False Economies Single edition by Gordon Haber Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : False Economies Single edition by Gordon Haber Literature Fiction eBooks 
London, 1990. Thatcher is on her way out, but Thatcherism is in full swing. Meanwhile David Bergmann, a young American working in a West End bar, is having a quarter-life crisis. He loves London, but he’s broke, he can’t get a girlfriend, and his flatmate is kicking him out.
Then he meets Sofia. On paper it’s a bad match — she’s a little older and a lot more sophisticated. But Bergmann is convinced that this fantastic woman can give him the purpose he lacks. All he needs to do is find the cash for a (hopefully) life-changing weekend with her in Paris.
Thus Bergmann takes a radical step for a nice Jewish boy and moves into a squat. He’ll quickly learn that in Thatcherite England, free rent comes at a price.
“False Economies” is a funny and moving story about young love in London and the mistakes we make while trying to grow up.
False Economies Single edition by Gordon Haber Literature Fiction eBooks
I suppose it is one of those ironies that I bought False Economies at a discount price. A false economy indeed - because I disliked every minute of it.Haber's protagonist, David Bergmann, is a stereotypical New York Jew who finds himself, at the age of 24, stuck in London. He is estranged from his family, low on money, working a dead-end job as a bartender, and in lust with an older woman whose has a child. The story follows Bergmann's downward spiral as he deals with a series of loser friends who lead him, with utter predictability, into utter degradation.
Haber tries to make all this funny, but it's not. Instead, it's dreary and boring and predictable. The characters are unlikable and lack any sort of complexity, and Bergmann himself seems to realize this when he contemplates the fact that he is an "unserious" person toward the end of the story. The story even ends on a anticlimactic note, as if Haber had no idea what he wanted to do with the story once Bergmann hit rock bottom.
Haber's writing is not bad, but his characters and story are really poor in this instance. What is most disappointing, however, is the feeling that an opportunity was missed. A satire about false economies in Thatcher's London? That was what hooked me in the first place - and yet Haber makes almost nothing of this golden opportunity, choosing instead to focus on the tedious lusts of his boring, unserious protagonist.
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False Economies Single edition by Gordon Haber Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
While living the student life just a few years too many, David Bergmann is fascinated by a woman who appears to be out of his reach. Bergmann's amusing capers are put in perspective when he suddenly realizes what it means to be an adult.
In that phase of life, when nothing much is doing, or going, quite right. It's life, but not quite the one that we expected. Maybe it's that strange period after university, or university has been deferred - when we watch others storm ahead into careers, while we hang back. In our uncertainty we make cocktails into the wee hours, do odd jobs, sleep where we can and construct elaborate fantasies for ourselves that we're not yet brave enough to act out. Haber brings humour and strange comfort to the reader in the guise of the hapless Bergmann. Who, though he can't quite get his s*** together, or have any ambition, is a thoroughly likeable hero in his inbetween state. You find yourself rooting for him all the same. Much recommended.
I'm so glad this was offered as a Single!
I chuckled my way through the protagonist's developing sense of himself; his thoughts move realistically between "shallow" observations and tender self-realizations, and by the ending, I found myself deeply glad that I'm not in my early twenties anymore. For me, False Economies was a humorous and sometimes painful reflection on the ways that one tries to maneuver into adulthood by casting lines and pulling on everything that gets a bite, equally sure and unsure of each separate chance or opportunity.
The links to Thatcherism are oblique, and left me with an aching, almost nagging sense that I wanted to read the story all over again once I'm smarter. In the meantime, the poignancy of revisiting a universal moment--the post-education slump, and pinning one's hopes of self-improvement on a potential romantic relationship--lent plenty of meaning to fill in the blanks in my understandings of a much more specific moment in history, in this case, 1990 England.
I only wish it had been longer, although I probably wouldn't have gotten any sleep if I hadn't finished it first. I'll definitely be seeking out other works by this author.
I've been a fan of Haber's journalism and short fiction for years. As a writer, I know enough to recognize when someone is a lot better at what I do than I am, and Haber is in a different league altogether. I have to admit that I've always felt a bit envious and resentful. But now he's gone and written a book that makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. The writing is wickedly smart, the dialogue is terrific, and the characters seem fully human; Haber has a knack for fleshing people out with a few quick strokes, and for making them funny without ever making fun of them. The more Haber I read, the worse I feel about myself. What have you done, Haber? What have you done?!
Readers of Gordon Haber's commentary on politics and the arts already know what many more need to find out, that he is one of our most under-appreciated humorists and social critics. His fiction shares with his essays the same wit, curiosity, and knack for brainy satire. "False Economies" is a deceptively simple triptych following the romantic misadventures of one lonely American marooned in London and (later) Paris, where he grapples with women who are out of his league, a lifestyle that is out of his price range, and a painful New York past that cries out to him from across the ocean. With dialogue that crackles with charm and local nuance, a firm grasp on his European settings, and a rakish, self-depreciating intelligence, Haber has extended the tradition of Bellow, Roth, and Martin Amis into our tough new age. Polished, fun, and highly recommended.
First off, full disclosure Gordon is a buddy of mine, and so my initial decision to read this novella stemmed more from a sense of duty than anything else.
However, having now read it, I can honestly say that I enjoyed it very much!
Partly this is because -- like the story's protagonist David Bergmann -- I also lived in squats in North London at the tail end of the Eighties (and Thatcher's reign), and the Iron Lady's recent demise has made me somewhat nostalgic for that era.
But on top of that, Gordon has also written a compelling, universal and keenly-observed coming-of-age story that will resonate with anyone who has struggled with romantic relationships and/or the transition from adolescent/student to adult.
Gordon's prose style is clean and direct, and the story moves along at an agreeable pace.
My only complaint is that it left me wanting more!
I suppose it is one of those ironies that I bought False Economies at a discount price. A false economy indeed - because I disliked every minute of it.
Haber's protagonist, David Bergmann, is a stereotypical New York Jew who finds himself, at the age of 24, stuck in London. He is estranged from his family, low on money, working a dead-end job as a bartender, and in lust with an older woman whose has a child. The story follows Bergmann's downward spiral as he deals with a series of loser friends who lead him, with utter predictability, into utter degradation.
Haber tries to make all this funny, but it's not. Instead, it's dreary and boring and predictable. The characters are unlikable and lack any sort of complexity, and Bergmann himself seems to realize this when he contemplates the fact that he is an "unserious" person toward the end of the story. The story even ends on a anticlimactic note, as if Haber had no idea what he wanted to do with the story once Bergmann hit rock bottom.
Haber's writing is not bad, but his characters and story are really poor in this instance. What is most disappointing, however, is the feeling that an opportunity was missed. A satire about false economies in Thatcher's London? That was what hooked me in the first place - and yet Haber makes almost nothing of this golden opportunity, choosing instead to focus on the tedious lusts of his boring, unserious protagonist.
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