Re: Good Material
my thoughts hearing about a heartbroken man going through an unforeseen breakup
Good Material, Dolly Alderton
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story follows the months after mediocre comedian, Andy, gets broken up with by his corporate success girlfriend, Jen, seemingly out of nowhere. Andy’s POV really highlights the interjections of insecurity and emptiness in the self-discovery and healing process of coping with a breakup. Andy starts out as an unlikeable character but as he processes the breakup and goes through the stages of learning how to be a whole person on your own, we see other sides that make for a compelling character.
Writing from Andy’s perspective, Dolly Alderton explores the topics of male vulnerability and the unique communication challenges that follow by highlighting the common perception that men may avoid talking about their feelings not because they’re embarrassed about being vulnerable, but rather because they fear appearing foolish or inadequate. Andy’s character growth throughout the novel realistically mimics the positive changes that come from adversity.
Towards the last tenth of the book, we get Jen’s perspective of the breakup and an expedited, but not rushed, version of her story. As women, we all know an Andy and we all know a Jen, so as readers, it was easy to comprehend her perspective and predict her motivations. This also caps off how sometimes, men can be unreliable narrators and don’t see what they don’t want to see.
Aside from the romantic themes explored, Alderton captures the essence of friendships by delving into the worries of being left behind when your friends are achieving big milestones—the bittersweet feeling. It’s a thin, delicate mix of feeling happiness for their success and the pang of watching them soar while you feel a bit stuck.
Dolly Alderton is one of my absolute favorite authors because of how well-researched she is to morph into the characters of her stories. Often stories set in the late 2010s are written with cringeworthy verbiage, but Alderton does an incredible job exploring contemporary themes among relationships among millennials in their 30s while writing from the male perspective. With how the book ends, Alderton’s ability to simply make women feel seen and heard by sharing these relationship struggles through excellent storytelling is the biggest nod to womanhood and really solidifies the 5/5 rating for me.
Inspired by Good Material
Dolly Alderton on Demystifying Men and Dissecting Breakups, Swarna Gowtham
Why Alderton chose to write from Andy’s perspective and how important it is to discuss the nuances of male friendships, the imperfections that define him, and feeling left behind as a newly single man
Love Stories with Dolly Alderton
Almost as if we’re listening to her real-time research in comprehending every aspect behind love. She curates conversations about friendship, heartbreak, love, and loss from a wide range of guests to draw significant conclusions about identity formation and the human condition.
Live with Dolly Alderton, Sentimental Garbage
So often, Alderton interviews guests and gives advice to listeners, so to hear her be interviewed and get a glimpse into her thought processes is incredibly informative and inspiring.
Tiktok: Why women break up with men “out of nowhere”
Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
All my other reads are on StoryGraph!