Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper
Let’s face it. Valentine’s Day is the cilantro of holidays: You love it, or you hate it. Either you shower your loved one in chocolates and red and pink paper hearts, or you rue the day the Hallmark holiday was invented. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m squarely in the latter camp, both with Valentine’s Day and cilantro (it really does taste like soap). In our world of modern love, a holiday that celebrates its representation via the color pink and those questionable heart-shaped chalky confections just doesn’t seem adequate.
Just as Valentine’s Day could use a bit of a facelift, Tropper tries his hand at revising the typical love story. Boy meets Girl, Boy falls in Love, Boy gets Married. Right?
Wrong. Try Boy meets Girl, Boy accidentally falls in Love with Dead Best Friend’s Wife, Boy is Confused. Everything Changes is a quirky love story more in tune with the bro-mantic comedies that seem to be flooding our cinemas – Judd Apatow would certainly approve of Tropper’s characterizations and conflicts. It’s a light read but one that won’t disappoint, as long as you’re not looking for the next serious meditation on modern male sexuality.
Sorry, but nothing will excuse your Twilight habit – if you’re a sucker for romance, try these instead:
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Hornby’s famous triumph of the exploration of early adulthood via itemized lists of vinyl and ex-girlfriends. Rob Fleming is the perfect music jerk, and by the end of the book you’ll be happy you made the trip with him but also that you aren’t him. Bonus points if you follow up by watching John Cusack slay teenage hearts in the film version.
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
What would you do for your spouse? When you sign that invisible contract of “until death do us part,” do you really mean it? Ferris’s harrowing novel explores the limits of a problem that can’t be explained or resolved, eating away at a healthy marriage from the inside out. Heartbreaking and grounding, Ferris unabashedly questions love, sacrifice and fate itself.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I’ll throw a bone to all of you Valentine’s Day revelers out there – Austen’s is the real tried-and-true love story. Elizabeth’s unabashed independence and persistence in the defense of romantic love is still as poignant and powerful as the day it was written.
