An unappealing unnamed male narrator spins his life into a mess in this satiric look at academia among other things. At least I think it's meant to be satiric. It's very much about a man behaving badly, which isn't a deterrent to a good read but here, here it felt quite contrived. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I may be the odd one out here. Know that Ewell's MFa shows.

Set For Life is basically an inside look at the mid-life crisis and self destruction of a man, and I do love to watch people self destruct. Our main character is a writer, or at least he wants to be, who needs to publish a novel to get tenure, and to hopefully peek out from the shadow of his successful wife. His solution to his writer's block is a love affair, solid logic buddy, and we just follow him from there.

The plot itself is quite loose, but I think the story is much more about the characters. Our main character is quite unlikable but that’s mostly due to the fact that he suffers from serious main character syndrome. He’s having a hard time coming to terms with a more realistic and humble understanding of his existence, which means he’s constantly projecting cruel thoughts about others. He quite literally walks around as if the world owes him something and throws poorly judged tantrums when it fails to provide. It feels very typically male of him, but maybe I’m just being unkind in that opinion. I found him quite interesting even if I was having a hard time digging for some sympathy. Despite that, there was a small piece of me that still hopes things work out for him.

This was one of those books that made me feel second hand embarrassment. You’re watching these characters and it’s like watching a train wreck that you can look away from, but there is honesty in that which I can appreciate. I do wish some of the other characters had a bit more to them but this is a pretty short novel overall so I get it. My concluding thoughts, I will be honest that I don’t really understand the plight of a writer or artist and their thirst for their personal definition of success, but it is certainly fascinating watching them try to navigate it.

"Set for Life" has us follow the life of a college professor and would be author. The book is told solely from his point of view.

His wife is a fellow professor and successful author, and helped him get the job at the college where she works. He's just spent several months in France, supposedly to get ahead with writing his book, but he actually spent his time drinking and eating. On his return he's clearly in a funk, lying to the faculty at the college as to his progress on his book, and not sure where his life is going. He visits long time friends in New York City, and decides to start an affair with Sophie, not only the wife of his best friend but also the best friend of his wife.

We watch as he sinks deeper into alcoholism, and his relationships and his life in general, implode around him.

The description of the book states that this is a wryly funny and moving novel - but I'm not sure that I would agree. I found the main character to be a sad, and pathetic man, with few redeeming qualities. His wife Debra was a little more interesting at the start of the novel, but she soon grey's as we follow along.

I don't have to like the characters to enjoy a good novel, and I certainly enjoyed the writing in this book, but I really didn't enjoy this. I felt there wasn't much point in the plot, other than watching someone self destruct.

I received a copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

One can’t really tell if the main character truly is just written to be pretentious and unlikable or if the author just wanted a safe place to write out all his judgements against those of us who left blogging about reading Beckett in the coffeeshop back in 2012 where it belonged. I really wanted to like this book—the premise was promising and I’m not someone who needs characters to be wholly likeable—but everyone was so wildly UNlikable, every sentence so sneering, the main character so long winded and dull, that I couldn’t get through it to see if anyone got what they deserved. This never happens, especially when I’ve specifically requested an ARC. I don’t know how it ended, but I hope the wife left him!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

"Set for Life" revolves around an assistant professor at a college in New York, of which we don't know his identity, who has returned from a three-month trip to France. He was supposed to be writing the manuscript for his next novel but did everything but that. Once the professor returns home to New York, he gets together with a couple he has known since college. While the male of this couple goes to fulfill some professional duties after they meet up, the main character and the woman of this couple end up sleeping together, beginning a months-long affair.

Their rendezvouses cause things to be rather morally murky in his life, but the main character feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. While he has had so many things he is very stressed about, the affair is an escape from the world, especially with his professional and personal pressures. He could be helping himself by actually writing his next novel, but his newfound relationship has made him somewhat content with his life.

There isn't any discernable plot in this book, but for some reason, I enjoyed it. I can't entirely pinpoint why I was so invested in this character; it could have been the writing or everything that happens to this main character, but either way, I wanted to keep reading. It's clear that the main character is ethically flawed (this is an understatement). However, I felt sorry for him because of how deeply insecure he is and why he did what he did.

Weirdly enough, this story reminded me of something that could be adapted into an indie movie in the vain of "Garden State" or something else along those lines. This is Andrew Ewell's first novel, and I think he did a good job. It's not something I would typically enjoy, but I could definitely read another novel of his in the future.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an electronic advanced readers copy of this novel.

