A review by jillsta
Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky
4.0
Marcy Dermansky's writing is addictive.
Very Nice is set in the summer after the 2016 election and bounces between Brooklyn, Manhattan, and beach houses in Connecticut. The POV changes from a mom, a father, a daughter, the daughter's writing professor, and an employee of the banker father who also happens to be subletting the professor's apartment. The professor was/is the talk of the literary town with a book he wrote years ago. He spent all his money on expensive loafers and his grandmother in Pakistan is dying. He gets his friend's twin sister to sublet for him (he is very much broke, given the loafer situation). He hooked up with his student on the last day of the semester (and his teaching contract, and the day before leaving for Pakistan). His student agreed to watch the dog for the summer, even though she would be staying with her freshly separated mom (who may be more upset about their family dog dying than her husband leaving her for a much younger pilot named Mandy) in Connecticut. The professor's trip is cut short and he finds himself staying at his student's house in Connecticut for the summer. Mother and daughter may be catching feelings for him. He may have his eyes on Mom.
This book is like Something's Gotta Give had a love child with American Beauty. All sparking marble countertops, gleaming pools, and grilled tarragon chicken served with crisp white wine, but below the surface, there is darkness and dysfunctional families. Nobody is very nice in this book.
Very Nice is set in the summer after the 2016 election and bounces between Brooklyn, Manhattan, and beach houses in Connecticut. The POV changes from a mom, a father, a daughter, the daughter's writing professor, and an employee of the banker father who also happens to be subletting the professor's apartment. The professor was/is the talk of the literary town with a book he wrote years ago. He spent all his money on expensive loafers and his grandmother in Pakistan is dying. He gets his friend's twin sister to sublet for him (he is very much broke, given the loafer situation). He hooked up with his student on the last day of the semester (and his teaching contract, and the day before leaving for Pakistan). His student agreed to watch the dog for the summer, even though she would be staying with her freshly separated mom (who may be more upset about their family dog dying than her husband leaving her for a much younger pilot named Mandy) in Connecticut. The professor's trip is cut short and he finds himself staying at his student's house in Connecticut for the summer. Mother and daughter may be catching feelings for him. He may have his eyes on Mom.
This book is like Something's Gotta Give had a love child with American Beauty. All sparking marble countertops, gleaming pools, and grilled tarragon chicken served with crisp white wine, but below the surface, there is darkness and dysfunctional families. Nobody is very nice in this book.