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	• You Don't Love Me Yet (Vintage Contemporaries) Jonathan Lethem Vintage, 2008 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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Pretty Good

A cute book that was fun to read, if not altogether compelling or deep. I liked best the author's invention of random influences and odd shards of fate that shape the lives of the young folks (who happen to be roughly my age, although mostly a little younger).

I didn't read it

I am a big Lethem fan. I bought Gun when it came out in hardback and have read everything since. Except this.
I read the first 50 pages and was just puzzled as to why it seemed like a screenplay for a movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck. I have a rule that says if a book isn't good by the first 50 pages I put it down. It may be silly to many but I struggled through far too many books and found that my intial suspicions were correct.
But for Lethem I obviously was willing to throw that rule aside. I decided though to read the reviews and I saw that I was not alone in my initial impression.
So Lethem has written one that is better forgotten it seems. I will still be buying his next one though.
I am writing this review to those who are thinking about reading this one...save the money and read Motherless Brooklyn, As she climbed across the table, or Gun and occasional music.
Or give it a go...and tell me the ending. But after 50 pages I find myself not caring about the characters or the ending. Im not saying its bad...its just readable...but for a brilliant writer like Lethem, thats unnaceptable.
I gave it three stars out of fairness that I didn't actually finish it.

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Lethem is known for his inventiveness, if for anything, and although his previous work flaunted more his intense, literary authenticity, it still had hints of his flair for the magical. YOU DON'T LOVE ME YET has little in the way of flair, and even less in the way of magic. Workably interesting but more smug than smart, the novel reads like the cracking of a famous pianist's knuckles.

Set in the culture cauldron of L.A.'s hipster scene, the story concerns the (mis)fortunes of a nameless band trying to make it big. The four members, teetering on the diminishing edge of their twenties, find themselves struggling with both latent brilliance and the malignant malaise that comes from, well, from being part of a struggling band in L.A.

Most of the story centers around Lucinda, the bass player, who ping pongs between ex-boyfriends (one, the lead singer, Matthew; the other, a conceptual artist, Falmouth). On the surface, she's trying to make sense of her life and dreams, but mostly she just gets drunk and lets herself get swept up into hopelessly predictable problems, most of them involving sex. It's literary lasciviousness, although it is occasionally funny. Unfortunately, the story is populated by naive, inconsequential, and unlikeable characters, every one of them (not the least of which our self-absorbed lead) treading water and pointing at the ripples around them as evidence of progress.

Although the themes here are suitably juicy (Lethem is trying to make a point about the creative process itself, the thin line between marketability and genius, the decay of all great ideas into cliche), mostly the book is just a parlor trick, and one you're likely to already know the secret to. For newcomers to Lethem, the book will be an amusing diversion, its love triangles, loving descriptions of music, and even the subplot about a kidnapped kangaroo, but for those who've experienced Lethem before (especially those who've seen what else he can do with kangaroos), it will likely be a niggling reminder that the man is capable of so much more.

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A Trifle

Not Letham at his best, or even second best. While there is some stimulating writing (mostly anything The Complainer says), the protagonista is unlikable, as are most of the characters (except for the guitarist, obviously the author's stand-in). I actually wanted more about the kangaroo.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Bestselling author Jonathan Lethem delivers a hilarious novel about love, art, and what it's like to be young in Los Angeles.

Lucinda Hoekke's daytime gig as a telephone operator at the Complaint Line?an art gallery's high-minded installation piece?is about as exciting as listening to dead air. Her real passion is playing bass in her forever struggling, forever unnamed band. But recently a frequent caller, the Complainer, as Lucinda dubs him, has captivated her with his philosophical musings. When Lucinda's band begins to incorporate the Complainer's catchy, existential phrases into their song lyrics, they are suddenly on the cusp of their big break. There is only one problem: the Complainer wants in.

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