The unnamed main character is a married college professor who works with his wife (technically his boss) at a small upstate New York college. Paralyzed by writer's block, he is coming back from a writer's retreat in France, where he accomplished nothing. His wife, more successful than he is, both academically and in writing (she writes those popular fiction novels that get a lot of attention but have no real deep thought underneath), is worried about him but at the same time. does not mind being the more popular figure in their marriage. He keeps living, making mistakes and trying to figure out his life, including an ill advised affair with one of their longtime friends.

Set for Life by Andrew Ewell is an interesting book. The male character you aren't supposed to like or root for - mission accomplished. He's pretty annoying and seems to be very passive and blames others for what's happening to him (spoiler alert - he's the idiot who makes the stupid decisions all on his own). I know this is supposed to be a novel about entitlement, jealousy and academia, but it didn't make me feel very good to read it.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy!

This book is about a part time English professor, full-time pretentious jerk who cannot handle is wife's successes as an author over his own lack thereof, causing his life to spiral out of control.

I loved it.

I hated the main character, and I was supposed to hate him. He chooses himself over everyone else and is always placing the blame on everybody else. It was actually difficult to tell whose style in which this was written -- the author's or the jerk of a main character's? Some of the word choice sentence style made me think, 'Dang, this guy really likes his thesaurus.' But at the same time, that would track with the know-it-all main character who thinks he's the smartest in the room and is always policing his friends' grammar.

I thought it was clever, and I am glad I read it.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to love the characters in a book to enjoy the story and the journey. I requested this ARC on Netgalley after reading a positive review or two on the internet, and I finished it in about 48hrs.

The plot follows a male protagonist with no name, after a failed sabbatical to France when he returns to his professorship with nothing to show for the trip. He shortly after begins an affair with his wife’s best friend and slags off on pretty much every other responsibility he has. As the story progresses, this protagonist makes just about every worst decision you can make, slacks off from work, and eventually gets caught by his wife, who turns his whole spiral into a fiction novel, written by her. Overall, very juicy and very engrossing towards the end.

The writing was the best part of this novel. It was witty, descriptive, and kept you engaged in the story. This is particular noteworthy because every single character in this book was insufferable, from maniac Debra to aloof and annoying John. If the writing wasn’t top tier, I wouldn’t have been able to get through this. I think there is definitely beauty in writing about the foibles, missteps, mistakes, and consequences that regular people face every day, and this book succeeds at that. No overarching message or big point to glean. Just good writing about the every day. This book didn’t change my life. It was clearly written by a man, with little insight or revelations about society or who we are as humans. But the writing was good, the main character was a dumpster fire you couldn’t look away from, and the plot made you want to know how it all ended. Overall, a very pleasant read.

Thanks again to NetGalley for access to the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The definition of "okay." Reads like the book written by a one-hit-wonder writing teacher in streaming series about academia.

Straight white man finds out, for the first time, there are consequences for his actions! It is ok in the end though because his other straight male friend gets him helps him out and solves everything!

The unnamed narrator, his wife Debra and best friends, Sophie and John have all thought they would become successful writers. Debra is the only one of the group to have a novel published and another about to be published. Her husband is having trouble being in the background. He is depressed and he and his life are spiraling out of control. He turns to outside solutions and fails. He blames others for his situation rather than taking responsibility for his failures. The time comes when he realizes he must make changes in order to survive.

Thank you NetGalley #SimonBooks @SimonBooks

A great read with subtle yet strong themes of mental health and dealing with this.
I enjoyed reading this and would read more books from this author in the future!

This is the story of a married couple who teach and write but she is more famous and published than he. He travels to France on a fellowship to try to get inspiration to write, but finds only that he prefers drinking. He returns and continues to let drink cloud his thoughts while his wife gains inspiration to write about his spiraling.

I enjoyed reading this satirically funny novel because NONE of the characters were nice people - Andrew Ewell captured the competitiveness of college academic professionals perfectly!
The protagonist was such a self destructive jerk, I had to like him. He knew he was failing at everything, professionally and personally, so he just leaned into it, quit his job at the university and ran off with his best friend's wife.
When he finally writes & publishes the novel which has been hanging around his neck like an albatross, the subject he chooses is so perfect - what poetic justice for having to be in the shadow of his awful, condescending, more successful wife for so long. I never liked her anyway!

