 First edition | |
| Author | Leslie Cohen |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Publisher | Gallery Books |
Publication date | 23 January 2018 |
This Love Story Will Self-Destruct is a novel by American author Leslie Cohen, published by Simon & Schuster. [1] It is Cohen's debut novel.
Leslie Cohen studied fiction at Columbia University. The characters in the novel are based loosely on Cohen's friends and roommates while at Columbia. Cohen was born and raised in New York. Various addresses and neighborhoods in the city play an important part in the unfolding of the plot. [2]
Eve Porter is an undergraduate Columbia student studying journalism living on Columbia's Morningside Heights East Campus between 117th and 118th streets with her roommates. She is originally from the Bronx where she and her mother and sister lived until her father left them when she was 13. She later moved to the Upper East Side when her mother started dating her step-father Arthur. Eve's mother worked in the World Trade Center as a receptionist for a law firm before she dies during the September 11 Attacks. [3]
Eve and her roommates throw a party where Ben and Eve have one of their first interactions in the novel. Eve doesn't think of much and keeps her mind set on her romantic interest at the time, Jesse. Jesse is a Columbia student who is an aspiring musician. Jesse and Eve have a tumultuous relationship due to both of their strong personalities as well as Jesse's drug and alcohol use. Ben and Eve share their second encounter while they are both out at a tiki bar in New York. Ben lives in Hoboken, New Jersey and is working as a structural and civil engineer for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Ben and Eve have little interaction at the bar, but he listens into Eve and Jesse's breakup as he is walking back from the bar on the Lower East Side.
Eve is working as an assistant at an asset management firm after one of the publication she is working for goes out of business. Following her break up with Jesse, Eve applies for a job at a newspaper in Colorado. At this point in the novel, Eve has a very negative view of New York due to her past experiences and decides it is time for a change of scenery.
Three years later Eve returns to New York after she feels that she has finally had the chance to "really live" in Colorado. She gets a new job working at a music sharing program as a journalist, and she is living in a studio in the East Village. Eve meets up with her college friends and roommates, Maya and Kate, along with Ben's group of friends at a restaurant. After having a lot to drink, Eve and Ben go on the balcony and have their first real conversation. Ben wakes up the next morning in Eve's apartment. He invites her to breakfast and halfway through Eve rushes out feeling that breakfast means Ben wants a serious relationship. After Eve leaves, Ben finds a business card under Eve's seat that belonged to her mother. Ben pieces together that Eve's mother worked for his father and is responsible for getting him out of the building during the attacks. Ben feels guilty since his father feels partially responsible for her death.
Three weeks later Ben is getting pizza, and he runs into Eve about to go to a concert to review for her job. Eve explains why she left at breakfast and invites Ben to come with her. After the concert while they are trying to get backstage, Ben gives back the card, and Eve confirms that it was in fact her mother's. A few months down the line, Eve loses her job due to the website closing down, and she and Ben start officially dating.
After Eve sees her father for the first time after he left, Ben finally decides to tell Eve how he knows her mother. Eve is upset he didn't tell her sooner. At a wedding later on, Ben is in Chicago and Eve goes without him. Eve runs into Jesse there, and they get to catching up. They sneak off to an empty room at the venue, but Eve stops before things get out of hand. Feeling guilty, she tells Ben what happened. and they break up.
Eve moves out after the break up and moves in with her step-father on the Park Avenue. She finds a new job, and on her way to work she runs into one of Ben's old friends. They plot a way for Eve and Ben to get back together after Eve discovers he has a new girlfriend. The plan falls through, but then after finding an old note that Eve wrote, Ben comes looking for Eve and he forgives her.
Several publications including People Magazine, The New York Post and Bustle [4] gave the novel positive reviews. Booklist named the book one of the Top 10 Romance Debuts of 2018. It was also named one of Buzzfeed's “31 Books That Portray Love In A Realistic Way” and received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
The book and its author have been frequently compared to Nora Ephron, by Kirkus Reviews, which said: “An edgy, updated take on Nora Ephron that's full of humor and wit.” Book Reporter also referenced the comparisons, and stated: “Cohen’s debut is a traditional romance with a contemporary twist, a truly 21st-century love story that’s as complex and challenging as the times in which it’s set.” Booklist wrote: “When Harry Met Sally for a new generation, with all the humor, heart, and smarts that writing neo-Ephron entails.” And the New York Post stated, "Think When Harry Met Sally... updated.". [5]
Nora Ephron was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award and three Writers Guild of America Awards.
