm, just write a new story, folks.....)
i loved this book when i read it in the early '90's - as gay literature was just emerging in its own right, it SO reflected my and my peer group's longings for real relationships, both romantic and non, i.e., how we can fit into this world, told through the story of a very non-"scene" oriented, human gay man.
(then hollywood botched it up by hiring wendy wasserstein to write the screenplay, completely changing it to make it the best girlfriend's story from her point of view - wha? ummm, just write a new story, folks.....)
February 27, 2012
I read this because I found it at a used book store and I remembered seeing the movie (with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) on TV once a million years ago. I like the movie and I like the book, but it was odd because though the central premise and all the characters were the same they had been reshuffled into a completely different plot, which in some ways was frustrating because I like a couple parts of the movie better, but in other ways was really cool. It was like reading about an alternate universe.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.