The Great Man Theory by Teddy Wayne

 

Paul's life isn't what he thought it would be here in his early forties.  His marriage dissolved and his daughter is starting her teenage years so he sees her less and less.  His career as an author is stalled although he is working on a book where he sets everyone straight on how life should be.  He also teaches writing at the college level but that isn't going that well either.  Budget cuts mean that he has been demoted from an assistant professor to an adjunct which means no benefits such as insurance.  In fact, money is so tight that he has to move back home with his widowed mother who is in her eighties and a devotee of right wing news, which drives Paul crazy.

The funniest/saddest part of the book is when Paul insists on having his daughter's birthday party at mother's place as it falls on one of his weekends.  Of course, living in a different New York borough, he has to drive and get the girls.  One doesn't fit with a seatbelt, so he has to make two trips spending two hours doing that alone.  The cable goes out and the girls can't watch their favorite shows or movies.  The worst is that Paul didn't listen that closely to one mother's warnings about her daughter's dietary restrictions and the pizza he bought has her sick for the entire party, holed up in the bathroom.  

Teddy Wayne has written six novels and won an NEA creative writing fellowship.  In this novel, he skewers the middle-aged man who is sure he knows the best way to do everything, from how much television one should watch in a day to what one should read or eat or enjoy.  Like many men as they age, he lectures those around him incessantly, unaware how irritating his actions are.  While Paul has everyone's best interests at heart, his sanctimony loses him friends and work.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job.  He didn't fall into the trap of using his voice to point out Paul's errors.  Rather he tells the story in an everyday voice allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions on when Paul has stepped over the line.  This novel is recommended for literary fiction readers.