With snappy dialog, name-dropping, and an author’s note suggesting insider experience, the story of Eve’s self-doubt and willingness to do almost anything to become a writer in a male-dominated world has a #MeToo movement currency ... Part coming of age, part gossipy peek into the enclave of writers, editors, poets, and artists who annually escaped the heat of Boston and New York to talk, drink, and work on Cape Cod, this seminostalgic debut is the ideal summer read for book people.
A lightweight love story with some lessons learned and a glimpse of the artist as a young woman, it’s ideal for a trip to the beach or a weekend getaway ... The novel is genuine, not pretending to be anything other than the slightly nostalgic coming-of-age story about another time, both in publishing and in youth, that it is ... The dialogue can be a bit clunky and a side story...doesn’t do much, but Dukess moves her main story along. You probably know where it is headed, but the lovingly created mood, particularly in Truro and its surroundings, makes it easy to keep turning the pages.
For a novel concerned with class politics, marital infidelity and office predations, The Last Book Party is completely illiterate regarding the dynamics of power and privilege ... [Eve] is a narrator blissfully exempt from conflict, neurosis and anxiety ... the politics of the Cape’s seasonal 'wash ashores' and their year-round neighbors in The Last Book Party are gratingly insensitive. Eve laments her well-to-do family’s ordinariness, bemoaning their unpretentious taste and subdued cocktail parties ... Somewhere, Daisy Buchanan lifts a champagne flute in salutation ... Dukess’s novel is a postcard from another era, blind to itself and the world, but the fatal mistake is the assumption that it would be anything but irritating in this one.
Readers aching for the sun-dappled intrigue of André Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name (2007) or the wit of Francine Prose’s Blue Angel (2000) will find a kindred reading experience here. Although some romantic entanglements ring a bit hollow, Eve’s youthful optimism is entirely believable. Mixing ambivalence, nostalgia, and the power of innocence in an idyllic setting, this journey of self-discovery is an ideal summer read for those who might shun more typical 'beach-read' offerings.
A true bildungsroman, The Last Book Party weaves a tale of mistakes, ambition, secrecy and coming to terms with the fact that life will unfold in its own way, in its own time. Karen Dukess draws the world of the New York literary scene in the 1980s—and the landscape its players inhabit—so vividly that readers will imagine they have experienced every glittering moment right along with Eve.
Eve is an appealing protagonist, naïve and yet assertive in trying to find her own voice as an artist ... Written with fresh confidence and verve, this first novel is a bibliophile’s delight, with plenty of title-dropping and humorous digs at the publishing scene of the 1980s. The lyrical evocations of the Cape Cod landscape will also enchant readers seeking that perfect summer read.
... a well-written story that offers a glimpse into the neurotic world of writing and publishing. The characters are interesting and deeply flawed in their own distinct ways. Although the climax of the story is quicker and quieter than it could have been, the overall story arc is satisfying and conclusive. It swept me right up into its world and didn’t let me go until the last page. Book lovers, aspiring writers, and current writers will all enjoy this book. Fans of unconventional and twisty romances will also find a compelling story within these pages.
