PositiveTimeoutIn this debut, journalist Adelle Waldman sounds like an anthropologist familiar enough with her subject (in this case, the self-serious male writer) to speak his language: The dialogue is pitch-perfect, so much so that the exposition occasionally becomes tiresome by comparison ....Waldman’s characters are distinctive and impressively rendered, so it’s sometimes a shame to be centrally located in Nate’s head at the expense of the supporting characters. As a protagonist, he can be exhausting, while others, such as Hannah, as well as Jason and Aurit—Nate’s oldest friends—offer welcome alternatives. There aren’t any big lessons learned by the book’s end, and some of the action begins to feel a little arbitrary. But all in all, Nathaniel P. is an impressive entrance, sharply written and infused with plenty of authenticity.
