Indecision

August 1, 2005
Dwight B. Wilmerding, a feckless, 28-year-old college grad, stumbles upon an experimental drug to help him with his chronic inability to assert himself. He soon loses his tech support job and rashly jets off to South America in pursuit of an enigmatic, beautiful woman named. While Dwight's misadventures lead to some entertaining moments, the problem with this recording is simply that Frederic sounds much older than Dwight is supposed to be (dialogue crutches like "dude" and "like" don't ring true). Frederic is a good reader with a wry, sharp-edged delivery that works well with this type of material. His other characterizations are fine, and he shines in a memorable portrayal of Dwight's brash, commodities-trading father. The idea of treating the malaise of modern youth with pharmaceuticals is clever and conducive to several funny episodes, but Frederic's performance as the main character is a bit hard to swallow.

July 15, 2005
The title of journalist/editor Kunkel's debut novel aptly sums up the reader's experience. Is irresolute protagonist Dwight Wilmerding annoying or appealing? Is the plot -about a privileged twentysomething from New York City who jets off to Ecuador on a lark, then shakes up a prep-school reunion Wes Anderson style -superfluous or salient? The typical accoutrements of new fiction are present in "Indecision"'s slouchy, womanizing male protagonist and his exploratory drug use, but Kunkel adds a few zany twists and the singular, casual voice of Dwight. What saves the book from being frivolous -other than its preachy conclusion -is its humor, which bursts forth in several madcap and welcome scenes. In the end, it is Kunkel who seems undecided about whether his book should be a serious comment on American values and habits (the effect of 9/11 or our pharmaceutical dependencies, for instance) or a lighthearted romp through the jungle of love and life. Recommended for libraries as a promising first work. -Prudence Peiffer, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2005
A promising premise is plagued by subpar prose in this debut from literary critic Kunkel. Twentysomething Manhattanite Dwight Wilmerding suffers from a fictional condition called " abulia--"the inability to make up his mind. Paralyzed by indecisiveness about his tech--support job, his complicated love life (there's Dutch bombshell Natasha who lives in Ecuador and coy Vaneetha in New York), and a distressing attraction to his psychiatrist sister, Dwight signs up for the trial drug Abulinix, which claims to tackle tentativeness with a little blue-and-white pill. Dwight travels to South America, only to discover that even the most potent pharmaceuticals are virtually powerless against the forces of fate. A graduate of the Columbia MFA program and founding editor of the literary magazine " n+1," Kunkel writes in a style that is uneven at best--clever one moment, stilted and cliche-ridden the next (he renders a few surprisingly poignant passages depicting post-9/11 New York). While " Inde"cision offers lively commentary on the pros and cons of personal freedom, its rambling narrative makes for a decidedly rocky read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)