in review: Miss Misery, Andy Greenwald

By Collin Quick

Meet David Gould. A late 20s New York resident obsessed with the Internet, drinking and “what could be” situations.

A recently single author-at-large, Gould fills his days and nights infatuated with his on-line temptress, Cath Kennedy, aka Miss Misery, who resides in Canada.

When Miss Misery decides to up and move to New York, he begins to see her and fills his nights with her presence. At least, that’s what they think.

Little does he know, his doppelganger is running around New York as a second him. He’s drinking where David would never drink, deejaying where David would never think to spin records and making friends and hooking up with people David has never met in real life, including Miss Misery.

The beauty behind “Miss Misery” is the way the story is told. With the intermixing of instant messages, Livejournal entries, text messaging, voice mails and classic literary prose, the book glides through all 375 plus pages.

Through it all, David is able to find himself among hazy nights, late-night parties and mind-bending hangovers. With an unexpected trip to Nevada, he comes to realize every little thing in life begins to add up and his life before his little adventure was what he always wanted.

In a world of break-ups, make-ups and making out, Andy Greenwald takes an everyday normal guy, puts him in an (almost) everyday situation and just watches the fireworks explode.