Synopsis
After 12 years, 4 months and 1 and 1/2 weeks of marriage, his wife packs up and leaves with their daughter. So he writes an Indie novel. And it becomes a bestseller. Well, sort of.
His fame brings him the lifestyle of a rockstar, and he has the fan mail (i.e. female undergarments, probably clean) to prove it.
But seeing his fame, his wife suddenly believes in marriage counseling. Their homework: to create something beautiful for each other.
So he writes Our Story, his literary secret-weapon that will win his wife back. But in the process he discovers that true love is more than just ticking the right boxes on a checklist.
Kota's Review
Non Friction is my introduction to Morgan Parker’s work. I am sitting on the fence as to whether or not I am a fan. That is because my feelings on the book are ambiguous – as in, it made me feel.. not in a good way.. but, it made me feel.
As the blurb says this story is about a man, whose wife up and leaves him ‘suddenly’ after 12 years. She takes her daughter with her, and he has no idea why. Then he writes his indie ‘bestseller’ and the story goes on...
Meet Morgan, the lead character – not the author – or is it? He is an arse. This character has the emotional depth of a gnat and gives men a bad name. He is delusional, arrogant and quite frankly scarily ignorant. I found his association of sex and every interaction between him and a woman completely immature and not funny. I missed his humour – satirical or not.
Then we have Jennifer, the wife. Otherwise referred to throughout the whole book as Princess Bitch or Princess Whore, depending on Morgan’s mood. Jennifer was a right cow. I am all for walking out on bad marriages if that is what’s best, but her lack of communication skills, her intent to degrade Morgan at every possible opportunity, her lack of care for her daughter, her materialistic attitude and her waste of time and intent with marriage counselling bordered on ridiculous. There was not one redeeming quality in this woman, and nor could I even understand why Morgan wanted to participate in highly inflated marriage counselling, with a woman who he refers to as a bitch or a whore – for the sole purpose of saving a ‘habit’ which is what his marriage was.
Meet Emma – the ridiculous fan girl, come author, who was married, but sexting with Morgan because she was a fan of his work – every time he put the hard word on her… she pulled his strings, and then wiped her feet on the doormat that he was. That story line, which was what ultimately led to Morgan’s light bulb moment, was not believable in the least for me.
The relationship between Morgan, Rochelle and Sandy, while becoming clear at the end, was nothing but a relationship of convenience, and just pure random strangeness.
The task set by the Marriage Counsellor was creative fluff. The most engaging moment of the book for me was the round table at the Author event, with the ‘twit’. Now fact or fiction, that had me intrigued especially in light of the current cliques and alleged apparent bullying that occurs within the indie community.
The writing style didn’t work for me either, I found that the structure was so stilted and lacking that I struggled to follow the flow. There was a lack of creativity in the storytelling for me, with monotony in the words and thoughts expressed.
So with such a harsh review – why am I sitting on the fence?
Exactly because this book made me feel this strongly about these characters. It made me hate them all with such a passion. It made me look at the lives of these people and thank god that they play no part in my own. It made me feel extremely sorry for the child in this story, and the fact that these are her role models in life. It made me feel thankful that it ended, and with a glimmer of hope in the ending that some maturity became evident.
I am a firm believer that if a book makes you feel something, then the writer must have done something right. It is for these reasons that I am rating Non Friction 3 hearts.
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