What do You think about Tomcat In Love (2000)?
Tomcat in Love A NovelTim O BrienThis is a test! There is no right answer. He had the appearance, if I may say so, of an ostrich attempting to swallow a toaster. If you find that funny, you will love Tomcat in Love. If you think otherwise, you may find the book less pleasing in direct proportion to the depths of your otherwise.Sometimes I try to imagine what a book might be like if it was made into a movie. Would I like the movie? Do I like raunchy PG-13 movies? Did I like Cheech & Chong? Enough said.What do others think? On the front cover of the book is this quote:Tomcat in Love is a wonderful novel, laugh-out-loud funny, one of the best books I’ve come across in years…-- Washington PostWith the help of Google, I find the actual 1998 review. And, in fact, the quote is accurate. But, as it has been said elsewhere: “…no accounting for taste…” and “… everyone has a right to their own opinion…” I would add, “Do not believe reviewer David Nicholson.”There are 1254 ratings on GR that yield a less than scintillating 3.32 average. Now, I can relate to that. A bit high, I think, but no accounting for taste. About the same number give it two stars as give it a five. Put me in the two column. [Three years later there are more ratings, 2369, but still only a 3.38 average. I am decreasing my own rating to one star since I figure that is what a book ought to get if you are unable to get beyond halfway after two tries.]In my era the term Tomcat was associated with the male cat on the prowl. Can a cat exhibit promiscuous activity? Amoral sex is common in Tomcat in Love. Not lyrical enough to be erotic, not graphic enough to be pornographic and not funny enough to be ribald or farcical. The shortest self-description by Tom: “I was no simple Lothario; I was complicated.” A longer description by a woman: “If you ask my opinion, you’re a sick, dangerous, compulsive skirt chaser. And a sneak. And a liar.”The book started out with humor. I was believing its own book cover raves about itself. I like words and thought some of the “linguistic” aspects were clever. But then I just got tired of it. My recommendation: read Tim O Brien’s The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods.
—Larry Bassett
All of the reviews quoted on the cover of Tomcat in Love call it a "comic novel," or "wildly funny," or "laugh-out-loud funny." I closed the book and looked at those reviews multiple times during my reading. The main character is sort of a hapless guy. He's a professor of linguistics in Minnesota, a Vietnam veteran, a man who is irresistible to women (don't believe that? Just ask him, he'll tell you) - and yet, things seem to always turn out wrong for him. He married his childhood sweetheart, Lorna Sue, but she's since left him and married a tycoon with a stupid name. The problem is that Thomas just can't let go, no matter what his pursuit of her does to his life.Sounds hilarious, right? It is, kind of. It reminded me of an Elmore Leonard novel being put into a blender with Catch-22 and about a third of Tristram Shandy, and then someone sneaking in a dash of A Confederacy of Dunces. (Full disclosure: I absolutely hated A Confederacy of Dunces, but I cannot help but note some similarities between Ignatius T. Reilly and Thomas H. Chippering). O'Brien has a way of mixing the heartbreaking, the true, and the ridiculous together from paragraph to paragraph, and he does that frequently here. I felt like the book was maybe just a tad over-long, but I'm not sure what could be cut. I just know that my reading pace slowed in the latter part.Recommended for: fans of breaking the fourth wall, logophiles, people who don't mind the absurd mixed in with their pathos (or vice versa).Quote: "The shortest distance between two points may well be a straight line, but one must remember that efficiency is not the only narrative virtue."
—Ursula
This is the first of O'Brien's works that I've read. To be honest, I was planning to read "The Things They Carried," but I found "Tomcat in Love" in a bookstore first. I understand this book differs from his others because of the humor. In some ways, Thomas reminded me of Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces." Both have hidden writings, both have misadventures and both are selfish, deluded, tragic and comic. There the similiarity ends though.As I read, there was no way of knowing throughout the book whether Thomas H. Chippering was telling the truth unless he offered other characters' reactions to his behavior. Thomas does a great job of ruining his life, but believe it or not, it's a story of not just second but third, fourth and fifth chances. There is a surprise ending.I guess it was also a surprise to his readers that O'Brien could pull this complex, darkly humorous novel out of his hat. I had nothing to compare this work to, so it stood alone. I gave the book four stars. That's very high praise, coming from me.
—Sandralee
