Loner by Teddy Wayne Published by Simon & Schuster on September 13th 2016
Genres: Psychological Suspense
Pages: 189
Format: eBook, Audiobook
Source: NetGalley and Simon & Schuster
An Indie Next Selection of Independent Booksellers • One of the most anticipated novels of the fall from New York magazine, Glamour, Lit Hub, Boston magazine, The Millions, and BookPage
David Federman has never felt appreciated. An academically gifted yet painfully forgettable member of his New Jersey high school class, the withdrawn, mild-mannered freshman arrives at Harvard fully expecting to be embraced by a new tribe of high-achieving peers. Initially, however, his social prospects seem unlikely to change, sentencing him to a lifetime of anonymity.
Then he meets Veronica Morgan Wells. Struck by her beauty, wit, and sophisticated Manhattan upbringing, David becomes instantly infatuated. Determined to win her attention and an invite into her glamorous world, he begins compromising his moral standards for this one, great shot at happiness. But both Veronica and David, it turns out, are not exactly as they seem.
Loner turns the traditional campus novel on its head as it explores ambition, class, and gender politics. It is a stunning and timely literary achievement from one of the rising stars of American fiction.
**Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for supplying my copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
What happens when the bright but shy boy meets the attractive and popular girl? Teddy Wayne brings to us this story in his very suspenseful book, Loner. The premise Teddy Wayne chose for his book is a very interesting one. The bewildering university classes and campus with all its alluring brightness and meanwhile struggle. Yes. Struggle. The struggle to enter the adult world and leave behind the teenage and childhood long years.
David Ferderman is a very bright yet shy student. He has always been that good boy. Always adhering to rules. He is one of those unpopular boys who sought the company for each other as a means of survival among the overwhelming dynamics of school teenagers. He had never been outstanding so no one noticed how hard he had worked, until it happened. He was accepted at Harvard.
Yes, he was accepted at Harvard, which seemed to thrill his parents even more than him. His parents had worked all their lives to afford the average standard of living and an acceptable life style for their kids. It’s true it was nothing above average, yet it was all they could get them and for sure David was their very precious golden child. In their overprotective way, they denied him the social life that might have enabled him to face college society and later on life. Their only focus was on study. And may be that was the reason for what came later on in this interesting story.
David had all the enthusiastic dreams about his upcoming life at Harvard. He was very proud for sure, and he had a deep belief that he had super intellectual capabilities. Yet, his problem was his inability to engage with social activities. He was always awkward when it came to socializing. Of course he didn’t admit it to himself.
But, when David laid his eyes on Veronica, this was the start of all the inevitable. Veronica, the most attractive and prettiest girl he had ever seen. And also, the mysterious Veronica. And like when two orbits collide, David’s life was completely changed when his path collided with Veronica’s. Two people coming from totally different backgrounds and leading completely different lifestyles. Yet, David couldn’t take Veronica out of his mind. This was the collision, and all what happened next was the result of this collision!
This is a very interesting story. And trust me when I say, it’s not the usual story of the loner and nice college boy meeting the very popular pretty girl and falling for her. No. There’s more to this story than that. It hovers over many other edges that it will be kind of spoiler to reveal.
One of the things I liked most about this book was the suspense. I was always eager to know what comes next. I went from one chapter to the other with wide eyes. I had some guessing, yet none of my guessing came true. At first I thought it was the classical story of the unpopular good boy falling for the popular bad girl, but as I read I was thrilled to see the story twisting beyond that.
Loner was a very interesting and quick read. College life is one of the most interesting reads for me. Who can forget that? Don’t we all have those memories of college life?
About Teddy Wayne
Teddy Wayne is the author of the novels “The Love Song of Jonny Valentine” (Free Press, Feb. 2013) and “Kapitoil” (Harper Perennial) and is the recipient of a 2011 Whiting Writers’ Award, an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship, the 2011 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize runner-up, and a finalist for the 2011 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award finalist and the 2011 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He is a graduate of Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis, where he taught fiction and creative nonfiction writing. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, McSweeney’s, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. He lives in New York.