The Man of My Dreams: A Novel

First Time with this Author.:
I did not read Sittenfeld's previous novel, Prep, so I had no expectations when I started reading this book. I liked "The Man of My Dreams". Hannah Gavener is an interesting character. She is sent away to live with her aunt when she is fourteen years old because of her father's escalating fury and madness. She spends the rest of her life trying to understand if people ever really live happily ever after. She questions her sister Allison's relationship with Sam and wonders why she loves this guy. Her cousin Fig is the party girl who dates a different person from week to week. Hannah floats from relationship to relationship and usually ends up picking guys she knows she'll never really be happy with. Hannah is flawed but is still extremely likeable. The writing in this book is honest and extremely well done. I will read more books by this author.

Disappointing:
I LOVED Prep and American Wife. This was just NOT as good. Boring, generic,...like a bad paperback romance novel from a grocery store.

A mediocre beach read for girls under the age of 18:
As a (married) college sophomore reading this, I found that the book had a strong appeal to chick-lit fans and hopeless romantics like myself. I had strong expectations when I saw the cover at Barnes & Noble. However, with the small price tag of $5.99 for a hard cover book with a plain white background and a photo of a green frog with a golden crown on it, I could not resist. The title gave a whimsical touch of nostalgia when I was a naive little girl who dreamt about fairy tales and perfectly flawless prince charmings, who do not exist btw. Anyway, this book was a very simple, quick read for me although I am a fairly fast reader. The beginning lacked suspense and when I reached the climax, I felt as if I was still missing something. Perhaps for a hopeless romantic, I didn't want to read that the "princess" never got her prince, but maybe my expectations were too high for this supposed "chick lit." There were brief excerpts about the main character, Hannah being a virgin until she was 21 and then barely steamy moments involving sex, but those were it. I did not find that the novel deserved the title. Thus, I don't recommend this book for anyone older than 18 (who has experienced any part of the real world); however, for a little girl who enjoys reading but doesn't need to critically think about what she's reading, then this book will suffice. Otherwise, skip this rated PG book!

A collection of short stories demonstrating the lack of growth in Hannah's life; book too concerned with social class:
Hannah Gavener is one of the saddest characters in contemporary fiction. I was cringing through most of this novel. That this girl can create so many screwed up relationships while others are moving along. Her unstable father emotionally abused his wife and two daughters. Yet, two of the three can form normal relationships. Hannah cannot get very close to men or women. She allows herself to be manipulated by her pretty cousin, Fig. Will Hannah ever get a backbone? She completely destroys a relationships with a wonderful guy, Mike. I had a very hard time reading those chapters, as it was painful to watch her destroy something so good. It was even more painful to watch her sabotage her own life with poor "relationships": Ted, Oliver, the teenage boys. This story does not have a happy ending. I feel that Curtis Sittenfeld smacks middle and working class living by relocating Hannah to Albuquerque, NM. Hannah, who always lived a life of luxury, except when she had to take out student loans for one year... she can finally find peace when she makes much less money and living in a much "lower of cost of living" city. But, she is still lost when it comes to love. Everyone in her life, even her most current friend Lisa, have significant others. Hannah becomes absorbed in a lonely profession- it's quite sad to read how she finds solace in assisting a severely disabled teenager in the bathroom. Hannah is no hero. I think Sittenfeld barely scratched the surface of Hannah's complexities. The novel is a series of short stories. We never really get closure with any situation- we just know Hannah screws it up and moves on. Thus, the book jerks along without any rhythm. Hannah is stagnant, except that she finally does lose her viriginity, but she even messes up that relationship. A frustrating read because Hannah does not change. What I did appreciate was how pathetic Aunt Elizabeth was!!! Aunt Elizabeth, a working class nurse with a truck driver husband and disabled child, wants to celebrate Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland's wedding. She actually buys cake mix, plans a menu, etc. It was so sad to see, 12 in the future, Aunt Elizabeth analyze Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. The woman is seriously sad. However, I do get red flags of caution- is Sittenfeld making Aunt Elizabeth "troubled" because Aunt Elizabeth is not living a priviledged life? I'll be honest. Sittenfeld is obsessed with class, and not in a good way. And that's the other disappointing part of her work. I won't be running out to get her next book- if my library gets it, I'll eventually read it.

A Poignant Portrait of Growing Up . . .:
Let me just say, my opinion may be skewed because this was the first book in the last three months to hold my interest enough for me to finish it. Now, that may be because I've been really busy and had a lot on my mind, but I don't think it takes away from my thinking this is a good book. Good, not great. And perhaps not better than Prep. But I am still giving it 4 stars. I think what I appreciated most is Sittenfeld's writing. In the same manner as Prep, the dialogue of The Man of My Dreams just flowed. These generally feel like conversations that you could imagine real people having. Much the same with the events. They feel like events that could have happened to you or someone you knew. Nothing was too far fetched. And yet, together, they painted a truly real, poignant portrait of growing up and accepting change in yourself. Admittedly, I liked the middle of the book the best, the stories surrounding Hannah at her college age. I didn't love the ending, but I didn't hate it either. I know when I reviewed Prep, I said that I think I wanted to know more about where the main character ended up after she left prep school. In The Man of My Dreams, Sittenfeld makes the main character's path seem a little clearer, which I do appreciate. And honestly, at a time in my life where I am constantly questioning what I am doing and where I am going, the ending is a little refreshing. In the end, I definitely think I liked Prep better. But I certainly was very interested and invested in this book as well. I credit Sittenfeld for her writing and the way she pulls events from a history of a character to make them seem so real to the reader. Reading Hannah's random stories, pulled from various times in her life, I feel like they create a fair and honest tableau. And as I did after Prep, I wonder what events in my own life someone would choose to pull if trying to tell the story of my personal journey and growth. And I think she does this marvelously. I look forward to her next book.