Goodreads asked Jonathan Maas:

Who is your favorite fictional couple, and why?

Jonathan Maas Favorite fictional couple?

Hmmm – surprisingly not that many immediately come to mind. Why is that? Outside of Nicholas Sparks and Romances, most characters seem to do their journey alone.

My favorite authors, off the top of my head, there are probably more out there:

Sherman Alexie
Larry McMurtry
Dante Alighieri
Gillian Flynn
Linwood Barclay
And recently, Ian McGuire

All of these guys tend to tell tales from a non-coupled character’s perspective.

OK, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is couple-driven, but her other two are just as good, and don’t really have couples.

Why is that? Why are most book characters solitary?

Perhaps the question of the solitary nature of book characters can wait for another blog post.

So to get back to the original question:

My first favorite couple: Any couple by Nathan Ballingrud in North American Lake Monsters

In this book of short tales, there is one common theme – all the couples are cosmically mismatched. It’s not just arguments, not just a bad decision or two – these couples just should not be together. That imbalance seems to drive each story – and it makes you think a lot.

My other first favorite couple (tied): Claire and Frank Underwood from House of Cards

I have to say I love Frank and Claire Underwood from House of Cards. It’s not a book, but rather a TV show, and their psychopathic attitudes are a bit frightening at times – but I’ve got to say that I love them together, and can’t wait for original novels about them to compliment the ones from the original series. Author Andrew Kaplan – you did a great job with Homeland – Carrie’s Run and Saul’s Game were both great – I think you’d be perfect to take on House of Cards, Claire and Frank.

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