Love Monkey....the book
I just finished reading "Love Monkey" by Kyle Smith.
The book is written in a kind of diary/stream of consciousness format with chapters split by the date in which events happened. That bugged me a bit at first, but I eventually got used to it.
Tom is 32 and Julia is 22. They both work at a tabloid magazine. I thought it was kind of funny that Tom was described as having red hair and being average height just because I kept imagining a tall, dark haired, 37 year old Tom Cavanagh instead of a short red head.
The character of Tom on the show wasn't that far off from the book, although I would say that the book allowed Tom to be a bit more cynical, witty and most of all self absorbed. I was surprised at how low his self esteem was. The way he would worry about the reaction of others to the things he did and said. He often referred to himself as a "manboy". One particular part in the book that had me cracking up is when Tom had just caused a woman to have a great orgasm. As she's lying in bed going on and on about the experience, Tom isn't listening because he's picking his noise and trying to figure out what to do with it. Yes, self-absorbed indeed.
I noticed they quoted a few things from the book on the show, like in the book Tom talked about going to the Gym. I don't recall the whole quote, but it was something about Men and Women use the same equipment, but Men try to get bigger and Women try to get smaller. When I read that part, I was like "hey, that was on the show!"
The books main focus was on Tom's obsession with Julia. He pretty much idolized her and put her on a pedestal. It was annoying. 300+ pages of Tom wondering why Julia didn't want him. She was such a tease. I was actually relieved that it didn't work out. By the end I just wanted Julia go away and never come back. I could only take so much of reading page after page of Tom alternating between "Julia is perfect" and "I wonder what Julia is doing?". Seriously thats all he did.
Bran and Tom's relationship didn't change much from book to series. Tom wanted their relationship to take a romantic turn, but Bran never was interested so they ended up being friends. It was kind of hinted at the end of the book that Tom and Bran might try to pursue a relationship though. I'd prefer that over Julia just becuase Bran knew the real Tom, while Tom wasn't himself with Julia. He thought too highly of her to be real around her.
Karin is married to Mike and they are expecting their first child, but Karin is not Tom's sister as seen on the show. Tom's constant annoyance at how a baby can take over a parents life was humorous.
There was no character named Jake. Interesting that he was added to the series.
Shooter is a rich, skirt chaser who spends money like water. Not much changed there from book to screen. :] He treats women like dirt yet has no trouble finding one to use and abuse. Tom often went to him for advice and used him as a guide. I didn't like Shooter very much. He seemed too full of himself and I didn't really see why Tom and he were friends. The TVShooter is a watered down version. Not as harsh, thats probably why I like him more than the book version.
I could have done without the "9/11" mention in the book. Tom's reaction was just a little to flippant to me. I thought maybe it would alter Tom's perception a little bit and maybe cause him to give up his "manboy" status, but that didn't happen. The writer shouldn't have included such a serious event if he wasn't going to go anywhere with it.
Except for the obsessive Julia moments, I liked the book. Makes me even more sad that the show is gone. :/
The book is written in a kind of diary/stream of consciousness format with chapters split by the date in which events happened. That bugged me a bit at first, but I eventually got used to it.
Tom is 32 and Julia is 22. They both work at a tabloid magazine. I thought it was kind of funny that Tom was described as having red hair and being average height just because I kept imagining a tall, dark haired, 37 year old Tom Cavanagh instead of a short red head.
The character of Tom on the show wasn't that far off from the book, although I would say that the book allowed Tom to be a bit more cynical, witty and most of all self absorbed. I was surprised at how low his self esteem was. The way he would worry about the reaction of others to the things he did and said. He often referred to himself as a "manboy". One particular part in the book that had me cracking up is when Tom had just caused a woman to have a great orgasm. As she's lying in bed going on and on about the experience, Tom isn't listening because he's picking his noise and trying to figure out what to do with it. Yes, self-absorbed indeed.
I noticed they quoted a few things from the book on the show, like in the book Tom talked about going to the Gym. I don't recall the whole quote, but it was something about Men and Women use the same equipment, but Men try to get bigger and Women try to get smaller. When I read that part, I was like "hey, that was on the show!"
The books main focus was on Tom's obsession with Julia. He pretty much idolized her and put her on a pedestal. It was annoying. 300+ pages of Tom wondering why Julia didn't want him. She was such a tease. I was actually relieved that it didn't work out. By the end I just wanted Julia go away and never come back. I could only take so much of reading page after page of Tom alternating between "Julia is perfect" and "I wonder what Julia is doing?". Seriously thats all he did.
Bran and Tom's relationship didn't change much from book to series. Tom wanted their relationship to take a romantic turn, but Bran never was interested so they ended up being friends. It was kind of hinted at the end of the book that Tom and Bran might try to pursue a relationship though. I'd prefer that over Julia just becuase Bran knew the real Tom, while Tom wasn't himself with Julia. He thought too highly of her to be real around her.
Karin is married to Mike and they are expecting their first child, but Karin is not Tom's sister as seen on the show. Tom's constant annoyance at how a baby can take over a parents life was humorous.
There was no character named Jake. Interesting that he was added to the series.
Shooter is a rich, skirt chaser who spends money like water. Not much changed there from book to screen. :] He treats women like dirt yet has no trouble finding one to use and abuse. Tom often went to him for advice and used him as a guide. I didn't like Shooter very much. He seemed too full of himself and I didn't really see why Tom and he were friends. The TVShooter is a watered down version. Not as harsh, thats probably why I like him more than the book version.
I could have done without the "9/11" mention in the book. Tom's reaction was just a little to flippant to me. I thought maybe it would alter Tom's perception a little bit and maybe cause him to give up his "manboy" status, but that didn't happen. The writer shouldn't have included such a serious event if he wasn't going to go anywhere with it.
Except for the obsessive Julia moments, I liked the book. Makes me even more sad that the show is gone. :/