Miss Lonelyhearts

by Nathanael West

book data

322 ratings, 3.79 average rating, 36 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		28%
4		36%
3		24%
2		8%
1		3%

edit

published

March 2003 by Assembled Stories (first published 1933)

details

Audio Cassette

characters

Miss Lonelyhearts

setting

United States

isbn

1860154786 (isbn13: 9781860154782)

description

Miss Lonelyhearts is an unnamed male newspaper columnist writing an advice column which is viewed by the newspaper as a joke. As "Miss Lonelyhear…more

find at: Amazon • WorldCat • more options…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Book Nook Cafe: * February 2010	51	39	5 days ago, 01:41AM

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists. Add this book to your favorite list »

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 513)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

Apr 26, 2008

Yulia marked it as one-day-perhaps (review of isbn 014118468X)

bookshelves: one-day-perhaps

Despite the mixed reviews from those I respect, I'm interested in looking into this as Frank was an advice columnist as well and had sad stories to tell, like the letters from women who asked what to do abut their abusive husbands (he responded to those directly). As it was a sex advice column in Playgirl, a magazine that pretends to be for women and not gay men (yes, Playgirl is a closeted magazine), Frank could answer questions only from women, which meant he often had to invent his own, as m...more Despite the mixed reviews from those I respect, I'm interested in looking into this as Frank was an advice columnist as well and had sad stories to tell, like the letters from women who asked what to do abut their abusive husbands (he responded to those directly). As it was a sex advice column in Playgirl, a magazine that pretends to be for women and not gay men (yes, Playgirl is a closeted magazine), Frank could answer questions only from women, which meant he often had to invent his own, as many advice columnists must. Then again, sometimes he'd get questions that were so well-written, I'm sure the readers simply assumed those were the ones written by Frank.

In his first email to me in response to an ad I'd put up on craigslist, he noted he was a sex advice columnist and I immediately thought him, yes, cocky. He even sent me a sample column without my requesting one, so I read it and responded in my chilly manner, "i laughed, but it was almost too callous in its smart-ass wit, it was an overdose. it ended up sounding like a clown-shaped machine you'd find in a carnival, delivering final judgments to naive passers-by for a quarter. call me sensitive..."

It shames me to think of how cruel I was to him in that message (and how far off the mark in regards to the intelligence and wit in his writing), but Frank responded, "No, sensitivity isn't bad at all. You won't find a more sensitive breeder on the planet than me truth be told, that is until you meet my old man. But I think "final judgments" was rather harsh in tone... and takes the column out of context. I think you need to read between the lines in my columns and see the soft underbelly. Just my opinion... and of course you only read one column, so there's that."

From his fondness for his dad and his reserve in responding to my attack, I was won over, of course. We spoke for three hours that night, met up the next day for Afghani food, and have been together for four years now. And it is true, his dad does have a huge heart. He's a great man who made a great son. There's my little love story (though of course I'm glossing over all the mistakes I've made since I met Frank). Let's pretend I was a worthy catch.
(less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

12 comments

Dec 06, 2008

King Dinösaur rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

bookshelves: fiction

Read in December, 2008

I have an affinity for Nathanael West because we share the last name and because he was never properly appreciated while he was living. This is probably his best-known book and for good reason. Although a little on the depressing side it does paint a realistic portrait of the human condition, and has some insight into the pain and ennui that many people carry around inside of them. Highly recommended.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Jul 24, 2009

Debbie Nance rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

bookshelves: a-must-read

Read in January, 2009

Miss Lonelyhearts is the Dear Abby of her day during America’s Great Depression. But Miss Lonelyhearts is a he, not a she, and that’s only the beginning of the ways Miss Lonelyhearts deceives her readers. Though he feels pity for his readers and their terrible lives, Miss Lonelyhearts has little to offer to help them.

Oddly, the most disturbed character in the book is Miss Lonelyhearts himself. He obsesses over the troubles of his readers but no one is able to help him. His edito...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Jun 29, 2009

Brendan rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

bookshelves: 2009, classics, fiction, humor

Read in June, 2009

There seems to be a distinct slice of fancy-pants literature in which mopey people mope about, do mopey stuff, and generally bemoan the lack of motivation that leads them to mopery. I’m thinking here of The Magus and The End of the Affair. In this case, West’s novel focuses on the eponymous hero, an advice columnist beset by depression under the weight of the letters he receives daily. He slumps around, unable to do what he thinks right, and stuck in the rut of drinking, joyless debaucher...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Jul 15, 2009

selena rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

bookshelves: 1001-books-to-read-before-death, 2009

Read in June, 2009

I made a promise to myself that I woudl actively work toward reading all of the books listed on the 1001 books to read before you die list. Sometimes I’ve pouted through the books and then there are times where the list leads me to a new author and gem that I would have missed completely.

