This dark comedy was a fresh and different addition to my reading list and for 50 cents at the library book sale - it was a great bargain as well! In many (good) ways this novel reminded me of Election by Tom Perrotta or Straight Man by Richard Russo. Basically a middle-aged man losing his grip on reality, and seeking revenge against those who wronged him. O'Brien's story-telling is extremely funny and unravels in a way is both predictable in its ever increasing craziness but also unpredictable for how it will all end. I've enjoyed his more serious work but those also tend to involve mental illness and delusions related to war. So in that sense it was similar to his other novels but with a plot based on divorce, career ruin, etc. I would recommend Tomcat in Love.

UGGGGHHHH. This book made me want to tear my hair out. I did not think this book was funny, and I couldn't find ANY positive qualities in the characters for at least 280 pages. Insulting, sexist babble from the protagonist supplemented by enabling, weak-willed behavior from the female lead. The book jacket promises insights into the human condition, and for these you'll have to wait until the end. This is where the meat of the book is - it took a turn, someone needed to take action. The gripping showdown allows us to reflect upon obsessive love, loss, fooling oneself, and how one can stay with someone they love when all rationality tells them not to. These insights are altogether depressing, and they attempt to answer some tragic questions. When we care for others, are we really helping, or are we blinded by our own love? Who is really delusional? A bizarre read that became eerily similar to stories of mental illness and addiction destroying relationships. Unexpected, and pretty weird.

Thomas H. Chippering is a man of many words. Obsessive about the English language, his ex-wife Lorna Sue and ogling, yet not touching young women.

The book was one I normally wouldn't have picked up but once I started it, I couldn't put it down. O'Brien weaves a strange, sometimes wandering story of Tom and his quarkiness.

Well, I loved it! The main character, Thomas Chippering, is a linguistics professor and the Tomcat from the title. He is such an offensive, buffoon of a man - you can't decide whether to hate him or invite him over for a glorious day of conversation. Loved the way the story was told - there are two sides to every story! And generally it's not the way that Thomas C wants you to believe.

I vacillated between 3 and 4 stars, probably a 3.5 star for me. I love Tim O’Brien, but this wasn’t one of my favorites. I enjoyed the first half-ish and then began to really not like the main character, Thomas Chippering (this is probably a weird thing to say but the character felt more British than American to me), as the story went on. That said, I did think the ending offered an interesting twist that I didn’t see coming and brought the whole thing full-circle which I appreciated.

Wow, I've had several books lately that I could not finish, and now another one. This writing was so scatter shot that I just couldn't get my mind into it. All reviews said it was so-o-o funny and I didn't find this to be the case at all. Anyway, I gave up.

Tim O'Brien's non-The-Things-They-Carried novels (the ones I've read, anyway, and I've read three) all astonish me with their twists, the blend of realism and surrealism--the believability of apparently half-insane characters. I truly dug it when, a few chapters in, I realized that Thomas Chippering, narrator, was a mold-breaking blowhard, not just a slightly pompous guy with a broken heart. The depiction of Lorna Sue, self-mutilating ex-wife, is handy, too. There are some pretty uncomfortable moments--DAMNED uncomfortable moments; O'Brien in ALL his work imagines stuff that, if it occurred to me, I would immediately dismiss from my mind as a bad place to explore. O'Brien's got writerly guts, and I admire that.

Although Tim O'Brien has proved that he can do borderline crazy very capably, this novel is channelling a bit too much John Updike to be as impressive as so many others. Not that Updike is bad, but the domestic misery and, yes, "tomcatting" is too insistent throughout. I get it; really, I do. This is about masculine toxicity and how it rebounds on the male rather pathetically. Thomas Chippinger (initials THC. Hmm.) is a sadly damaged and weak man whose forays into female companionship are always--relentlessly always--over the line into sexual harassment which never--again, relentlessly never--provide him any sort of advantage. Good, we agree; even a buffoon of a sexual predator should be smacked down hard. (One such spanking occurs in front of a classroom of appreciative undergraduates, by the way.)
But there seems to be no great point to it all.
Perhaps I've grown so used to O'Brien's incredible writing that I expected more from this.

I like the rhyme scheme but my mom would never leave me.

Narcissist antihero unravels, over a few too many pages.

This is the first of O'Brien's works that I've read. To be honest, I was planning to read "The Things They Carried," but I found "Tomcat in Love" in a bookstore first.

I understand this book differs from his others because of the humor. In some ways, Thomas reminded me of Ignatius in "Confederacy of Dunces." Both have hidden writings, both have misadventures and both are selfish, deluded, tragic and comic. There the similiarity ends though.

As I read, there was no way of knowing throughout the book whether Thomas H. Chippering was telling the truth unless he offered other characters' reactions to his behavior. Thomas does a great job of ruining his life, but believe it or not, it's a story of not just second but third, fourth and fifth chances. There is a surprise ending.

I guess it was also a surprise to his readers that O'Brien could pull this complex, darkly humorous novel out of his hat. I had nothing to compare this work to, so it stood alone. I gave the book four stars. That's very high praise, coming from me.

Either it’s brilliant or trash. But if an author can get under your skin he/she did a good job. That is; if that was the intention. To justify finishing the book I decided to read this as a parody of so called manhood. Otherwise it was too annoying. Can’t believe what a pitiful person the main character is. I am surprised I even finished the book. But that is explained below.

About a flagrant womanizer. A story of self destruction. Of delusional self aggrandizing.

A story of an obsessive love. Of out of proportion revenge when it’s over. Born out of a need for affection. Disturbing really. Neurotic. He does realize this : “this love drive went haywire at a very early stage.” But reading about it is exhausting. Although the writer tries to mask it by so called funniness. I got this book from a friend otherwise I would not have read it, let alone finish. However, I admit that I was curious how it would end.

As he plots his revenge, we keep on getting flashbacks of how he came to this point.
Reminisces of boyhood. Of adulthood. Early memories. Lots of details. Humor. As told by Thomas Chippering: our lovelorn “hero”.
And the inevitable childhood friend: Herbie. Who would haunt him all his life. A very male perspective story.

Each chapter reads like a short story by itself. All hold together by his compulsive love for his childhood’s friend, sister: Lorna Sue. Whom he married and divorced, but is deparate to win back. By all means it seems. He is in fact, as Lorna Sue said after she announced to leave him: ”Don’t be an eighteen-year-old.” And he went on behaving just like that. Really pitiful. I felt no sympathy for him. Was annoyed. Should I even finish the book?

What follows is a chapter by chapter recounting of his coming of age and lifelong crush for Lorna Sue. Then he meets his new (substitute) love: Mrs. Robert Kooshof. A “romance” and now we follow Chippering on his revenge quest on and off with his new found love. With disastrous consequences. Mainly for himself.

Soon I became really annoyed by the juvenile sexual descriptions of his relationships. His encounters with women. It was just too much. A pity because each little chapter had enough going on for itself. The main character became all the more pathetic for me. Too self absorbed with his presumed sex appeal. Or maybe that was the whole purpose?

So, I did finish the book. Sort of satisfying ending. But that took a long time.

Not recommended. Really. What did O’Brien think writing this book? After all those serious Vietnam books?! (Veteran from 1969-1970).
I do have his most famous book about Vietnam: “The Things They Carried.” (1990). A collection of linked semi-autobiographical stories inspired by O'Brien's wartime experiences.

Written: 1998.
Tim O’Brien: 1946 -