Benjamin Nugent

I usually like books that are about the college experience. I did not like this one. It really was not for me. I think only two of the short stories- "Cassiopeia" and "Safe Spaces" -were arguably salvageable. I feel like the book did a disservice to those 90s frat movies that I hold a particular fondness for. Who knows- if you like experimental and 'odd' short stories about college, then maybe this will be your thing. It was a great idea for a novel, but it didn't work. I don't think Nugent knew where to reel in aspects of the book when he should have.

Anyway, don't let my review discourage you if you think it sounds interesting. It just wasn't for me.… (more)

I was a little puzzled by this book, which many far better reviewers than I have considered outstanding, judgments seemingly supported by the author's impressive résumé. I thought it capably written, but uninteresting (and I expected to enjoy it). I was surprised that, in the year 2020, Farrar Straus would publish a book that portrays fraternity life so sympathetically, and I didn't agree with any of the advance praise published on the back of the dust jacket. I expect I just missed something more apparent to other readers.… (more)

Since I use Pride and Prejudice as a foil for my novel, I loved his section on the book. Nugent makes the case that Mary Bennet, Elizabeth's younger sister, is a nerd. As he describes, in Chapter 5 she cooly gives one of the foundations for the book's title and theme, that "pride... is a very common failing." Indeed, she sounds Asberger-y, reflecting on human nature much as a high functioning autistic person (one category of nerd) might. Mary is also plain, bookish, "the smart one," pedantic and conceited. Mary is "comfortable with the technical but not the intuitive" and uses the language of scientific detachment. This kind of "fractured" take on a familiar classic mirrors what I am attempting in fiction, using the novel to get a radically different, surprising and pretty offensive view of society.… (more)