This book is a love story - with humor and tears and I really enjoyed it. It is a gay rom-com starting in the 1970's at Yale when the two main characters Nate and Farrell "meet-cute" at Yale as undergrads - Nate a Jewish boy from New Jersey and Farrell, a very rich kid from the Midwest. Some reviewers have compared the opening sections to Love Story and I would say yes but with lots more humor and sex. Given that this book covers decades in their relationship, inevitably AIDS casts a wide shadow. The story takes us to NYC and Hollywood among other places and reveals family secrets. This was a delightful and poignant read and I recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an ARC and I left an honest review voluntarily.

I’m really torn with this book - parts were great and unapologetically gay. (I’ve never highlighted so many whole paragraphs) But other parts didn’t quite work for me. There are some great reviews for it, so maybe it’ll resonate with you more?

First, this is almost a fictionalized semi-autobiographical novel from Paul Rudnick - screenwriter and playwright who’s accomplished some amazing works - 𝘚𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘤𝘵, 𝘐𝘯 & 𝘖𝘶𝘵, 𝘑𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘺. So cool things - Nate is clearly a fictionalized version of Rudnick. So let’s get to the story.

Nate Reminger, aspiring Jewish aspiring writer, meets and falls for Farrell Covington, drop-dead handsome & ridiculously wealthy, while they are in college. They fall hard, but this is only the start of the story.

This novel takes place over 50 years, and tells the story of Nate and Farrell across the decades together, and the decades apart. Moving from Yale to NYC, LA, and around the world - while experiencing the societal issues and changes from disco, AIDS, 9/11, career successes, and family issues.

It’s told almost like a retelling by Nate, an autobiography if you will.

It’s an ambitious plot, which also was its downfall for me - there were just parts of the story that were boring IMO.
However, there were many great parts - the writing was on-point, funny, and insightfully gay! Both Nate and Farrell were great, if not ridiculous characters.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for a chance to early review this story in exchange for an honest review.

don’t be fooled by the cover - sure this is funny and sweet, but HORNY. like smut level sex scenes (which was a pleasant surprise)
we follow Farrell and Nate from the time they meet in college in the ‘70s through the span of a few decades. I had fun with this for the most part but Farrell’s quirkiness can get a bit annoying after awhile and i do feel like the book went on a little too long, but overall a really refreshing piece of queer fiction. it has a romcom-ish tone without being a romcom story.

This was such an enjoyable read. The writing was over-the-top, exciting, and unapologetically queer. Farrell was one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever read with the perfect mixture of extravagance and humility. I love a story told over an extended run period, and this book did that really well. I do wish we got a few chapters from Farrell’s POV so we could get his thoughts on Nate, but overall, this was great.

I follow Paul Rudnick on Twitter for his sardonic, sometimes acerbic, topical comments (particularly those aimed at Lindsey Graham and accompanied by a photo of Joan Crawford). This new novel is witty, touching, funny…it is a great love story told with, well, style. The characters are drawn with care to detail and the narrative outlandish but plausible.

An interesting story that spans many years with Farrell Covington. There is some humor but there are some tears as well. Overall a good read.
Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Paul Rudnick is an insanely talented writer and this is a love story for the ages. Highly recommended.

Remember Playing the Palace? The book with the lovely pink cover we all wanted to be the next Red White and Royal Blue? The book we either loved or hated? Paul Rudnick, the author of Playing the Palace, wrote a new book, a love story spanning decades.

Whereas Playing the Palace was hilarious and over the top, and for some people simply too much, Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style is raw and genuine, an ode to life, while still harboring the same insane ‘a hundred-word sentences’ with dozens of commas, and the faster than fast pacing.

It’s 1973 when Nate, a Jewish gay boy from the New Jersey suburbs, meets Farrell, an insanely rich, flamboyant, and handsome guy, at Yale. I smiled at their first conversations, and soon my chest started to glow for Farrell. He’s the kind of person who ignites a fire. He’s the kind of person who seems to have it all. He’s the kind of person we secretly all want to be. But don’t try to look under the surface because, at the same time, Farrell is only a shadow of himself when he’s with his family.

The story is written from Nate’s POV, and when he meets Farrell, he can’t do anything but surrender and fall in love. His admiration for Farrell is tangible throughout the novel. Nate is simply in awe and has to pinch himself to be sure that Farrell is anything but a dream and his boyfriend.

I liked Playing the Palace, but I fell head over heels in love with Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style. The first one-third of this book shows us Nate’s and Farrell’s college years, and the rest of the story takes us on a journey of being inseparable, of being apart, of forbidden love, of exploring gay life, of revenge, and of true love. My mouth pulled up so many times in a smile, and my heartbeat fastened, depending on the speed of the novel. Lumps blocked my throat, and when I finished the book, tears escaped my eyes.

I know Playing the Palace was not for everyone, but I urge you to read Farrell’s and Nate’s story! This book is pure love that splashes off the pages!

I enjoyed the storytelling of the LBGTQ+ experience in the 20th century. The places this story takes you are wonderful (and sometimes heartbreaking)

Thank you so much to Atria Books. This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Paul Rudnick’s Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style is many things: an ode to life and the living of it; a heart-rending and remedy all in one; a cautionary tale about two men and their love–the way it costs them and gives them absolutely everything. Real love is not handed over. Real love is epic. It is negotiated, tested, and earned. It is too often lost and rarely found.

Nate Reminger is a Jewish wannabe-writer who meets the dashing, elusive and explosive Farrell Covington at Yale University and immediately falls in love and lust with him. Farrell sweeps Nate up by his outstretched hand, leading him into a whirlwind of fumbling, glorious sex, dripping wealth, and young, big idea-forged friendships. Nate longs for Farrell even when they lay beside each other like he’s a marble-sculpted Peter Pan doomed to flee to Neverland at any given moment and leave him wondering. Farrell is whimsical and light, careening from one adventure to another, never quite feeling real. Will this be a forever love, or bloomed from a moment in time that is doomed to end?

The story feels deeply personal, like a love letter that is finally sent after being promised long ago. Early on I had a strange sense of foreboding, not entirely unwarranted but not entirely spot on. In a love story that spans fifty years, there are sure to be dark moments and missteps and messy bits, because love is like life and as Nate Reminger reminded me, you only get one. Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style is many things: snapshots of pained family politics, a dreamy, closeted Hollywood, and a bright New York City, even during the AIDS epidemic. It travels the world. It looks back on the past with fondness and melancholy, like something Joni Mitchell would sing about: I’m glad it happened, but it hurt. It’s exquisite pain and tender joy. It’s a masterpiece; a glimpse into a raw and open heart.

Paul Rudnick is a master of quippy dialogue that makes you laugh out loud; his characters talk like real people only dream they could. The pacing is speedy, and nothing ever feels wasted. I found myself highlighting sentences, paragraphs, words–anything that made me think, which I wanted to return to for further review. Farrell is a delectable, charming and entertaining muse, but the sturdy footing of the story lies with Nate, who for much of the novel seems to think of himself as something of a witness to a miracle. In reality, it’s not so much happenstance as a series of choices that earns these two men their love story.

I absolutely adored this book. It felt like something rare and special, and for a short time, I got to be a part of something that truly mattered. Real love is scary and fragile and consuming. It lives in small moments, seconds of time when it defeats everything else and triumphs. And it never really ends: it just goes on and on.