Set for Life
By Andrew Ewell

This is a very odd book. It is the story of a man – who, in my recollection, is never named – and how his life devolves and what he learns along the way.

The book begins when he is returning from three months in Bordeaux, where he has supposedly written a novel. His wife Debra – a successful novelist in her own right and college professor – is waiting to read his book, which doesn't exist. In truth, he has been riding Debra's coattails for quite a while. His associate professorship is due to her success.

The couple have friends, John and Sophie, whom they have known since college. All four of them have wanted to be successful writers – but only Debra has succeeded. As the other three flounder and their lives spiral out of control, our protagonist has a ringside seat to his losing everything.

I liked this book, but admit that I was getting lost toward the end in trying to figure out what the point was. It wasn't until the sly trick the author plays on the reader is subtly revealed that it all made sense. So if you choose to read it, hang in there. The end justifies the rest.

I'm not a big fan of fiction books about middle aged white men making poor decisions. I decided to read it because the man is an English professor at a small college in upstate New York. I liked parts of the book, especially how it ended.

Set for Life is the story of an unnamed male character who just keeps making bad choices and he can't get out of his own way. I enjoyed the author's style of writing and while I was often frustrated with the lead character, the author did create a distinct character. The book is billed as humor or satire and I'm not sure I saw the humor and maybe the satire escaped me. Bottom line, not my favorite story BUT it is well written and may appeal more to others.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of Set for Life in exchange for an honest review. Set for LIfe is available now.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read and review Set for Life on NetGalley.

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Humor & Satire

Published: 02/06/24

Hmmm. Several times I reminded myself the genre classification is Humor & Satire. I didn't find anything funny. Ewell has a storytelling writing style and I like this.

He also used the obligatory swearing, out of no where and inappropriately placed. The first time I paused reflecting on a television commercial from years ago. The ad was for pull-ups; undergarments for kids who had outgrown diapers. This immediately summed up the character "I'm a big boy now.".

Satire: I had to look, 30% in and I couldn't wait. Set for Life is written by a male. Okay I say male, do you say man? Did the author pattern the book off himself, someone he knows, or from observations of men.

I'm a fan of debut novels, and the review would be an easy four star review if I had liked just one of the main characters, the subject matter, the acceptance of cheating, portraying professional careers as games, or anything good -- I've got nothing.

I'm confused on the humor/satire: Divulging the plot spoils the book.

The storytelling began page one and I read this in two sittings. I will look for future work by the author. I'm going to write this as subject matter hits a sore spot with me. In 2024, Peter Pan and Little Man Syndromes should not be mocked.

Agh, this is such a bummer. I was really looking forward to this one and couldn't get past the first 40 pages. Everyone enjoys a slow burn from time to time, but I just couldn't get into this one at all. I am still very thankful to the publisher and author for sending this one my way, but it just wasn't for me.

I was going to give this one more star, but then I read about Andrew Ewell's ex-wife's memoir and...decided not to.

The writing itself is, admittedly, excellent; Ewell's narrative drive is such that I read this whole thing in two sittings. But the content of the novel isn't particularly, well, novel. I found myself bored with the themes and lack of plot and introspection happening, even though it's all based on true events. I'm all for unlikeable characters, but they need to be unlikeable in engaging, intriguing ways.

Hopefully Ewell applies his writing skills to something more interesting. And I'll definitely be checking out We Are Too Many.

I found myself skimming this book to get to the end. The MC was completely unlikable and I found it difficult to give a crap about a man who would cheat on his wife and then turn her into the villain. I wish I had known, when I started reading, that the author was writing a thinly veiled "novel' about his real-life experience cheating on his wife, Hannah Pittard (We Are Too Many), with her best friend and at least I would have been interested in the story. As is, I found this story completely unrelatable and uninteresting. The writing was good but other than that - yuck.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Art imitates life in Andrew Ewell’s debut novel SET FOR LIFE, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase “publish or perish.”

Irredeemable Main Character

It’s uncomfortable to read a book when you dislike the protagonist from the first page. He’s returning from a three month fellowship in France and has promised his wife, Debra, that he would work on writing a novel or something worthy. He did not. He has deplaned, called his wife, who was unable to get home, leaving our hero to have go solo and meet their best friends for dinner. Sophie and John are old friends and know the hero quite well. He ends up sleeping with Sophie that very night.

He is very good at avoiding work and completing tasks. Apparently, he has been semi-successful at passing off his responsibilities to others. The reader learns he is actually works at not working. He also is the narrator of the novel which tends to weaken the premise. There is an undercurrent of cynicism and mocking which did not enhance the plot.

I know I’ve read a book(s) with the same premise and those who try the easy way, seem to turn up with zero.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Set for Life
by Andrew Ewell
Pub Date: 06 Feb 2024

Set for Life is the debut novel from Andrew Ewell. The writing is fantastic, this is a very talented author.

Here is a short synopsis of the book: A wryly funny and moving novel that captures the complexities of marriage, art, friendship, and the fictions we create in order to become the people we wish to be.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Simon&Schuster for the advanced E-ARC of this book.

Set For Life by Andrew Ewell is a story about a middle aged man that has basically gotten to where he is in life by coasting along with his wife and friends, never really taking responsibility for his arc in life. Instead of facing this fact he ultimately (whether intentional or not) starts to destroy the successes of all the people around him. This was a bit of a pity party and the over usage of big words was tiresome and unnecessary. Overall I enjoyed the book and the character development but it was more depressing than wry, as advertised.

Even if this book is a roast on the disaffected privileged white male, I really don't want to read a whole book about these pathetic creatures.

