About the Book:
One night in New York City’s Chinatown, a woman is at a work reunion dinner with former colleagues when she excuses herself to buy a pack of cigarettes. On her way back, she runs into a former boyfriend. And then another. And . . . another. Nothing is quite what it seems as the city becomes awash with ghosts of heartbreaks past.
What would normally pass for coincidence becomes something far stranger as the recently engaged Lola must contend not only with the viability of her current relationship but the fact that both her best friend and her former boss, a magazine editor turned mystical guru, might have an unhealthy investment in the outcome. Memories of the past swirl and converge in ways both comic and eerie, as Lola is forced to decide if she will surrender herself to the conspiring of one very contemporary cult.
Hilariously insightful and delightfully suspenseful, Cult Classic is an original: a masterfully crafted tale of love, memory, morality, and mind control, as well as a fresh foray into the philosophy of romance. Is it possible to have a happy ending in an age when the past is ever at your fingertips and sanity is for sale? With her gimlet eye, Sloane Crosley spins a wry literary fantasy that is equal parts page-turner and poignant portrayal of alienation.
My Review:
“Perhaps the Internet had spoiled us more than we suspected and we already suspected quite a bit.”
Enjoyed the audiobook narrated by the author herself! I saw this book described as an “unromantic comedy” and you can take that how you like, but I rather found this book to be romantic! Just not in the conventional sense.
Lola is a dissatisfied New Yorker, engaged to be married to Boots, a glass blower who attended Brown University and who seems on paper to be the perfect partner. Why then is Lola feeling so discontent in her relationship? Is it just plain old cold feet? When Lola starts running into all of her old boyfriends or even just men who has some kind of strong romantic impact on her, she begins to think something is amiss.
This is the second book in a row that I read that had New York City in a starring role. How I love when the the city is almost like another character in a book! From Uptown to Downtown to all points in between, Lola traverses the city and runs into all sorts of characters in the span of a few days. But what is with all of the very odd, coincidental meetings with her exes?
“This is New York,’ I explained. ‘Everything is outside everyone’s comfort zone.”
What does Lola really want? It all becomes crystal clear when she meets up with her former boss Clive from the now-defunct magazine Modern Psychology. I don’t want to spoil the book with more details here but I almost believe in the philosophy that he espoused in the book! (Don’t judge!) Lots of adventures ensue, and all of it is read in the perfectly dry voice of the author Sloane Crosley. She adds just the right amount of wryness to this already funny book.
What will Lola do about Boots? He does seem to sense her ambivalence about getting married. (“Men, who can be so oblivious in most arenas, are very good a knowing when a woman’s heart has left the building.”) There are quite a few shockers in this very entertaining tale about modern love. A great beach read!
(Many thanks to the publisher for providing an audiobook listening copy via NetGalley.)
