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The Boyfriend from Hell
A highly praised observer of contemporary life and author of Kreamer vs. Kramer and A Perfect Divorce , Corman zeroes in on single life, modern stress, and religious faith in The Boyfriend from Hell.
Veronica Delaney, single, in her twenties, a freelance writer working on an article about a satanic cult leader, becomes involved with a dazzling, charismatic man, and she is turned inside out. With his unique storytelling gifts, Corman creates a wonderful, identifiable female character whose circumstance parallels that of so many women... and then it begins to turn. Is this boyfriend a typically uncommitted male or is he hiding something? Is he wonderfully supportive or is he excessively manipulative? Is he dramatically high maintenance or is he inherently evil? From this insightful novelist, here is a spellbinding tale that is true-to-life, deeply involving, and ultimately terrifying.
Veronica Delaney, single, in her twenties, a freelance writer working on an article about a satanic cult leader, becomes involved with a dazzling, charismatic man, and she is turned inside out. With his unique storytelling gifts, Corman creates a wonderful, identifiable female character whose circumstance parallels that of so many women... and then it begins to turn. Is this boyfriend a typically uncommitted male or is he hiding something? Is he wonderfully supportive or is he excessively manipulative? Is he dramatically high maintenance or is he inherently evil? From this insightful novelist, here is a spellbinding tale that is true-to-life, deeply involving, and ultimately terrifying.
- GenresHorror
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
10 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Avery Corman
36 books22 followersAvery Corman (born November 28, 1935, in the Bronx, New York) is an American novelist.
He is the author of the novel Kramer vs. Kramer (1977) which created a sea change in attitudes toward child custody with the public and in the courts in the United States and internationally. Robert Benton wrote the screenplay and directed the movie of the same name Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. It won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screen Play. A previous Corman novel, Oh, God! (1971) was the basis for the movie comedy Oh, God!, screenplay by Larry Gelbart, starring George Burns and John Denver. His other novels include The Old Neighborhood (1980), 50 (1987), Prized Possessions (1991), The Big Hype (1992), A Perfect Divorce (2004), and The Boyfriend from Hell (2006).
In a characteristic assessment of Corman's writing, critic Stefan Kanfer said in Time magazine about the novel, 50, "Avery Corman has a literary gift for dialogue and predicament. Sealed in a time capsule, 50 could tell future generations more about contemporary middle-aged mores than a library of sociological theses."
Foreign language editions of Corman's novels have been published throughout the world. He is the author of articles and essays in a wide number of publications, including The New York Times for which he has written for various sections of the newspaper.
He turned his attention to writing for the stage and collaborated with the composer Cy Coleman on a musical, The Great Ostrovsky, for which Corman wrote the book and also co-wrote the lyrics with Mr. Coleman. It was produced in regional theater in Philadelphia in 2004, a project curtailed with the passing of Mr. Coleman that year.
He is the author of the novel Kramer vs. Kramer (1977) which created a sea change in attitudes toward child custody with the public and in the courts in the United States and internationally. Robert Benton wrote the screenplay and directed the movie of the same name Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. It won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screen Play. A previous Corman novel, Oh, God! (1971) was the basis for the movie comedy Oh, God!, screenplay by Larry Gelbart, starring George Burns and John Denver. His other novels include The Old Neighborhood (1980), 50 (1987), Prized Possessions (1991), The Big Hype (1992), A Perfect Divorce (2004), and The Boyfriend from Hell (2006).
In a characteristic assessment of Corman's writing, critic Stefan Kanfer said in Time magazine about the novel, 50, "Avery Corman has a literary gift for dialogue and predicament. Sealed in a time capsule, 50 could tell future generations more about contemporary middle-aged mores than a library of sociological theses."
Foreign language editions of Corman's novels have been published throughout the world. He is the author of articles and essays in a wide number of publications, including The New York Times for which he has written for various sections of the newspaper.
