Warp

November 3, 1997
Recent Harvard graduate Hollis has been kicked off the mommy-daddy train for bad behavior in Grossman's low-key, witty first novel about a melancholic upper-middle class rebel without a cause. Cashing in his last stocks, hiding from his landlord, mourning a failed romance and up for anything but a real job ("these hands were never meant for toil"), Hollis helps break into the house of friends of friends for a weekend of luxury and "screen time" with their cable TV. That's where he meets an unlikely partner in crime. A pastiche of pop-cult references--Star Trek, late-night B movies, historical romance, Sherlock Holmes, 15-year-old Top-40 hits--intrude upon Hollis's stream of consciousness as he hangs out with Cambridge pals, reminisces about his ex and lets a beautiful, mysterious stranger take him home. But the familiar technique feels new enough in Grossman's hands to inspire affection for his unlikely protagonist, whose gentle despair recalls the heroes of Ann Beattie's Chilly Scenes of Winter and Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim. Like those debuts, this one relies on its strengths--deadpan comic dialogue, trivial irony and faultless, unostentatious evocations of place--without any of the efforts to preach or shock or amaze that plague so many chronicles of generation X.

November 1, 1997
Fun, sassy, and sardonic in its opening pages, this first novel tells the story of Hollis, a recent Harvard grad who loves Star Trek reruns and hasn't a clue about what to do with the rest of his life: a timely dilemma, since he has just cashed in his last bank certificate, quit his job, and lost his girlfriend to a fancy firm downtown. Grossman has captured the real thing: a smart guy who doesn't know whether he should immerse himself in corporate culture. The writing is full of sly humor and the kind of erudite facts favored by recent graduates, along with a cynicism that only the young can sustain. Grossman is most successful in capturing voice (here meaning angst) and rendering great dialog. Too often, though, he interjects sf vignettes and snippets of dialog that could have been lifted from a medieval romance. In the book's major quest, Hollis and a buddy break into the house of a friend of the family, and the low stakes involved zap away all tension. Meanwhile, the charming, enigmatic Xanthe floats through the book, appearing (or not appearing, it's hard to tell which) at the oddest places. A fun take on life for the twentysomething crowd that doesn't quite succeed but offers entertaining moments.--Doris Lynch, Monroe Cty. P.L., Bloomington, Ind.