The book has far more of the former sorts of paragraphs than the latter. They're not equally balanced in terms of content. So the question then becomes, is the book interesting because Aziz Ansari is writing it? And the answer is - kinda? I mean, on the one hand, we've got a sentence like this: 'Philip Cohen, one of the leading demographers of the family, has documented the steep and widespread decline in global marriage rates since the 1970's according to his calculations, 89 percent of the global population lives in a country with a falling marriage rate.'Īnd then we've got sentences like this: 'When you hit that point, you realize how fruitless trying to find love by barhopping can be you have enough data to know that statistically the smartest thing for you to do when you walk into a bar is go to the bathroom, jerk off, and leave.' ultimately, I found myself wanting more masturbation jokes and fewer graphs made from demographic data. So let me set expectations for you right here and now: Modern Romance is not a comedy book. Which, I think, is a respectable thing to brag about.īut if you pick this up expecting a hilarious couple hundred pages of Tom Haverford from Parks and Recreation riffing on the problems of dating and relationships in this modern age, you will be wickedly disappointed. There's more hot focus group action in this thing than you'd believe, fewer jokes about masturbation than you'd expect (but not, you know, none) and more Photoshopped pictures of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson than any book being put out by a major publishing house this year. A sociological study writ large, and dressed in a very dapper suit.

And with his new book, Modern Romance, he finally gets his shot at living the dream. And that all comedians want to become data analysts. That all babies want to grow up to be cowboys. That all journalists dream of being novelists. They say that all actors really want to direct. How?Įditor's note: There is some adult language in this piece that some readers may find offensive. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Modern Romance Author Aziz Ansari

Aziz ansari book review