SPEED READING: Nothing Special / Nicole Flattery
Nothing Special
Nicole Flattery
Bloomsbury
Review by
Noah Sanders
Welcome to Speed Reading, our fast, occasionally flippant, review column where we attempt to spread the love of a recent new release in a very short amount of time. We’ll take the time to find some incredible books, you spend your time reading some incredible books.
So, what’s Nothing Special about?
An acerbic young lady gets involved with Andy Warhol’s Factory in the 1960s as a means of escaping the droll mundanity of her mother’s alcoholism. Things get weird.
And, who’s the author?
Nicole Flattery
What’s his deal?
This is the first book I’ve read by Flattery, but it comes with a glowing pull quote from indie supernova Sally Rooney (more on that momentarily) and all the deserved hype that comes along with that. She’s Irish and there’s a sort of recognizable bleakness in her tone. Flattery is best known for her award winning short stories, and this off-kilter little gem is her first novel.
Take a look at her short story “Track” (The White Review) for a taste of her deceptively blunt, decidedly twisty language.
What’s a single reason to read Nothing Special?
I truly believe that starting a new book is like learning a new language, every time. And Nothing Special is, to start, a particularly knotty, but captivating educational experience. There’s a sort of dead-eyed stare tightly wrapped around pure wit to the main character’s conversational voice that kept me riveted throughout the book.
What are a couple more reasons to read Nothing Special?
Sally Rooney referred to this book as “agonizingly funny” and it makes me question just how dark her sense of humor is. Yeah, there’s some cheeky bits in this book and the dialogue has a surprisingly light patter to it. Don’t be fooled though: this book is a dark ride into the underbelly of a scene everybody thought was silver walls, cocaine and sex. Flattery puts the reader just off-center, a voyeur to the, mainly sad, reality of the strange kingdom, Andy Warhol built around himself and how his insecurities dragged just about everyone down.
Mae, the main character of Nothing Special, is a bonafide, hipster asshole. And though entertaining in a “don’t get too close” sort of way, Flattery peels back the “hipster” persona and shows the reader just why this put-upon sense of sneering self-righteousness is so appropriate, so necessary.
If you’re a fan of these books, you should give Nothing Special a chance:
Eileen / Ottessa Moshfegh
Sunshine State / Sarah Gerard
The Golden State / Lydia Kiesling
A small taste of Nothing Special:
These people needed an audience and we were it. They needed someone to sit and watch them spin out in all different directions, and wait for them to come back. All the better if were efficient and forgiving and invisible.