He turned his attention to writing for the stage and collaborated with the composer Cy Coleman on a musical, The Great Ostrovsky, for which Corman wrote the book and also co-wrote the lyrics with Mr. Coleman. It was produced in regional theater in Philadelphia in 2004, a project curtailed with the passing of Mr. Coleman that year.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 23, 2013
ok, this book totally sucked, but not enough for it to be less stars. if i would have known that this book would be all about devil worship and with all the true facts like a non fiction book, i would have never read it. not saying that i wouldn't read a nonfiction book on religion. its just i thought this book would be about a girl who dated an asshole. lol
this book is about a girl named ronnie aka veronica but never wants to be called that so she goes by ronnie. very weird, and it takes a while before you even realize that is what her name is. so for about 20% of the book i was like wtf! till then i was like ohhhh. well, she is a writer. she freelances herself between a couple magazines. she has a roommate that is her best friend named nancy. she is dating a lawyer named bob. they are ronnie's only family and best friends. oh i forgot to mention that ronnie was dating a fat chef. he finally made it big and left her because they were going in different directions. he did this by phone and they were dating over 19 months! so you have to understand why i thought this book was like how i wanted it to be.
ronnie was in the middle of a interview for the vanity fair magazine when her model that she was interviewing said that she dated a sadist man. he went to a church a couple blocks away. ronnie then called the editor and they wanted her to do a piece on it. so, she went to the church and interviewed the man. mr. cummings was a good man and answered all her questions and even asked her to dinner. she politely refused and the magazine people loved her piece.
since her big article got published she was receiving threats like a dead black cat, a skull, a picture of her with her head chopped off, and lastly someone threw a couple black cats at her. she called the police but they said there was no proof of anything and that they would keep an eye out for her.
well in the meanwhile she interviewed a man about the sadist community because he wrote a book about it. richard was his name and she thought he was sexy. they ended up going to dinner and having amazing sex. he left her for weeks or months at a time because he gives lectures about satan. she got her a book offer to write a book about daemon taking over your body. she decided she will give it a go.
well that is pretty much the book except she started to have nightmares and she would do things that she wouldn't remember. mr. cummings ended up murdered and she was the last person seen with him. she doesn't remember. her friends like her boyfriend is bad news because of how he acts. ronnie decided to start researching about what was going on with her. she would black out and not know what was going on. her therapist said she needed to end the book and the boyfriend because they are bringing back old traumatic issues. after talking to another girl with similar issues from a mental ward, she found her her boyfriend is the devil and that she needed an exorcism.
this book is about a girl named ronnie aka veronica but never wants to be called that so she goes by ronnie. very weird, and it takes a while before you even realize that is what her name is. so for about 20% of the book i was like wtf! till then i was like ohhhh. well, she is a writer. she freelances herself between a couple magazines. she has a roommate that is her best friend named nancy. she is dating a lawyer named bob. they are ronnie's only family and best friends. oh i forgot to mention that ronnie was dating a fat chef. he finally made it big and left her because they were going in different directions. he did this by phone and they were dating over 19 months! so you have to understand why i thought this book was like how i wanted it to be.
ronnie was in the middle of a interview for the vanity fair magazine when her model that she was interviewing said that she dated a sadist man. he went to a church a couple blocks away. ronnie then called the editor and they wanted her to do a piece on it. so, she went to the church and interviewed the man. mr. cummings was a good man and answered all her questions and even asked her to dinner. she politely refused and the magazine people loved her piece.
since her big article got published she was receiving threats like a dead black cat, a skull, a picture of her with her head chopped off, and lastly someone threw a couple black cats at her. she called the police but they said there was no proof of anything and that they would keep an eye out for her.
well in the meanwhile she interviewed a man about the sadist community because he wrote a book about it. richard was his name and she thought he was sexy. they ended up going to dinner and having amazing sex. he left her for weeks or months at a time because he gives lectures about satan. she got her a book offer to write a book about daemon taking over your body. she decided she will give it a go.
well that is pretty much the book except she started to have nightmares and she would do things that she wouldn't remember. mr. cummings ended up murdered and she was the last person seen with him. she doesn't remember. her friends like her boyfriend is bad news because of how he acts. ronnie decided to start researching about what was going on with her. she would black out and not know what was going on. her therapist said she needed to end the book and the boyfriend because they are bringing back old traumatic issues. after talking to another girl with similar issues from a mental ward, she found her her boyfriend is the devil and that she needed an exorcism.
March 6, 2013
I truly appreciated the author's ability to use the English language in an intelligent way. There were conversations in the book that I wish I could have joined.
