A wildly funny, brilliantly inventive novel about a man torn between two obsessions: the desperate need to win back his former wife and a craving t...
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Jun 16, 2007
Brendan
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On page 172, it becomes crystal clear that Thomas H. Chippering, the protagonist of Tim O’Brien’s darkly outrageous new novel, Tomcat in Love, is presidential not only in his appearance but in his actions, as well. More on that in a moment.
First, it helps to remember something philosopher-writer William Gass once wrote about the words that are his stock and trade: “When a character looks out through a window, or occasionally peeks in through one, it is the word ‘window’ he is really More...
First, it helps to remember something philosopher-writer William Gass once wrote about the words that are his stock and trade: “When a character looks out through a window, or occasionally peeks in through one, it is the word ‘window’ he is really More...
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Dec 16, 2009
Rachel
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I am not very discerning when it comes to my love for this book. Anything that involves pretentious know-it-alls, Jesus complexes, and manic revenge vacations basically has me at its very first loquacious and inverted explanation.
In this way, I almost appreciate it more than The Things They Carried because it is so desperately and unapologetically frail. It doesn't have the force of O'Brien's other works, but rather pulls the smaller train wrecks of neuroses out of the ordinary. The More...
In this way, I almost appreciate it more than The Things They Carried because it is so desperately and unapologetically frail. It doesn't have the force of O'Brien's other works, but rather pulls the smaller train wrecks of neuroses out of the ordinary. The More...
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Dec 17, 2009
Jae
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Tomcat in Love is what A Confederacy of Dunces would have been if Tom Robbins had written it.
While discusing the Timothy Cavendish sections of Cloud Atlas my friend Todd told me I'd like this book and loaned it to me. It is zany, at times hilarious, and always outrageous. But it lacked a little something. Plausibility, maybe. Maybe not. At times I could believe that a dorky and delusional college professor (Thomas H. Chippering) plotting revenge against his ex-wife for leaving him co More...
While discusing the Timothy Cavendish sections of Cloud Atlas my friend Todd told me I'd like this book and loaned it to me. It is zany, at times hilarious, and always outrageous. But it lacked a little something. Plausibility, maybe. Maybe not. At times I could believe that a dorky and delusional college professor (Thomas H. Chippering) plotting revenge against his ex-wife for leaving him co More...
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Dec 29, 2008
Janet
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Well, I loved it! The main character, Thomas Chippering, is a linguistics professor and the Tomcat from the title. He is such an offensive, buffoon of a man - you can't decide whether to hate him or invite him over for a glorious day of conversation. Loved the way the story was told - there are two sides to every story! And generally it's not the way that Thomas C wants you to believe.
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Sep 15, 2011
Sandra
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This is the first of O'Brien's works that I've read. To be honest, I was planning to read "The Things They Carried," but I found "Tomcat in Love" in a bookstore first.
I understand this book differs from his others because of the humor. In some ways, Thomas reminded me of Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces." Both have hidden writings, both have misadventures and both are selfish, deluded, tragic and comic. There the similiarity ends though.
As More...
I understand this book differs from his others because of the humor. In some ways, Thomas reminded me of Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces." Both have hidden writings, both have misadventures and both are selfish, deluded, tragic and comic. There the similiarity ends though.
As More...
Jan 05, 2011
Jane
rated it:
I'd actually give this a 3.5 star rating, but that's not a stated option! Tim O'Brien, a Worthington native, came to my mind again recently when I was at a local women's club meeting and a couple of the older women in attendance mentioned they thought he'd been too rash with his personal and community disclosures in some of his books--of course, that did nothing but whet my curiosity, so I had to read more. "Tomcat in Love" is a very different animal from "In the Lake of the Woo
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May 01, 2010
Melinda
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Like all of Mr. O'Brien's works, this book deals with the Viet Nam war, but in a different way... it is a flat out comedy about a loser looking for love. I laughed and laughed at both the situations Thomas Chipperling found himself in but also just at the way O'Brien puts words together. He is an amazing writer.
It's light, but also deadly serious. Whenever someone asks me to recommend a funny book to them, this is at the top of my list. It's very absurd, but also, too damn real. And More...
It's light, but also deadly serious. Whenever someone asks me to recommend a funny book to them, this is at the top of my list. It's very absurd, but also, too damn real. And More...
Sep 27, 2009
Ted
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Spinning tales of where one has been and what one did while they were there is an fine , delicately balanced craft where the plausible context and the impossible coincidence must balance each other in that strange space of gravity that keeps the reader in suspense, wondering what is real and what is of made up of whole cloth. Tom Cat In Love Tim O'Brien ‘s novel of a very smart guy who’s incapable of telling the truth the first time he tells an anecdote, is a superb comedy of manners. A college
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Jan 02, 2008
Scott
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Austensibly, this is O'Brien's book that "isn't about Vietnam." But his main character still manages to be vet. Still, it is very different from O'Brien's other books, and is my favorite. An excellent book for anyone who has ever dated/married someone who is crazy. (And I mean genuinely mentally ill, not like "that bitch is crazy" crazy.)
