The author of this novel places the reader into an unnamed narrator's head, and all his angst, insecurities and day to day awkward social interactions are relayed to us, while we follow him along in New York City. The narrator is a student in Columbia's MFA program and he is struggling creatively and socially, but the two major assets he has are a rent controlled apartment that belongs to his Aunt, and a father helping with the bills, but he's lonely until he meets Billy, a fellow student.

Billy is everything our narrator is not, confident, talented and poor. Billy needs a place to stay, our narrator is lonely with a large apartment and you can guess the rest. What happens between them is the gist of the story.

There was something about the writing style and the subject matter of this book that made me feel like I was reading something created back in the 50's or 60's, akin to J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", a feeling I have to say I quite enjoyed. Excellent book.

This was a very interesting book for me, because it was not at all what I expected, but I found myself relating to it much more, as such. You feel bad for the narrator because he's really trading in money, rather than confidence. Billy is a little likable and a little bit not. He is quick to accept free gifts but also quick to denounce someone for their mistakes. Very mercurial and also a little bit of a dead beat.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a digital ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. "Apartment" by Teddy Wayne made me cry. I wasn't expecting to feel a kaleidoscope of emotions, but that ending was...HEARTBREAKING. Ugh.

The unnamed narrator lives in a rent-stabilized apartment in New York, circa 1996. He has been living in the apartment for 6 years as the story opens. His great-aunt is the owner of the apartment, but she allows him to sublet it (illegally) since she currently resides in New Jersey. The narrator is an aspiring writer/graduate student attending Columbia University. His dad pays his rent and his tuition. Even though he is free of financial burdens, he is not free from soul-crushing loneliness. He thinks of himself as inept and socially awkward. He doesn't have any close friends because he has a difficult time letting people in. He lives a very solitary existence. Everything changes when he meets Billy, a charismatic classmate in his MFA writing workshop course. During a workshop session, Billy is complimentary of the narrator's natural ability as a fiction writer, despite the constructive feedback of his fellow classmates. Thus, begins an interesting but superficial friendship between the two. On a whim, the narrator asks Billy to move into his spare bedroom after he sees Billy's current living conditions (the basement of a bar). The narrator tells him he can live with him, rent-free (even though he's only known him for 2 weeks). Billy's only contributions in lieu of rent is to cook and clean the apartment once a week.

Without going into specifics, their living arrangement/friendship starts out easy-going and genuine. Billy is the first person the narrator feels a camaraderie with. He finally feels connected to another person, even though it's based on money and dependency. It feels like he's trying to buy Billy's friendship. But as they get to know each other, their political, economical, and social class differences cause friction and resentment. Jealously, sexual tension, and mental health are also discussed, but not overtly. The writing is nuanced and beautiful. Teddy Wayne did a fantastic job at fleshing out these two polar opposite characters. You can feel their dynamic start to shift when Billy pulls away from the narrator after an uncomfortable incident. The growing tension is palpable. Something unforgivable also occurs within the last 15% of this book that left me shell-shocked and reeling. I don't think everyone will connect or relate to this quiet, unassuming novel, it's like an exquisite slow-burn. It's also more character-driven, but my goodness, my heart broke for the narrator. All the ways he lies to himself were completely believable. I also enjoyed that he was likeable and unlikeable at the same time. He was so pitiful and yet so completely in need of help and understanding. The ending was more devastating that I thought it would be. I don't think this unexpected gem will leave me anytime soon. This one hit a nerve.

Release date: February 25, 2020

This novel might have been named Loner had Teddy Wayne not used that title for his previous novel. Although the loner here is a person of a very different nature. In fact, as far as comparisons go, this might be a superior novel than its predecessor, but it is considerably less flashy. And the characters are somewhat more mature…or, at the very least, older. I seem to read a Teddy Wayne novel every 3 years and this, my third one by him, each liked well enough to warrant checking out the next one. But his characters always do seem to be on the younger side, the books themselves are much too sophisticated to be labeled YA, it’s more of an adult’s perspective on the vagaries of youth. First there was a book about a Bieberesque pop star, then a novel of a teenage prep school psycho. And now, this, a tale of a friendship between two young men (mid 20s, progress already), both aspiring writers getting their MFAs at Columbia in 1996 New York. The two are radically different in their upbringing, socioeconomic status, political opinions, appearances, confidence levels and talent and subsequently their friendship is widely unbalanced, but there is a symbiotic quality to it, also. Not enough to offset the lack of balance, but for a while, at least. And, as the title might suggest, a lot of it has to do with the apartment that the unnamed narrator possesses (albeit not quite legally) and offers to his new friend to share. The apartment is spacious and rent controlled and offered free for serviced rendered (cleaning and cooking) and thus the imbalance begins. In a way, it’s almost like buying friendship and companionship for a person too socially inept to secure it by any other means. And though initially the newfounded camaraderie seems genuine, soon the fundamental differences between the two start tearing at the fabric of their arrangement. It isn’t as simple as class warfare, differences in personal finances and education, there’s also a profound divide between their perceptions of social roles, masculinity and, of course, writing. A fascinating dynamic to hang a plot upon and Wayne does a good job of playing up the opposites who are stuck together by necessity straight until the inevitable end. It doesn’t really help that the nameless narrator is such a sad sack of a person, financially secure only through his father’s generosity, mediocre in his chosen craft of writing, funny enough at times, but fairly charmless, someone who skims life instead of actively living, an observer, haunting the peripheries. Not the most likeable of protagonists, compelling in his own sad sack way, but in the end almost quietly tragic. This connection he forms with handsome, charismatic, easy going, talented, diligent Billy is, accordingly, quite sad. There’s an undercurrent of homoerotic attraction, but you can never really tell if he wants to be with Billy or just be Billy. The siren song, the irresistible appeal of being someone other, an upgraded version of self, someone who has an easier time of living. There’s a romance element to it too, since all great friendships tend to have one, something about taking the bold risk of opening yourself up to another person. And the narrator here for all his milquetoast qualities does take that leap. So there’s that. And sure, he’d be far more likeable if he didn’t quite so much rely on his money to oil all of life’s mechanisms, but that’s his lesson to learn. In fact, this entire book is about lessons he learns and choices he makes and the way they inform the rest of his life. Friendship with Billy, short lived as it might have been, turns out to be quite pivotal in that way. So it does make for a compelling read. Not to mention dynamic. I really appreciate the sparseness of Wayne’s writing, behold a 208 page novel that doesn’t seem abbreviated in any way. Plus it’ll check all the nostalgia boxes for those missing the 90s. I’m not sure if the timing was especially significant to the plot, but enjoyed it all the same. Enjoyed the entire book, in fact, despite the characters, even. Great cover too. So yeah, good read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.