Books by Andrew Palmer

A “witty and wise” (People) debut novel about love and commitment, celebrity and obsession, poetry and reality TV.“Palmer’s novel wryly tracks an earnest interrogation of art and selfhood.”—The New YorkerReeling from a breakup with his almost fiancée, the narrator of Andrew Palmer’s debut novel returns to his hometown in Iowa to house-sit for a family friend. There, a chance flick of the TV remote and a new correspondence with an old friend plunge him into unlikely twin obsessions: the reality show The Bachelor and the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet John Berryman. As his heart begins to mend, his fascination with each deepens, and somewhere along the way, representations of reality become harder and harder to distinguish from real life. Soon he finds himself corresponding with multiple love interests, participating in an ill-considered group outing, and trying to puzzle through the strange turn his life seems to have taken.An absorbing coming-of-age tale “that marks the debut of a significant talent” (Kirkus Reviews, starred), The Bachelor approaches—with wit and grace—the high-stakes questions of an overconnected world: If salvation can no longer be found in fame, can it still be found in romantic relationships? In an era of reality TV, where does entertainment end and reality begin? And why do we, season after season, repeat the same mistakes in love and life?

A smart and entertaining debut about love and commitment, fame and obsession, poetry and reality TV.Reeling from a breakup with his almost-fiancé, the narrator of Andrew Palmer's first novel returns to his hometown in Iowa to house-sit for a family friend. There, a chance flick of the TV remote and a correspondence with an old grad school classmate plunge him into unlikely twin obsessions: the reality TV show The Bachelor and the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Berryman. As his heart begins to mend, his fixation with each deepens and calcifies, and somewhere along the way, art and "reality" become harder and harder to distinguish from life. Love interests accumulate and then fall away: an old girlfriend calls and he answers, he meets a young woman at the dry cleaners. Soon he corresponds intimately, regularly with other suitors (as Berryman did in his lifetime), participates in a group outing (as The Bachelor does each season), and tries to, generally, puzzle through the strange turn his life seems to have taken.A book that's intellectually ambitious and thought-provoking but also a genuinely absorbing coming-of-age tale, The Bachelor tells the story of finding one's footing in love and art, even as it tunnels deep into our cultural obsession with fame and "reality." It asks: If salvation can no longer be found in fame, can it still be found in love and marriage? In an era in which reality TV can make two dozen women love one man in six weeks, where does entertainment end and reality begin? Why do we, season after season, repeat the same mistakes in love and life?