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Nov 26, 2010
Rajesh
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What a great book. I loved his writing style, it fit perfectly with Thomas Pickering, Linguistics professor, pretensions of language. Even though Pickering is a narcissistic, misogynistic pig, he's kind of a fun, and yes, likable character.
The story is of Pickering's attempts to win back his ex-wife with misadventures along the way of his dealings with the women he meets. Pickering believes that all the women he meets, or even passes by, fall in love with him. So, even as he pl More...
The story is of Pickering's attempts to win back his ex-wife with misadventures along the way of his dealings with the women he meets. Pickering believes that all the women he meets, or even passes by, fall in love with him. So, even as he pl More...
Oct 29, 2009
Jean
rated it:
Tim O'Brien's non-The-Things-They-Carried novels (the ones I've read, anyway, and I've read three) all astonish me with their twists, the blend of realism and surrealism--the believability of apparently half-insane characters. I truly dug it when, a few chapters in, I realized that Thomas Chippering, narrator, was a mold-breaking blowhard, not just a slightly pompous guy with a broken heart. The depiction of Lorna Sue, self-mutilating ex-wife, is handy, too. There are some pretty uncomfortable m
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Nov 08, 2010
Erik
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Tim O'Brien is perhaps the most technically gifted writer I have come across in my 34 years on this great green and blue globe. His language construction is dizzying and his use of time (never linear and always back and forth) is amazing. "Tomcat in Love" is not his best work - that would have to be "In the Lake of the Woods" - though it may be his most approachable. I am not sure I agree with the critics that is laugh-out-loud funny, but it is more groan-inducing. One ca
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Mar 18, 2009
Cara
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Thomas Chippering, one of the best characters I've come across in a while. Took me a few pages to get into this one--I thought it was going to be another tale of unrequited love; man divorced by perfect wife because of terrible character flaws struggles to get her back and so on. But a chapter or two in, the story takes surprising turns as you realize his point-of-view isn't exactly reliable. I read his words both voraciously and distrustfully! Sometimes I had a distaste for Chippering a la Ign
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Oct 16, 2011
Larry
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Tomcat in Love: A Novel
Tim O’Brien
This is a test! There is no right answer.
If you find that funny, you will love Tomcat in Love. If you think otherwise, you may find the book less pleasing in direct proportion to the depths of your otherwise.
Sometimes I try to imagine what a book might be like if it was made into a movie. Would I like the movie? Do I lik More...
Tim O’Brien
This is a test! There is no right answer.
He had the appearance, if I may say so, of an ostrich attempting to swallow a toaster.
If you find that funny, you will love Tomcat in Love. If you think otherwise, you may find the book less pleasing in direct proportion to the depths of your otherwise.
Sometimes I try to imagine what a book might be like if it was made into a movie. Would I like the movie? Do I lik More...
Feb 24, 2010
Dusty
rated it:
For a book about betrayal, revenge and madness, Tomcat in Love is surprisingly peppy. As I've come to expect from Tim O'brien, the characters are delicious and vivid, and the prose sparkles, more perhaps than it ever has before. Certain passages, like his narrator's riff on the word "commitment" ring so gloriously they could be performed at church. O'brien can write a mean sentence.
For all its linguistic beauty, however, Tomcat is in content an ugly book, in the same lyrica More...
For all its linguistic beauty, however, Tomcat is in content an ugly book, in the same lyrica More...
Jan 22, 2009
William Thomas
rated it:
I balk at giving this novel the full four stars, but i don;t feel that it deserved only three. i think that much of the humor in the book was muddled and mired and played more to an audience of one, the writer himself, than anyone else. most of the time when it was supposed to be comedic it just seemed terribly pathetic (not the writing, but the actual happenings). this book is ridiculously self-indulgent and has none of the poignancy of his other books such as if i die in a combat zone and thin
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May 13, 2008
Michael
rated it:
This is a fantastic read. Do not be fooled by the fact that the book was written by a guy who's made his living writing about the Vietnam War. O'Brien is a fantastic author when he writes about the war; as it turns out, he's also fantastic when he's not.
The story centers on the escapades of a guy--the narrator--who thinks of himself as God's gift to women. Alas, they disagree, to comedic effect. What makes this book so effective, I think, is that you're reading only from the narr More...
The story centers on the escapades of a guy--the narrator--who thinks of himself as God's gift to women. Alas, they disagree, to comedic effect. What makes this book so effective, I think, is that you're reading only from the narr More...