Described as "wryly funny and moving," this book immediately caught my eye, and I was excited to read tit. Unfortunately, it did not live up to its description and just wasn't for me. The book was well-written, but I had trouble connecting with—or really even caring about—any of the characters. I greatly disliked our main character, a creative writing professor who begins the novel having an affair with his best friend's wife. I kept waiting for a redemption arc, but it never happened. This one wasn't for me, but I would like to read more from the author in the future because I do believe he is a talented writer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the first half of this book. The prose is well-turned and funny, and the author deftly skewers the familiar character of the artist in incipient middle age. But I started to become frustrated about halfway through; the main character experiences little personal growth, and although his life changes over the course of the novel, little seems to penetrate his alcoholic and depressive haze. Still, the ending of the story has its rewards, some expected - yes, all the people the main character has betrayed end up successful - and some less so, including a beautifully understated reckoning with the main character's childhood. Like Dear Committee Members, but written by Nick Hornby on downers.

Thank you to Simon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I actually enjoyed this book. I know a lot of reviews say they couldn't stand any of the characters, but I thought they all had their place in this story whether they were likeable or not.
Our MC is nameless. We never get his name throughout the whole book and that appears to be intentional. MC is restarting his life from the ground up. He is reinventing himself, in a way. So our MC having no name seems to be symbolic. A huge part of this story was MC being a struggling English teacher, so I wouldn't be surprised if this book is chock-full of symbols.
This book read as more of character study than anything. It followed our MC through all the (horrible) choices he made in life and how those choices affected his life. It's interesting to see "all actions have consequences" play out in real time.
Did I agree with everything our MC did? No. I think all his choices sucked. He is not a good person, and comes off as very pretentious. So if you don't like unlikeable characters, you might struggle getting through this book. But I personally enjoyed it. We saw his downfall, we saw his struggles, and we saw him sort of become grounded again and reevaluate his life.
But this book also shows what could happen to a person and the choices they might make in time of crisis. MC is struggling with his life, as is made clear throughout the book. It feels sort of mid-life crisis-y. But that goes back to my whole character study take.
I liked that the ending of this book is more open-ended. Usually I'm not a fan of that, but in this case, it works. Overall, this was a great debut. I enjoyed Ewell's writing style. His characters were done well. I wasn't left questioning anything (except MC's life choices). If you enjoy character-driven novels, don't mind unlikeable characters, and literary fiction, Set for Life is worth checking out.

Set for Life is the debut novel from Andrew Ewell.

"A creative writing professor is back home from sabbatical. But he's drifting personally and professionally. He can't finish his novel - he can't find a way to deal with his wife's literary success - he's not sure what can lead to fullfillment. He decides on an affair with his wife's best friend. It doesn't go well and he continues his spiral."

Ever read a story with a main character that is so annoying, so entitled and just a terrible decision maker. Make the best of your circumstances dude. Have some conversation with your wife. Stop drinking so much. (Lots of drinking in this novel - I really think your late thirties are a good time to stop getting drunk every single night and some days.) There are consequences to your stupidity.
There are no likable characters here and the MC's behavior is mostly awful. The scene of setting the Dean's office on fire is funny though.
Eventually there is an epiphany so there is a moment of redemption.
Read this if you want a roadmap of how to destroy your life in your thirties.

I enjoyed this novel about a writer despite the fact that the narrator often seemed clueless about the people around him. He seemed like a bit of a jerk too (and maybe because he was so self-involved), so I wasn't particularly rooting for him. Nevertheless, I liked how the novel justified itself and found the writing fluid. I also liked the literary flourishes using other novels.

I’m not someone that always needs characters to be likable. I’m all for a good anti-hero. However, the main character of “Set for Life” was so frustrating that it made the book a slog to get through (even at a brisk 256 pages).

I totally get what Andrew Ewell was trying to do with this novel about a creative writing professor who’s languishing in his ultra-successful wife’s shadow. He’s a frustrating, misogynistic, white male with tons of privilege who would rather waste his potential (and everyone else’s time) rather than get off his butt and be a productive adult. But this character had basically zero redeeming qualities (going on to hurt every single person he comes in contact with). Unless I’m mistaken, we don’t ever learn his name, which made it all the more difficult to connect with this person in any way.

As the book progresses, every single event is foreshadowed and predictable. Every personal downfall the MC experiences is not only easy to guess, but also very much deserved. I found myself rooting for every other character in the book (even the ones that are set up to be somewhat villainous). But even the secondary characters are annoying – they react in super unrealistic ways that made me feel like shouting at them.

There were also issues with the way events were presented. The reader is made to feel as though a great deal of time has passed within the story, and then we learn that it’s only been two weeks. Or one event that will have a lot of fallout isn’t resolved until many pages later. This leads to an uneven feeling that made me more annoyed than intrigued.

Nearly all of the adjectives used to describe this debut – “funny,” “moving,” “poignant” – were completely off-base in my mind. I couldn’t wait to be done reading it. The only thing that kept this from a one-star rating was that I think Ewell did a decent job depicting the life of a writer and what that quest for success is like. Otherwise, I’m ‘set for life’ with this writer.

I don’t always mind unlikeable characters, but they literally make the worst decisions, continuing down an endless spiral. Pretty much nothing happens besides a whole lot of drinking. And I just got bored with the plot. I will say the writing was good and enjoyable, but I wanted more character development.

Set for Life is a novel about a 40 year old English professor at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York. His wife is also a professor and a best selling novelist. He is dissatisfied with his life as he struggles to gain tenure, write a book, connect with his wife, his colleagues and his students- none of which he is doing well. Unfortunately the book left me feeling empty; for me it was a slow and unrewarding read. I commend the author on the courage and commitment it took to write Set for Life and wish him well Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC, and to give a candid review.