The description of the book calls it, “wryly funny and moving.” When I think of that, I think of authors like Richard Russo, Jonathan Tropper, or Nick Hornby. This, unfortunately, was not wryly funny nor moving. It centers around a main character who is a university professor, failed author, and all-around ass.

After coming home from a three-month stay in Paris, he starts an affair with the wife of his best friend, who is also his wife’s best friend. The author treats us like morons. Like we couldn’t figure out that this would come to light.
What I like best about books is character development. I love a good character arc. But all we get in this book is an alcoholic idiot who has no drive or ethics. In fact, there isn’t a single character to like in the entire novel.

I will say that the writer has obvious talent. Although he uses archaic words in an attempt to impress, he can turn a phrase. That’s the only reason it isn’t a one-star book.

I did not enjoy this book and feel like the blurb intended to sell it is deceptive.

“Set for Life: A Novel,” by Andrew Ewell (ISBN: 9780525510086), Publication Date: 6 Feb 2024, earns two stars.
I’m quite sure this novel was a labor of love, but all I ended up with was the labor. The narrator’s character had promise for a moment. Regrettably, though, he was compelled to be so dull and uninspired that he ended up being unlikeable, causing his misadventures to outlast my interest in them. In the end, I felt that as though I had just crossed the finish line of an ultramarathon, i.e., wondering why I started it to begin with, but quite happy that it was over.

P.S. As to the mention of the book’s type being set in Sabon . . . that type’s most notable feature was that it made the pages appear completely black with ink, which was exacerbated by the many run-on paragraphs—with some paragraphs taking pages. Oh, for an editor!

Still, I do thank the publisher (Simon & Schuster) for kindly granting this reviewer this opportunity to read this Advance Reader Copy (ARC), and likewise, I gratefully thank NetGalley (EPUB) for helping to make that possible.

As an author myself, any book about writers, novels, or the publishing industry is like catnip. Set For Life absolutely captivated me and, even though the protagonist was extraordinarily flawed, I couldn’t help but root for him. Andrew Ewell’s writing is gorgeous and his character development is spot on.

Themes of marriage, friendship, failure, and success are explored against the backdrop of art, university life, creative productivity, and originality. Questions abound—who has the right to tell “your” story? being the primary one. But questions about fidelity, integrity, and morality are asked in every chapter, and the reader is tugged along by a man’s journey toward defeat or redemption.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review an advance copy of this gem of a book.

Set for Life is the debut novel from Andrew Ewell that follows an unnamed narrator after he returns from a writing retreat in France. When things don’t go as planned and he ends up coming home without a book, he begins unraveling his life slowly, making questionable decision after questionable decision until things hit rock bottom.

I enjoyed this book despite it being out of my comfort zone. I think this is a book that will impact different people in different ways. If I was someone who was really struggling to find my place, I believe this would have hit a bit harder. The narrator and most of the surrounding characters are very unlikeable but in a way that feels true to life. I am a huge fan of characters that are flawed and aren’t picture perfect because it allows room for growth and I do think we see some growth in this book.

I think the strength of this book is the subtle way mental health is dealt with. As someone who has dealt with mental health issues in the past, I found the way the narrator viewed his mental health to feel very realistic.

I think the writing is fantastic if a little bloated for this story. I would really reading this author’s future books as I think that I will really enjoy them.

This novel is a strange duck. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just a hard one to wrap my head around. On one hand I enjoyed the writing and think the author is very talented, but the story itself feel a little flat for me. The main character is not thriving in his career or marriage and makes every bad choice he can possibly make. He is canceled and reduced to his lowest point. I think the author was trying to make a point about cancel culture, privilege, and society as a whole, but it all just felt a little muddled.

“Set for life” is a story of a deeply flawed man whose narcissistic personality, depression and alcoholism has slowly eroded his professional and personal life. This personality and character flaws are not only driving his decisions in the book, but is one of the main themes throughout the story. The fact is he is not satisfied by his lot in life, but also is not taking any responsibility for it. The book is well written and the characters are well developed, with poignant exploration on his character flaws, but at the heart of the book, he is unlikeable with little self awareness making the book hard to enjoy all be it easy to read. I kept hoping that he would redeem himself, but in the end, the character remained true to his character. You may enjoy this book if you enjoy deep dives into very flawed characters