Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style

A Novel

By: Paul Rudnick

Narrated by: Daniel Henning

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

“A case study in elegant, honest tragicomedy…by the genuinely hilarious Paul Rudnick” (Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author) that follows the decades-long, rule-breaking romance between the son of one of America’s wealthiest families and a middle-class aspiring author.

Devastatingly handsome and insanely rich, Farrell Covington is capable of anything and impossible to resist. He’s a clear-eyed romantic, an aesthete but not a snob, self-indulgent yet wildly generous. As the son of one of the country’s most powerful and deeply conservative families, the world could be his. But when he falls for Nate Reminger, an aspiring writer from a nice Jewish family in Piscataway, New Jersey, the results are passionate and catastrophic.

Together, the two embark on a unique romance that spans half a century. They are inseparable—except for the many years when they are apart. Moving from the ivy-covered bastion of Yale to New York City, Los Angeles, and eventually all over the world, Farrell and Nate experience the tremendous upheaval and social change of the last fifty years. From the freedom of gay life in 1970s Manhattan to the Hollywood closet, the AIDS epidemic, and the profound strides of the LGBTQ+ movement, this witty and moving novel shows how the world changes around us while we’re busy doing other things.

Written with “engaging wit, side-eyed perceptiveness, and barbed elan” (Michael Chabon), this modern classic proves that style has its limits, love does not.

©2023 Paul Rudnick (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

So sweet

This story is full of heart and good humor.
Farrell and Nate had support and love to guide them through way too much family drama, history-making challenges, and identity crises. They shared a true bond that protected them through it all. It was fun to join them on the journey to see how things turned out. I loved it.

Brilliant and very GAY

Thank god for Paul Rudnick. He’s created a funny, sweet and touching saga full of entertaining characters and situations. Thank you for this beautiful novel.

Top Notch Fiction

Outstanding narration of an epic love story. Narrator Henning highlights both comedy and drama with great skill and creates memorable laugh-out-loud characters.
Highly recommended.

Sparkling

I loved this book!! I’m left with a feeling of having been picked up by a big wave and swept far away toward a distant shore. I also feel showered with beautiful, gem-like details - right, left, above and below, all along the way. In searching for a suitable book to follow this, I’ve started three, but each seemed like a blunt instrument after FCatLoS.

Daniel Henning is very gifted. I ranked his narration a bit lower mostly because my inner comedic voices tend to be more understated. And some pronunciations seemed questionable. I found myself making many mental adjustments, like a sumultaneous translator at the UN.

Great audiobook

Great performance… brought the characters to life! I enjoyed the audiobook more than I suspect I would have if just reading

You will Laugh & You will Cry

I loved and envied Nate and Farrell love their journey was not easy but it was their own. Great book of joy, laughter and love ......it was a story of great Style!!!!!!

Stay with it!

I almost abandoned this because it was slow to start. So, stay with it! This isn’t a story with a particular plot, per se. It is the story of a love story that persisted through the most rigorous of trials. It’s a first-hand account of gay history in the US. It’s touching and infuriating, all at once. Be warned, though, that if you’re sensitive to frank scenes and discussions of sex, this might not be for you.

A Rollicking Good Time

“Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style” by Paul Rudnick is not only going to be on my top reads of the year, but it’s also one of my favorite gay novels of all time. And the purpose of the title will all make sense by the time you finish reading. Paul Rudnick’s plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world(including “Jeffrey” and “I Hate Hamlet”) and a bunch of movies (“Sister Act”, “In and Out” and “Stepford Wives” to name a few).

There's a lot of gay history in “Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style”, mostly from the 70s through the 90s - but the book spans five decades.

Witty dialogue and razor-sharp humor on every page. It’s unapologetically gay. It’s a love letter describing the journey of Nate and Farrell. It’s very true to life in parts and complete ultra-luxurious fantasy in others.

Having lived through all five of those aforementioned decades this book at turns made me smile, cringe, laugh, cry and ache with heartbreak…and sometimes that was in the span of a page. It also made me want to scream when confronted with the intolerance of people who pretend to be “good Christians”.

I loved this book so much. It had so much heart and humor and was so well-written. I had to put the book down and stop reading from time to time just to appreciate a turn of phrase. Each page is loaded with quippy dialogue and awesome character work. This is a rollicking good time - read it!

Distractingly affectatious narration

I would return this audiobook if I could. I can't because the esoteric Amazon/Audible return policy only allows returns when purchased with credits, which is ludicrous because it's not actually a "return" or "risk" of anything since they already have your money and have never relinquished their possession of your money, but I digress.
I find this book to have the rare characteristic of being completely unlistenable. Grade of F for the utter insipidity with which the narrator imbues the character of Farrell Covington. It's like someone asked him to pull in every known stereotype of a wealthy, young, dandyish gay man, then turn the dial as high as it could go for campy affect. I think I'll actually like the story if I read it. I think Farrell Covington might not come across as a patently vapid, melodramatic twerp if I don't have to listen to Daniel Hanning's interpretation of what he sounds like. I found it so unbearable to subject myself to that affected voice that I stopped listening after 15 minutes and have no plan to resume or "power through."
Maybe some people will enjoy the camp but I don't. I think it literally ruins the listening experience.

I gave it my best but just couldn't get into it.

The narrator was awful, it was hard for me to listen to his Farrell voice in particular. I don't find the story very funny or entertaining in the least bit. I tried however listening to about 4 hours worth of the story but when I realized I still have 9 hours to go I don't think I can do it.