May 14, 2011
Ashley
rated it:
This is a lot different from what O'Brien usually writes. I guess you could say it's a look inside the mind of the office guy who grabs your ass or the high school teacher who hit on you. Well, maybe that's giving them too much credit...I had to make myself read the last 100 pages or so of this book because it was just painful. It ended better than I thought it would, but I don't see me ever wanting to reread this book.
Jun 30, 2011
Sara
rated it:
Unlikable characters with a dragging plot. But O'Brien's matchless cleverness almost overcomes those flaws.
THE GOOD:
Quotability/Wit: *****
Realism/Descriptions: *****
Character Development: *****
Humor: ****
THE BAD:
Addictiveness/Plot: **
Romance/Intriguing Subject: **
Density: **
Symbolism: *
Satisfaction: *
Moral/Depth: **
THE GOOD:
Quotability/Wit: *****
Realism/Descriptions: *****
Character Development: *****
Humor: ****
THE BAD:
Addictiveness/Plot: **
Romance/Intriguing Subject: **
Density: **
Symbolism: *
Satisfaction: *
Moral/Depth: **
Jun 19, 2011
Before Tomcat, I had only read O'Brien's The Things They Carried. Tomcat surprised me--it was a totally different style, really funny--Mike caught me a few times laughing out loud. The narrator is a linguist professor; I liked how each chapter focused on a certain word and its etemology, etc. The prof is rediculous, delusional, and obsessively in love. Good stuff.
Aug 09, 2011
Ivo
rated it:
Tomcat in Love was a very readable, entertaining book, providing many thought-provoking passages in a understated non-pretentious manner. The book is mainly about the interactions between men and women, and the protagonists' interpretation thereof. It is executed flawlessly, with an engrossing narrative that gives food for thought even when describing the most mundane of experiences. In addition, O'Brien has crafted a very humorous book without sacrificing any of the gravity of the characters
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Mar 08, 2011
Pamela
rated it:
I was looking for something less emotionally heartwrenching than the books I had been reading. This book is a study in vocabulary (I had to keep my dictionary handy) and a reminder that everyone sees themselves differently than they really are. This guy "Abe" is nuts. By the end of the book, I thought I was nuts too! (Some close to me would agree.)
Jul 17, 2009
Ben
rated it:
This book was great. It seemed like O'Brien borrowed a lot from Lolita (Thomas Chippering, the protagonist, shares the same wit, charm, perversion and obsession with the opposite sex as Humbert Humbert), but this book was just a little less taboo and intellectual, though it still pushes a lot of those buttons, and laugh-out-loud funny. Tim O'Brien does an all-around great job with this one.
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Feb 17, 2010
Carly
rated it:
Here is the story of a man who literally has to fight off the women. All of the women in his life are seriously and instantly attracted to him. ...Or at least that's how Tom sees it.
To the rest of us, Tom is a mysogenistic narcissist--and has been for years.
When his wife leaves him to marry a man whom he won't even name, but simply calls "tycoon"...Tom's grip of reality starts to falter. From public spankings, black mail, live crying fits/suicide threats on More...
To the rest of us, Tom is a mysogenistic narcissist--and has been for years.
When his wife leaves him to marry a man whom he won't even name, but simply calls "tycoon"...Tom's grip of reality starts to falter. From public spankings, black mail, live crying fits/suicide threats on More...
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Apr 13, 2011
Jim
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Tim O'Brien is a talented writer, but this book's problems (the clueless misogyny of the main character, the one-dimensional Mrs. Robert Kooshof, the neat ending and the female you who is addressed often in footnotes) made it difficult to fully appreciate the many wonderful aspects of the novel.
Aug 13, 2009
Jeanne
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This is not the sort of book I usually read. Extremely well written. I enjoyed the "words." Thomas H. Chippering is a great character -- egotistical to the extreme, ridiculously funny and very sad. Part of the charm of the book is the author's blurring of reality and fantasy. I still haven't quite figured it out...
Jan 15, 2009
Mgoguen
rated it:
The story is very creative and not what I expected. Its the crooked story of a dirty old professor who thinks that every look from a female student is soliciting more than it really is. What makes it dirty is that he keeps track of them all. A really good read and multilple plot lines.
Jan 26, 2009
Therese
rated it:
I like this author--some crazy, believable characters. And, I figured out "who done it" right off the bat, but didn't really find out for sure till the end of the book. Made me remember that letting other people drive us crazy is a choice . . . that we maybe shouldn't make!
Aug 15, 2011
Judy
rated it:
O'Brien makes you understand that writing can be anything that you want it to be. He uses footnotes to explain characters in a creative way. The ending makes you go, WOW, didn't see that coming. Also makes you laugh out loud in spots.
Aug 07, 2011
Ron
rated it:
A funny and entertaining story that allows O'Brien to break free from the trap of writing novels about Viet Nam. I don't really consider his work to be of great literary or social importance, so it is a fine diversion that I likely won't make again.
