Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

De: Peter Cameron

Narrado por: Lincoln Hoppe

IN RE: James Sveck–eighteen-year-old New Yorker, charming, precocious, confused, doesn’t quite fit in (doesn’t really want to),
If: his future (i.e., college) seems completely meaningless, not to mention terrifying . . .
Then: he’ll start anew (move to the Midwest?).
In re: James Sveck–misunderstood by a capricious mother, a self-absorbed father, a mordant older sister,
Et alia: his Teutonic therapist, his D-list celebrity grandmother, his unnervingly attractive art gallery colleague . . .
If: What one wants is enigmatic . . .
Then: Life can be hell.
But: as the summer gets hotter, James comes to recognize the wrenching truth of his emotions.

James’s archly comic bravado fuels this sharply observed novel of a teen adrift in an adult world, struggling to make sense of the problems of love and of lack. The engaging voice of our idiosyncratic antihero is deftly captured by the adroit prose of Peter Cameron. Often hilarious, deeply compassionate, smart, and lyrical, Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is every bit as sui generis as James Sveck himself.

See also: Brown University; Sexual orientation (confusion thereof); Dinner theater; Poodles (standard).(P)2008 Listening Library

Loved it!!

Superb writing and excellent narration. I enjoyed the characters so much. The story of James's disillusionment and growth was darkly hilarious and hard for me to put down.

Great read

Really great read and I can see the Salinger comparison in the thoughts of the protagonist.

Melancholy prat blathers for 7 hours

This book is well written and is marked with occasional humor (especially for those of us who've lived in NY), but I couldn't get past the overwhelming desire to strangle the know-it-all, ungrateful punk of a main character. Listening to him drone on about everything he "hates" and the asinine reason behind it made me want to open a vein. Highly frustrating if you can't stand negative teenagers.

Please end it now!!

The most BORING irrelevant story I think I’ve ever heard, the main character is absolutely asinine, and SOOOO full of himself and to be honest, hot air, “let me buy a house and screw college which is paid for and work at McDonald’s’ can you say entitled, vapid useless stuck up little queen, I found nothing redeeming in this story....character is NOT a dark anti hero.....he’s annoying, turned book in for a credit, 4 hours in and absolutely nothing has happened :-P