From Publishers Weekly
Dwight B. Wilmerding, a feckless, 28-year-old college grad, stumbles upon an experimental drug to help him with his chronic inability to assert himself. He soon loses his tech support job and rashly jets off to South America in pursuit of an enigmatic, beautiful woman named. While Dwight's misadventures lead to some entertaining moments, the problem with this recording is simply that Frederic sounds much older than Dwight is supposed to be (dialogue crutches like "dude" and "like" don't ring true). Frederic is a good reader with a wry, sharp-edged delivery that works well with this type of material. His other characterizations are fine, and he shines in a memorable portrayal of Dwight's brash, commodities-trading father. The idea of treating the malaise of modern youth with pharmaceuticals is clever and conducive to several funny episodes, but Frederic's performance as the main character is a bit hard to swallow.
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From Booklist
A promising premise is plagued by subpar prose in this debut from literary critic Kunkel. Twentysomething Manhattanite Dwight Wilmerding suffers from a fictional condition called
abulia--the inability to make up his mind. Paralyzed by indecisiveness about his tech--support job, his complicated love life (there's Dutch bombshell Natasha who lives in Ecuador and coy Vaneetha in New York), and a distressing attraction to his psychiatrist sister, Dwight signs up for the trial drug Abulinix, which claims to tackle tentativeness with a little blue-and-white pill. Dwight travels to South America, only to discover that even the most potent pharmaceuticals are virtually powerless against the forces of fate. A graduate of the Columbia MFA program and founding editor of the literary magazine
n+1, Kunkel writes in a style that is uneven at best--clever one moment, stilted and cliche-ridden the next (he renders a few surprisingly poignant passages depicting post-9/11 New York). While
Indecision offers lively commentary on the pros and cons of personal freedom, its rambling narrative makes for a decidedly rocky read.
Allison BlockCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
