At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?
I found it ironic that Aziz Ansari wrote a book about "modern romance" so I was curious to see what he wrote – and the book was available on my library's app. I was surprised because I thought this book would be more of a comedic memoir, but it's feels more like an extended NYTimes piece reporting on a study about how text messaging has shaped dating culture. I can't argue with his central thesis, I was just surprised that this book used more of a studious lens than a stand-up lens. I don't think he's found his niche yet when it comes to books.
Refreshing, thorough, and well thought out and researched. Aziz narrates a refreshing take on why dating is so hard in the 21st century with humor sprinkled in. He goes over the common things millennials must go through, and the stress it causes.
I read this book too late. The landscape of modern romance has already changed in the time since this was published --it feels outdated in not discussing issues of consent at all.
There's also the issue that aziz ansari himself became a much more complicated figure after he was accused of sexual assault. It was hard to enjoy this, I couldn't stop thinking about him as a possible sexual predator. Which is a huge problem in a book in which he discusses his own dating amd sexual history.
The third problem is that the book isn't funny. I don't necessarily expect nonfiction about sociology to be funny, but if you're going to try you'd better succeed, and here the humor just fizzled.
This was a fun read. Or I should say listen. The audiobook is narrated by the author himself and he is no stranger to comedic scenarios. His narration shows that he's a stand-up comedian - the word "bozo" absolutely cracked up me every time he used it! I'd recommend this one just because of the narrator, although subject matter is no less interesting.
A lot of what’s covered in Modern Romance applies to other areas of modern life. Text messaging is damaging our ability to conduct spontaneous conversations, people don’t want to speak on the phone and we’d much rather do everything over the internet, thanks very much.
The books has plenty of statistics and looks at how dating has changed, just over a few generations. We no longer marry the boy next door, or the just good enough partner, instead we’re searching for a soul mate and over a much wider geographical area. Much of this has been thanks to the rise of the internet and mobile technology.
The section on romance in Japan was the most interesting. Birth rates have dropped significantly in recent years and the government is worried that the Japanese race will die out, or at least they’ll have an elderly population with no one to look after …
A lot of what’s covered in Modern Romance applies to other areas of modern life. Text messaging is damaging our ability to conduct spontaneous conversations, people don’t want to speak on the phone and we’d much rather do everything over the internet, thanks very much.
The books has plenty of statistics and looks at how dating has changed, just over a few generations. We no longer marry the boy next door, or the just good enough partner, instead we’re searching for a soul mate and over a much wider geographical area. Much of this has been thanks to the rise of the internet and mobile technology.
The section on romance in Japan was the most interesting. Birth rates have dropped significantly in recent years and the government is worried that the Japanese race will die out, or at least they’ll have an elderly population with no one to look after them. Younger Japanese generations are just not interested in dating or sex any more. The book briefly looks at some of the cultural reasons behind this as well as what the government is doing to help. I could probably read a whole book on this.
There’s a fair bit of padding and repetition of points, but I imagine if you were reading this in snippets, this wouldn’t be much of a problem. The cover states that it’s hilarious but I’d say it’s mildly amusing, with much of Aziz’s personality coming through, especially in his mission to feed his tum tum wherever he may be researching.
I reckon if you’re internet dating at the moment, you should definitely read this, if only to make you aware of your own behaviour, but also maybe why other people are doing the things they do. It’s also a bit of an eye-opener for anyone who’s been out of the dating scene for a while, it’s not pretty out there. I can’t imagine having to rely on something like Tinder to find a date and feel very fortunate to have found my soul mate having read this.
This was one of those times I wished a comedian would stop trying so hard to be funny. Also, I'm not single so I'm not sure how much of this was useful or interesting to me. In any case, none of it seemed groundbreaking or even remotely new. I'll chalk this up to I wasn't the intended audience. I'm sure this would be a fun read for other people.
I like Aziz Ansari and got the chance to attend one of the by-lottery-only shows he did (at the Punchline in SF, and elsewhere around the country) where he was trying out new material and also collecting research for the book, so I was particularly interested in picking this up. I like that he teamed up with an actual sociologist to do the research, because the data ended up being more of a draw than the comedy aspect (although it was also funny). It doesn't hurt that his beliefs about relationships are in line with my own: That if you just hop from one casual relationship to the next without actually investing in anyone, based on the belief that there always might be someone better out there, it will be very tough to find happiness in any relationship. He ultimately makes some insightful observations about how modern technology has changed …
I like Aziz Ansari and got the chance to attend one of the by-lottery-only shows he did (at the Punchline in SF, and elsewhere around the country) where he was trying out new material and also collecting research for the book, so I was particularly interested in picking this up. I like that he teamed up with an actual sociologist to do the research, because the data ended up being more of a draw than the comedy aspect (although it was also funny). It doesn't hurt that his beliefs about relationships are in line with my own: That if you just hop from one casual relationship to the next without actually investing in anyone, based on the belief that there always might be someone better out there, it will be very tough to find happiness in any relationship. He ultimately makes some insightful observations about how modern technology has changed relationship dynamics (not made them better or worse -- just different). It was both an interesting and funny read.
Somewhere between sociology and humour, Aziz Ansari's book is not a memoir, and it's not comedy, although it's quite funny at times. After doing many stand up routines talking about modern romance, Ansari (stand up comic, and the guy who plays Tom Haverford on Parks & Rec) teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg to conduct a serious study of heterosexual relationships in the modern age - what's changed since our parents' generation, and what's different in different countries.
I grabbed the audiobook since it's read by Ansari himself and I suspected this would add to the book, which I think it does; even though he chastizes you for being too lazy to read the book yourself, it's worth it for his spot-on joke delivery.
There's a few interesting thoughts and facts in the book; there's some stuff that's either common sense, or that anyone who's actually tried dating in …
Somewhere between sociology and humour, Aziz Ansari's book is not a memoir, and it's not comedy, although it's quite funny at times. After doing many stand up routines talking about modern romance, Ansari (stand up comic, and the guy who plays Tom Haverford on Parks & Rec) teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg to conduct a serious study of heterosexual relationships in the modern age - what's changed since our parents' generation, and what's different in different countries.
I grabbed the audiobook since it's read by Ansari himself and I suspected this would add to the book, which I think it does; even though he chastizes you for being too lazy to read the book yourself, it's worth it for his spot-on joke delivery.
There's a few interesting thoughts and facts in the book; there's some stuff that's either common sense, or that anyone who's actually tried dating in the modern age already knows; there's some laughs; and there's a little information about Ansari himself. It's somewhat on the light side but still interesting and made me want to go see one of his stand up shows in person.