Miss Lonelyhearts is Nathanael West’s most famous book, through really, it is a novella. Miss Lonelyhearts is the nickname for the advice columnist for a magazine. (the reader never finds out Mis...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Jun 17, 2009

Lana Barber rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in March, 2008

When people talk about the books that epitomize the modernization of America in the 20's, usually books like The Great Gatsby and such come to mind. I had never heard of this story or this author before I went to Wales and took a course in "The Crisis of the American Self." I can't believe this story isn't more widely used in classes. This book paints the more pathetic and despairing picture of the American citizen as the country blossoms following WWI. I also like how it speaks to...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Apr 28, 2008

Misty rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in April, 2008

This book was not at all what I expected, especially the identity of Miss Lonelyhearts, but I liked it a lot. The tone reminds me a bit of Invisible Man--sort of detached and ironic.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

May 26, 2009

Marissa rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in May, 2009

I usually like happy books, but every once in a while something dark and despairing slips through the cracks. This story is almost as bleak as something by Flannery O'Connor. I really admire West's stylistic flourishes, including the chapter titles and the way that he always refers to the male protagonist as "Miss Lonelyhearts." If you happen to read this novella within the Library of America's "West: Novels & Other Writings," be sure to check out the time-line of the author'...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Jul 03, 2008

Rifftrafft rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in July, 2008

all is good at the clover club

cliff and i have made amends

i am now willing and able (and excited) to give him my money in exchange for his company's reasonably priced cocktails

really dark book about this pagliacci slash dear abby advice columnist type (un)named (and male) "miss lonelyhearts." ML is slowly overwhelmed by the impossible sadness and flat-out evil his readers count among their problems. maybe my favorite kind of christ figure, because he...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Jun 27, 2008

Evan rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

bookshelves: my-faves, yearning

Read in July, 2008

It seems I've given too many five-star ratings lately, but what can I say? I keep picking great books. Nathanael West's high reputation rests on a less than prolific output, including this very short novella - easily readable in just a few hours, but not quite as fast a read as you might think due to the intricacies of West's analogies and language and expressionistic allusions, quite a few of which are way out there and deserve pondering. After reading this and "Day of the Locust" I h...more

Like this review? yes

2 comments

May 13, 2008

gaby rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: everyone, particularly salinger worshippers

My coming to know Nathanael West was like rounding a corner and accidentally running smack into a stranger who thereafter instantly becomes your best friend. I knew almost nothing about him before picking up this greying little 100 page book for a dollar at Black Oak. When I'd finished it a couple of days later, I was in love!

Nathanael West was born Nathan Weinstein in 1903 in Manhattan. A wealthy but iconoclastic child, Nathan dropped out of high school and got into Tufts Universit...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Apr 23, 2008

Dfordoom rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in July, 2005

Nathanael West was killed in a car crash in 1940, at the age of 37. He left behind him a very small body of work – one short novel and three novellas. He was virtually unknown during his lifetime but his reputation has grown steadily since his death. His best-known work is probably his novella Miss Lonelyhearts. Miss Lonelyhearts is a man who writes an advice column for a New York newspaper. The endless parade of human misery and meaningless suffering that he encounters no longer merely d...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Sep 13, 2008

LePoulet rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in September, 2008

Although I really wanted to like this book, it's just too dim and cynical even for me. Everytime I pick it up to read, I get a few pages and then have to go off in search of more heartening material. This is the sort of book that makes me think, "Are there really people like this in the world? Heartsick and depraved?" and then I think, "Oh, of course there are." And then I get a little more depressed.

Edit: upon finishing the book, and reading the meaning-laden af...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Aug 18, 2009

Syzygous Zygote rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in August, 2009

The beautifully bound double edition caught my eye, but I only got through Miss Lonelyhearts, hence I'm only rating Miss Lonelyhearts. Even though it was a very slim volume it was pretty difficult to get through. The writing was sloppy and the plotting was sloppy. This is territory that Henry Miller and the other members of the Lost Generation covered with smoother prose and clearer ideas.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Mar 05, 2007

Molly Jones rated it:

(review of isbn 08112021)

Read in November, 2006

recommends it for: cynical people

Perfectly set in the often isolating and depressing NYC, West captures the disillusionment of a male reporter forced to write the old version of what, today, we'd call the Dear Abby column. He answers letters from essentially suicidal people with artificial, vague, chin-up advice, until the day he can't stand it anymore. The novella is divided into scenes with titles, like "Miss Lonelyhearts Attends a Party," and doesn't follow a smooth chronological line, but allows the reader to see...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Dec 08, 2008

Katie rated it:

(review of isbn 014118468X)

Read in December, 2008

What a bizarre book. Maybe it's that it was written so long ago, but I just found so many of the dialogue, scenes, and situations so strange that I didn't get people's responses to anything about 95% of the time.

Like this review? yes

add a comment