Apartment – Teddy Wayne
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: In 1990s New York City, two roommates are try to navigate the challenges of their MFA program, and the jealousy that threatens to tear their friendship apart.
Expectation: An LGBTQIA+ story about unrequited love and finding yourself.
Reality: An engrossing character study that gives you a front row seat to how easily it is destroy yourself in the name of saving others.
Recommended For: Fans of character-driven stories and ‘90s nostalgia.
Why I Read It: I became aware of it because of #Bookstagram and Apple Books was selling a copy for $1.99.
My Take:
For the past few months, I’ve been on a 1990s nostalgia kick. From the “Friends” reunion to “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” and the No Doubt vibes on Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, I’ve been fixated on my coming-of-age decade.
“Apartment” is a slow burn character study that addresses ambition, class politics and identity in the same 90s New York City where “Friends” and “Seinfeld” gave middle America a taste of what the Clinton economy was doing for Gen Xers.
Our unnamed narrator lives in a big city bubble. He has a rent-controlled apartment in Stuy Town, his Columbia University MFA is being funded by his father and rather than working, he can spend his days chasing creative muses for his fledgling writing career. He thinks he knows toil and sacrifice, but he might as well be a regular at Central Perk.
Wayne set the story in the past, but his characterization of our narrator is apropos for today’s political divide. While our narrator regularly views himself as a salt-of-the-earth martyr for art, he lacks the self-awareness that while he has yet to achieve his own personal goals, his life is full of privilege not available to others.
His ignorant elitism turns to economic saviorism when he befriends Billy, a classmate from small-town Illinois who is barely scraping by in New York City.
Our narrator takes an almost Regina George in “Mean Girls” fascination with Billy, peppering him with questions about his upbringing and financial status while not recognizing that these intrusive questions illustrate the schism between coastal elites and middle America.
It also doesn’t help that Billy has true talent — both in developing personal relationships and in writing — and our narrator’s infatuation with him soon turns to jealousy.
This isn’t a page turner, but the ways the relationship starts to fall apart will make you uncomfortable. With Billy pulling away from our narrator, he makes a last-ditch effort to keep him as a roommate. The action itself is so irredeemable that you want to see him implode, and he does in a way that feels authentic.
Wayne packs a lot of human observation into the story, but his writing is sometimes laughably pretentious, which makes you think he’s more akin to the narrator than to Billy.
Not everyone is going to love this novel, but I appreciated its honest portrayal of unrequited love, male friendship, self-discovery and the challenges of imbalance and insecurity in relationships.
Wayne is now on my authors to watch list.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): N/A
Formats: eBook (personal library)
Dates read: September 11 - 18, 2021
Multi-tasking: N/A
