Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Sunday, June 30, 2024--San Antonio

Good Material by Dolly Alderton has been recommended as very funny.  It was funny at times, but not nearly to the extent of some other books I've read recently.  It is the story of a comedian who does a stand-up act in clubs, professional dinner gigs, and even sometimes works at conference exhibit halls giving samples or promoting products.  A few years ago, he was a host for a short-lived TV game show. He has never been very successful, but he makes enough money to have lived away from his family but only in an apartment with roommates.  For the past 4 1/2 years he has been in a relationship without being married.  Both he (Andy) and his girlfriend (Jen) are 35.  She is a very successful insurance company executive partner.  Their friends are all married and having children, but Andy has performing old material for some time now with with less success with present audiences, so he has been downgraded on the pay scale for booked jobs through his agent.  Jen does not really want to have children like her friends and is questioning whether she wants to continue to be in the relationship with Andy; she wonders if she was always meant to be single.  The book covers their breakup and the difficulty of adjusting and moving forward as both Andy and Jen worry about it in different ways while both try to keep secret tabs on how the other is handling it all.  Was the breakup a mistake?  Was the relationship good enough that they should go back to it?  What is is wrong in their lives other than the breakup?  Is there a path forward for both of them if they don't get back together?  Can Andy revive his career?  What does Jen really want in life since she also is not satisfied with demands of her work? Because of the final 15% of the book seemed to come alive more, I upgraded my rating to 4 stars out of 5.