The characters were well developed and the secondary characters were just as fascinating as the primary ones. I liked the plot and the concept of the devil being attracted to the heroine because she was a strong, intelligent woman. I guess Satan loves a challenge.
I do wish that the ending had been less rushed. There was all of this great build up and story telling going on, then the last chapter was a race to the finish. A nice ending, but it could have been more complex.
All in all, I recommend this book as a fun/scary/emotional read.
ARC provided by Netgalley.
The characters were well developed and the secondary characters were just as fascinating as the primary ones. I liked the plot and the concept of the devil being attracted to the heroine because she was a strong, intelligent woman. I guess Satan loves a challenge.
I do wish that the ending had been less rushed. There was all of this great build up and story telling going on, then the last chapter was a race to the finish. A nice ending, but it could have been more complex.
All in all, I recommend this book as a fun/scary/emotional read.
ARC provided by Netgalley.
October 22, 2009
Fun and interesting, but the contrite ending threw me for a loop.
July 30, 2018
Didn't finish..
March 23, 2013
This one was a solid 3 stars for me. The writing is good, and the story is told in a way that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens to Veronica/Ronnie. She's in a heap of trouble, for sure.
Veronica is a young free-lance writer. Her latest project has her researching a local satanic cult, complete with internet presence. In the process, she meets a Satan expert, Richard, who woos her. It was fairly clear from the start that Richard was suspicious, his lifestyle odd, but the sex is good and Ronnie is attracted to him. After Richard convinces her to try her hand at writing a book on possession, well, things get really weird and potentially dangerous for Ronnie.
I did like Ronnie's character very much. The fact that she seems very grounded makes what happens to her more interesting. Her very supportive roommate Nancy and her boyfriend Bob helped to give good balance to the bizarre. They contributed nicely to the story.
At times the POV changes were a bit jarring for me. I was expecting a bit more horror, and this seemed more of a psychological thriller, but that was okay. It's a classic story of almost-possession, and there aren't any big surprises. The ending was predictable and a bit too quickly resolved. I would have liked a little more of what happened to Ronnie after the scene in the church. It seemed clear that evil wasn't going to give up.
So if you are in the mood for a not-too-intense possession story, this might be for you.
Thanks to Open Road and Netgalley for the chance to read and review.
Veronica is a young free-lance writer. Her latest project has her researching a local satanic cult, complete with internet presence. In the process, she meets a Satan expert, Richard, who woos her. It was fairly clear from the start that Richard was suspicious, his lifestyle odd, but the sex is good and Ronnie is attracted to him. After Richard convinces her to try her hand at writing a book on possession, well, things get really weird and potentially dangerous for Ronnie.
I did like Ronnie's character very much. The fact that she seems very grounded makes what happens to her more interesting. Her very supportive roommate Nancy and her boyfriend Bob helped to give good balance to the bizarre. They contributed nicely to the story.
At times the POV changes were a bit jarring for me. I was expecting a bit more horror, and this seemed more of a psychological thriller, but that was okay. It's a classic story of almost-possession, and there aren't any big surprises. The ending was predictable and a bit too quickly resolved. I would have liked a little more of what happened to Ronnie after the scene in the church. It seemed clear that evil wasn't going to give up.
So if you are in the mood for a not-too-intense possession story, this might be for you.
Thanks to Open Road and Netgalley for the chance to read and review.
March 13, 2013
In the beginning of this book I got a real kick out of the main character. She was witty, funny and drew me into the story right away with her dating woes. I thought the plot was growing more interesting as time went on and I was happy to keep turning pages to find out what happened next. I think this book lost me right around the time that the main character received her first gift. It wasn't that act itself that bothered me as much as her reaction. "Oh how horrible okay I'm over it" was kind of how I felt. She had been on point up to that time but after that it just seemed to go downhill. The humor wasn't as frequent or as funny as the beginning of the book and I lost interest in what she was going through.
I did think this was an amazing plot to work with, and I liked the way the author chose to build his evil character slowly, offering hints to the reader throughout the book.
In my opinion the end of this book did not have the sparks and fire that a book about the devil should have. Although it was interesting and everything was more or less resolved, it just didn't have the wow factor that I had hoped for.
