At first, I wasn’t sure I liked the writing style, but I soon found myself chuckling oversituations and characters. The two central characters have strong goals and even stronger obstacles. Before long, I felt the escalation of a disaster coming and I had no idea how or if Mark and Nina would stay together. Was it the location? The marketing? Their targeted audience? Or was it the fresh dreams of a married couple hoping for a place among New York’s ‘hip’ coffee scene? Surely New Yorkers care about authentic Viennese coffee? Mark and Nina have such appreciation for the fine brew - how could things go wrong? Oh, but they do...Highly recommended alongside a good strong java. I practically devoured the first third of the book. Then it stalled a little and I had to take a break. But once I crawled through the second third, it picked up the speed. (this is to say that the quality of the content, at least for me, was somewhat uneven). I did enjoy the language of the book immensely (although, I have to admit, I had to look words up in a dictionary more than I'd like:-)). The jokes are witty, and observations about American society are very sharp. The author is very intelligent and doesn't seem to patronize the reader, which I always appreciate.What was also interesting for me is to look the author's own translation of it into Russian (Kofemolka) and compare the two versions. The one in English is more appealing, although the Russian one has its jewels too.
What do You think about Ground Up: A Novel (2009)?
It starts out great but becomes a little predictable and clichéd toward the end.
—meenu
Loved it. Just seemed like an extension of the New Yorker/New York magazines.
—Bunny
funny in a NYC way entertaining and a fast read
—michelle
My favorite book. Very snarky and real.
—jacobsanders9527
