Modern Romance

An Investigation

By: Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg

Narrated by: Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The number one New York Times best seller.

A hilarious, thoughtful, and in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils of modern romance from Aziz Ansari, the star of Master of None and one of this generation’s sharpest comedic voices.

At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?

Some of our problems are unique to our time. “Why did this guy just text me an emoji of a pizza?”, “Should I go out with this girl even though she listed Combos as one of her favorite snack foods? Combos?!”, “My girlfriend just got a message from some dude named Nathan. Who’s Nathan? Did he just send her a photo of his penis? Should I check just to be sure?”.

But the transformation of our romantic lives can’t be explained by technology alone. In a short period of time, the whole culture of finding love has changed dramatically. A few decades ago, people would find a decent person who lived in their neighborhood. Their families would meet and, after deciding neither party seemed like a murderer, they would get married and soon have a kid, all by the time they were 24. Today, people marry later than ever and spend years of their lives on a quest to find the perfect person, a soul mate.

For years, Aziz Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for Modern Romance, the book, he decided he needed to take things to another level. He teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and designed a massive research project, including hundreds of interviews and focus groups conducted everywhere from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They analyzed behavioral data and surveys and created their own online research forum on Reddit, which drew thousands of messages. They enlisted the world’s leading social scientists, including Andrew Cherlin, Eli Finkel, Helen Fisher, Sheena Iyengar, Barry Schwartz, Sherry Turkle, and Robb Willer. The result is unlike any social science or humor book we’ve seen before.

In Modern Romance, Ansari combines his irreverent humor with cutting-edge social science to give us an unforgettable tour of our new romantic world.

©2015 Aziz Ansari (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“An engaging look at the often head-scratching, frequently infuriating mating behaviors that shape our love lives.” (Refinery 29)

"With topics like online dating apps to serious social science research, the book is sure to have you laughing if not taking a few notes." (USA Today)

"Entertaining and illuminating." (The Guardian)

If there was ever an audiobook worth it, this is the one

Aziz is hilarious, the stats and studies are super interesting and presented in a memorable way. After days of listening to the audiobook on my way to work, I was actually sad when Aziz said goodbye at the end! Really fun and interesting listen.

Aziz looking into dating... interesting

He uses a lot of data, research, personal experiences, and life lessons to explore dating and how it's different than it was in the past. He compares modern romance to past generations, and does so blending comedy, science, and cultures together. From Japan to the US to France he looks at it all and reveals some fascinating stuff! Well worth a read and listen!

Comedy Is Highly Subjective

You either like Aziz or you don’t. I think he’s funny and this routine focuses on the modern dating scene with mixed results. Still, since I’m a fan, he’s going to get 5 stars. His production is great and for the most part, he made me laugh, and he made me think. Isn’t that what comedy should do? Check him out on google or YouTube for a sample of his routines.

Interesting Subject Matter Worth a listen

Interesting subject covered very well but Aziz's jokes become tedious at times. Worth listening to at least once.

Laughed out loud more than any other book

And it helped me understand the world I live in (as a 27-year old married urban globe trotter) better, and gave me more constructive vocabulary to understand my relationship with my wife of 3.5 years. “Companion love” — loved that explanation. And it felt good to hear about so many different doubts and concerns that I’ve felt myself. Thanks Aziz!!

They said a headline was optional

Aziz is the best. Super hilarious and smart, just the way I like it. Ramen!!

modern romance is awesome!

I really enjoyed this book, aziz is not only funny in this book but very insightful and is a great read for anyone these days!

was funny n learnt some important tips on modern

was funny n learnt some important tips on modern dating.. was a good buy..

not what I expected

not bad, more of a technical research paper than a comedic take on Modern romance like I expected

Nail on the head

A refreshing look at the modern struggles that singles go through in this tech driven, online dating world we live in today while searching for "the one."