I apologize but I did not have time to read this book before the publication date

My Thoughts: Heather, the Totality’s author, Matthew Weiner, is the creator of the much loved TV show Mad Men, so my expectations were high for his debut. In the beginning, I liked Weiner’s matter-of-fact writing style. He laid out the two main characters, Mark and Karen Breakstone, very simply and quickly. I assumed as the story progressed, he’d more fully flesh them out. He didn’t. Maybe that was the point of this novella. I’m still not really sure whether i missed something or whether Weiner, just didn’t deliver.

For me, the entire story was very one-dimensional. None of the characters ever had any depth to their development and one, construction worker Bobby Klosky, was pathetically clichéd. Everything in the book revolved around the Breakstone’s daughter, Heather, but again the reasons why just seemed thin and really sad. The final act of the book was so abrupt, it almost went unnoticed. And then, it was over. I’d say this one was a fail.

The Breakstone family thought they were doing everything right. A husband with a good job to support his family comfortably in a Manhattan apartment, a stay at home mom who showers their daughter with love and affection, and a beautiful daughter with incredible empathy, intelligence, and beauty. But that's just the view from the surface. Underneath there are marital issues, a lack of privacy for Heather, the daughter, and resentment running rampant through the entire family. Heather's magnetism draws in people of all kinds. When darkness gets too close to the Breakstone daughter, it brings out a darkness in the entire family.

I saw this book everywhere recently, and when I realized Matthew Weiner was also the creator for Mad Men, I immediately got on Netgalley to request a copy of his first novel. Are you kidding me? Mad Men is literary genius. I was so excited. Once I started reading, I really enjoyed the introduction and the build-up. And then it never ended. I felt like the entire book was the introduction or summary for an even longer story. I could even see this as being a pitch for a dark, Mad Men-esque TV show. There was so much potential for more. There wasn't even very much dialogue and it really could have used it. Don't get me wrong, I liked the feel of the novel and what Weiner was trying to say with the story. The result was just underwhelming.

Due to the recent revelations of Matthew Weiner's behavior, I will not be reviewing or reading this book.

Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC - I was unfortunately unable to read this one.

Matthew Weiner is a very successful screenwriter and my advice to him is : Keep your day job. I don't know whether to title this review Mad Man or Heather Gets Totaled. The conceit is something out of Dostoyevsky but it plays like a bad dream. There is no rhyme or reason why Mark and Bobby come together, why Heather is oblivious to what is happening around her and why Karen turns into some Bizarro World Stepford wife. The writing is hardly diversionary; it's sophomoric and trite. What's with the caps? This Author hopefully will find an Editor next time who will send him back to class.

Interesting novella--sort of a fleshed out storyboard, no dialogue. Mark and Karen marry, have a beautiful daughter they name Heather and live a comfortable, if not totally happy, life in NYC. A young man with a very different kind of background is part of a construction team working on their condo building. Mark starts to worry when he sees the guy eyeing his daughter. Strange ending with a bit of a twist.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an arc of this story.

Short, to the point and a little shocking. It will take you an hour or two, try it.

First line: Mark and Karen Breakstone got married a little late in life.

Last line: Heather was touched by the tragedy and marked the spot with flowers and Mark and Karen waited a full month before putting their apartment on the market.

expectations probably nuked this novel. while not poorly crafted or written, the prose is adequate, the story is, at best, problematic and, most likely and at worst, wretched and toxic told for no need or reason by someone who has been revealed to be less than savory

there wasn't any moment when I felt engaged or interested in the narrative. also, this book reveals just how much of Mad Men Weiner wasn't responsible for, didn't write--ie, the good, complicated parts

No character development and no dialogue.  Maybe novellas just aren't for me.

Intense, obsession, neurotic - a very strange little tale.  A family that worships their only daughter way to much and they don't care much for each other. A daughter whose character is not very developed and is not a redeeming person.  Then there is a psychopath who is extremely despicable - this character is written as if it is trying to convince us that if you come from a bad home (even though his is a terrifically bad one) that it is OK or a given for you to become a murderous psychopath.   The fact is that I could not find a way to like any of the characters.  They have no redeeming traits and the story line is just too disturbing in the worst way.  Also a sad betrayal of women!  This is one you can skip.

Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner is a short so-so debut novel.

Mark and Karen Breakstone live a very comfortable life in Manhattan and have an adored daughter, Heather. Heather is beautiful, intelligent and empathetic. After Heather is born, Karen devotes all her time and attention to her, leaving Mark out. Mark resents Karen's over-protectiveness and feels he has to compete in order to spend a small amount of time with Heather. Tensions between Mark and Karen escalate. Heather grows up and is aware of their strained relationship.

In stark contrast to the lives of the Breakstones, Bobby Klasky grew up in an unstable home, living in poverty with a drug addicted mother and her series of boyfriends. He grows up with a cruel, violent streak, and exhibits the traits of a psychopath. After he spends some time in prison, Bobby joins the work crew that is remodeling the penthouse in the Breakstone's building. He notices Heather and becomes obsessed with her.

Heather, the Totality has some underlying potential that make me believe it could have been a much better novel if Weiner had chosen to broaden his plot development and flesh-out his characters. The truncated length, almost a novella, and attenuated plot made it a fast read, but not particularly a compelling one. The narrative is written in third person with no dialogue, which doesn't help. While reading I found little reason to care about these people.

This is not a psychological thriller or even a dark look at the class divide. Yes, there are people from two different socioeconomic levels depicted, but, uh, one is a psychopath. Class differences do not definitively correlate to a destructive personality disorder that could be found in people from any background.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Little, Brown, and Company via Netgalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/11/heather-totality.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2182032975
https://www.librarything.com/work/19437897/reviews/148115370ly/status/929759360095543297

This novella length work is not a book at all.  It's the treatment you would write for a movie or the outline and biographies that you would write before you wrote the actual book.  There is no dialogue, just a recitation of people doing or thinking things.  Rather than being suspenseful, the whole thing just felt sort of sleazy and leering.  There is no way that this would have been published if the author had not been the creator of Mad Men. It was hugely disappointing.  I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

An unhappy couple from the fringes of society produces an "It girl." They deal with their unhappiness and obsession around Heather. Weird take on parenting, but a quick and satisfying read.

This is a tale of two families, one of privilege and another of poverty.  Karen and Mark Breakstone are comfortably ensconced in a spacious Manhattan apartment with their adolescent daughter, Heather. Bobby Klasky is a 30-ish day laborer who grew up in drug-ridden squalor in a New Jersey slum.

The Breakstone family is child-centric; everything revolves around their perfect child. Bobby Klasky was born in a setting of neglect. Oddly, his only positive social support comes is the parole officer he connects with after committing a crime.

Written in a breezy style, Matthew Weiner’s tale of how these two disparate worlds intersect is gripping. The reader knows something bad is about to happen but isn’t’ sure what.

I loved Weiner’s ability to write “tight,” develop believable characters, and deliver a  message about class and economic disparity.

Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner is a quick read that you can whip through in under a couple of hours.  Mark and Karen are the parents of Heather.  Heather charms the world with her smile and laugh from babyhood on.  This book also focuses on a man named Bobby who seemed to be cursed before he was ever even born.  Bobby's and Heather's worlds collide and it's up to Heather's parents to sort everything out.  I feel as though this is a book that has underlying meanings to it that will leave you thinking about the story long after you've finished it.

A story so tightly wound that as you unravel it the story grows exponentially.  Well written and well plotted!

I expected more from the creator of Mad Men, but his charismatic, terrible characters didn't make an appearance here before I stopped reading. It is stale reading and none of the characters seems particularly likable.

Privilege in check and helicopter parent go awry in monied New York. The only two things I enjoyed in this book is that it was an entirely quick read and that is doesn’t value the fake social currency fashionably abused by upwardly mobile people who in this tale represent Caucasia. Caucasian upwardly mobile versus Caucasian downwardly spiraling people. It’s almost fable like in that characters are shallow and their flaws and actions are post modern morality tales but without the sophistication that well developed fiction can offer. I didn’t walk away with much after reading this and am glad I didn’t endorse via purchase the precious sourcing of paper by buying it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this work in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are exclusively my own.