Still, it was certainly an entertaining book, and for those who enjoy darker novels this might be the perfect book for you. I'm happy to have read it.
I did think this was an amazing plot to work with, and I liked the way the author chose to build his evil character slowly, offering hints to the reader throughout the book.
In my opinion the end of this book did not have the sparks and fire that a book about the devil should have. Although it was interesting and everything was more or less resolved, it just didn't have the wow factor that I had hoped for.
Still, it was certainly an entertaining book, and for those who enjoy darker novels this might be the perfect book for you. I'm happy to have read it.
June 29, 2009
I'm glad I stumbled across this on a recent trip to a used book store. Honestly, I enjoyed almost everything about this book other than the ending. It's a very rare book that will make me read every single word of every single sentence of every page, but this one did. I'm planning on seeking out more of Avery Corman's works due to my enchantment with his writing style.
Though this book did contain sexual encounters, I was pleased that Mr. Corman did not find it necessary to devolve into explicit details of such matters, choosing instead to focus on the emotional responses of the characters.
I would recommend this book to almost anyone, seeing as I was impressed with the style of writing and the plot on a whole.
Though this book did contain sexual encounters, I was pleased that Mr. Corman did not find it necessary to devolve into explicit details of such matters, choosing instead to focus on the emotional responses of the characters.
I would recommend this book to almost anyone, seeing as I was impressed with the style of writing and the plot on a whole.
March 3, 2013
I really liked this book. The writing, the characters, the story, the progression of the story, everything was great! As usual, I was supposed to be working on a presentation for a class and I was busy reading this book, I just couldn't seem to put it down. Even though it was obvious who the devil was I had to know how it was going to end for Ronnie. But, I also found myself becoming paranoid that maybe other people where involved, like they were Richard's little demon minions and that they may be forcing Ronnie farther into his grip. The ending was a bit abrupt, I figured there would be a little more of a fight for her on Richard's part but, like I said before, I really liked this book. Thanks NetGalley for giving me the chance to read it!
May 9, 2015
It was an entertaining book. I did finish it, but as I am not a religious person I didn't like the message the book seemed to convey. It was interesting enough to read to the end but I wouldn't recommend it to a friend as one of my top books to read next. It wasn't gripping and I never felt the NEED to read it.
Being male, I believe the author did a good job of portraying the thoughts and actions of a realistic young female.
I can't explain why, but I thought that it was the person who it was (for Ronnie) all along (I don't want to give spoilers). I would have enjoyed a surprise at the end in regards to that. I didn't suspect the perpetrator of the murder however. That was a pleasant surprise.
Being male, I believe the author did a good job of portraying the thoughts and actions of a realistic young female.
I can't explain why, but I thought that it was the person who it was (for Ronnie) all along (I don't want to give spoilers). I would have enjoyed a surprise at the end in regards to that. I didn't suspect the perpetrator of the murder however. That was a pleasant surprise.
November 15, 2008
An interesting book. Presents the devil's ability to assume a human form as fact. Also presses the belief that we allow evil into our lives in ways that we may not be aware of if we are not paying attention. He is a sneaky guy.
April 27, 2010
I bought this book on a whim, and I'm glad I did. I found the writing very amusing, and the premise of the story very interesting. The ending of this book was not my favorite, and was very predictable. On the whole, though, the book was definitely worth reading.
July 21, 2011
I rated the book too high, but I did finish it skipping though stilted conversations and other odds and ends that appear to be filler and in the end the Church triumphs, but evil still exists and looking for opportunities.
May 4, 2016
This was so bad, but I refused to give up. I pushed through the boring story and the flat characters and the pages and pages of completely unrealistic dialogue, because I thought the ending would pay off. It didn't.
December 3, 2009
At first it seemed very interesting then after a while it just got boring and i didn't want to finish reading it.
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December 15, 2012I dont like the ending! I wish he lived. :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2013
I enjoyed this book, even though it wasn't what I normally enjoy. It was interesting and amusing.
January 5, 2014
This was pretty good, and as always with Avery Corman, the writing was wonderful However, this turns out to be in the genre of horror novels, not my favorite.
October 20, 2014
It was pretty good not going to lie I did have nightmares about hell for a moment while reading this.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews