A book review of Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg. Post may contain affiliate links.
Note - This review is for the audio version. When I decided to read Modern Romanceby Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg, I thought that it was going to be silly little comedy sketches and stories about modern romance. That is what you would expect from a non-fiction book written by a comedian. However, if you look at the authors, you’ll see one is a comedian and the other is a social scientist.
The book manages to be both funny and informative. It is a discussion on the state of romance today and how it has changed from the past. As someone who has been married for 28 years, I admit that I would be terrified trying to date into today’s social media filled dating.
It is a fascinating read (or in my case, listen to). As you would imagine dating and marriage has changed a lot. If you look at just the changes in where people meet the person they marry - it started out with most people marrying someone that lived in their neighborhood, then that expanded to someone they met in college, then onto someone they met at work, to today - where the possibilities seem endless. The world is your dating oyster so to speak.
He covers everything from dating, sexting, and online dating sites. Lots of information is provided from scientific studies to less formal reddit groups. All presented in a humorous way.
Interesting and funny - just how I like my non-fiction.
Kyle Burkhardt says
I read this book earlier this summer and also enjoyed it. I think I was the most fascinated by the idea that, in my grandparents generation, ppl married ppl from their neighborhood, and that they were just looking for someone to raise a family with, not this all encompassing meets-my-every-need-is-my-best-friend-and-lover too kind of fairy tale ideal that permeates the modern romance world today.
raidergirl3 says
*As someone who has been married for 28 years, I admit that I would be terrified trying to date into today’s social media filled dating.*
Twenty three years for me, but that was my exact same reaction after listening to this book! The book was really good, enjoyable, etc, but it would be very scary to be 'out there'. I was impressed that Aziz wrote a somewhat scholarly book instead of just a stand up book. I felt smarter and was entertained.
Marjie says
The rules puzzle me: you can't date from the office, except that sometimes you can. You have to go out with a "wingman" - but then, how do you just meet one person if everyone is there with a buddy? I'm glad to have 36 years of solid marriage behind me, even though my kids assure me I"m "boring."