Get our new book club guide for 20% off this week only!

Summary and Reviews of The Book of George by Kate Greathead

The Book of George by Kate Greathead

The Book of George

A Novel

by Kate Greathead
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • First Published:
  • Oct 8, 2024, 272 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2025, 288 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

From the author of the critically acclaimed Laura & Emma comes a The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. for our times: Kate Greathead's razor-sharp but big-hearted excavation of millennial masculinity, The Book of George.

If you haven't had the misfortune of dating a George, you know someone who has. He's a young man brimming with potential but incapable of following through; sweet yet noncommittal to his long-suffering girlfriend; distant from but still reliant on his mother; charmingly funny one minute, sullenly brooding the next. Here, Kate Greathead paints one particular, unforgettable George in a series of droll and surprisingly poignant snapshots of his life over two decades.

Despite his failings, it's hard not to root for George at least a little. Beneath his cynicism is a reservoir of fondness for his girlfriend, Jenny, and her valiant willingness to put up with him. Each demonstration of his flaws is paired with a self-eviscerating comment. No one is more disappointed in him than himself (except maybe Jenny and his mother). As hilarious as it is resonant and as singular as it is universal, The Book of George is a deft, unexpectedly moving portrait of one man―but also countless others.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

Greathead cleverly plays on the idea of the picaresque hero, a loveable rogue satirizing society's mores as he slips from one adventure to the next. George's picaresque adventures cut through some of the great social upheavals of the last two decades—Occupy Wall Street, MAGA, the MeToo movement—but the novel's fast-paced episodes mean that too often these feel more like superficial waypoints through the 21st century than cultural moments worthy of true reflection. Greathead's strengths instead lie in the witty back-and-forth of her dialogue and the unspoken conflict tangled beneath. Indeed, tragedy underlies the "sitcom-level banter" that comes so naturally to George; having lost his father at an early age, grief has led him to retreat into himself. But Jenny too is no stranger to childhood trauma, and her continued thoughtfulness and determination feel like a pointed rebuttal. Why does she thrive while her boyfriend wallows in lazy self-absorption?..continued

Full Review Members Only (715 words)

(Reviewed by Alex Russell).

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book



The Picaresque

Black-and-white illustrated title page from 1554 edition of Lazarillo de Tormes In The Book of George, Kate Greathead covers the life of her eponymous hero in 14 chapters depicting key moments from his first 40 years. In doing so, she draws on elements of the picaresque, an episodic literary genre in which an outsider moves from adventure to adventure while satirizing the society of the day.

The picaresque is one of the earliest forms of the novel. It originated in 16th-century Spain during the country's "Golden Age," and is believed to have drawn from diverse influences such as Apuleius's The Golden Ass (the only Roman novel to survive in its entirety) and the Arabic Maqāmāt literature of Islamic Spain. In time, the genre evolved as a counterpoint to existing chivalric romance. Instead of ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Book of George, try these:

We have 4 read-alikes for The Book of George, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Tapestry of Time
by Kate Heartfield
Love, war, and the supernatural collide in this dazzling historical fantasy by international bestselling author Kate Heartfield.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    A Club of One's Own
    by BookBrowse

    Dreaming of starting or reviving a book club? A Club of One’s Own is the essential guide to doing it right.

Win This Book
Win These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas

"[An] atmospheric tale of unexpected hope." —Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author

Enter

Book
Trivia

  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

T T O the T

and be entered to win..