Freaky Friday is a comedic children's novel written by Mary Rodgers, first published by Harper & Row in 1972. It has been adapted for several films, including versions in 1976, 1995, 2003, and 2018.
Bridge to Terabithia is a children's novel written by Katherine Paterson, about two children named Leslie and Jesse who create a magical forest kingdom in their imaginations. The book was originally published in 1977 by Thomas Crowell, and in 1978, it won the Newbery Medal. Paterson drew inspiration for the novel from a real event that occurred in August 1974 when her son's friend was struck and killed by lightning.
St. Elmo's Fire is a 1985 American coming-of-age film co-written and directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andie MacDowell and Mare Winningham. It centers on a clique of recent graduates of Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown University, and their adjustment to post-university life and the responsibilities of adulthood. The film is a prominent movie of the Brat Pack genre. It received negative reviews from critics but was a box-office hit, grossing $37.8 million on a $10 million budget.
The Stars Shine Down is a 1992 novel by Sidney Sheldon.
Ellen Foster is a 1987 novel by American novelist Kaye Gibbons. It was a selection of Oprah's Book Club in October 1997.
Rent is a 2005 American musical drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It is an adaptation of Jonathan Larson's 1996 Broadway musical of the same name, in turn based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, which is itself based on the 1851 novel Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri Murger.
Hanging Up is a 2000 American comedy-drama film about a trio of sisters bonding over their curmudgeonly father with whom none of them were close. It was directed by Diane Keaton, and stars Keaton, Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow, and Walter Matthau, in his final film role. The film is based on Delia Ephron's 1995 novel of the same name. It was released on February 18, 2000 and received negative reviews from critics.
Heartburn is a 1986 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Mike Nichols, starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. The screenplay, written by Nora Ephron, is based on her novel of the same name, a semi-biographical account of her marriage to Carl Bernstein. The film marked the debut of Kevin Spacey.
Jacob Have I Loved is a 1980 coming of age novel for teenagers and young adults by Katherine Paterson. It won the annual Newbery Medal in 1981. The title alludes to the sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau in the Bible, and comes from Romans 9:13.
The A-List is the first novel in The A-List series by Zoey Dean. It follows the story of a shy, privileged teenage girl who moves across the country to Los Angeles for her senior year and vows to reinvent herself as she becomes embroiled with the Beverly Hills elite. It was released in 2003 through Megan Tingley Books by Poppy.
Keeping the Moon is a young adult novel by author Sarah Dessen. It is her third novel and was first published in 1999.
The Long Road Home is a 1998 romance novel written by Danielle Steel. The book was released to commercial success, despite receiving unfavorable critical reviews. It is Steel's 42nd novel.
Romiette and Julio is a young adult novel by Sharon Draper, published in 1999 by Atheneum Books. It is an updated version of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Many of the characters in Draper's novel closely parallel those in Shakespeare's play. The plot updates the family feud between the Capulets and Montagues to reflect modern racial tensions between African-Americans and Hispanics in the United States. The book received mixed reviews.
Lemonade Mouth is a young adult novel by Mark Peter Hughes, published in 2007 by Delacorte Press. It follows five teenagers who meet in detention and ultimately form a band to overcome the struggles of high school, forming deep bonds with each other and learning to let go of their personal demons with each other's help. The novel was adapted into a television film by the same name starring Bridgit Mendler, Adam Hicks, Hayley Kiyoko, Naomi Scott, and Blake Michael and premiered on Disney Channel on April 15, 2011. An adapted version of the novel for younger readers was released after the release of the film. The film was well received by both audiences and critics.
Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me is a young adult novel written by Julie Johnston and published in 1994 by Lester in Toronto. The book was awarded the Governor General's Award for Text in Children's Literature in 1994, the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award in 1995, and the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award, also in 1995.
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is an American children's and young adult book author. In 2016, her children's book The War That Saved My Life received the Newbery Honor Award and was named to the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List with an "Outstanding Merit" distinction and won the Committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction.
The Foreign Student is the first novel by Asian-American author Susan Choi, published in 1998.
One Last Stop is a 2021 LGBT romance novel written by American author Casey McQuiston. The novel is about a woman named August Landry, a cynical pseudo detective, who finds love in a woman she meets on a subway named Jane Su, a punk lesbian from the 1970s who has been misplaced in time and is trapped on the subway.
