Neurotica is a very distinctively British novel, featuring lots of sex, toilet humor, a touch of the supernatural, and a relatively happy ending. The main protagonists are Anna Shapiro and her husband Dan. Dan is a hypochondriac, and Anna is unhappy in the marriage, mainly because of the Dan’s lack of sexual interest in her. He is more preoccupied with his health, and he has regular panic attacks over his blood pressure, heart rate, and various bodily malfunctions. They are both in the newspaper business, and Anna has to write a story about a new book by an American feminist about why women have affairs. Anna decides to do the research herself. In the meantime, unknowing Dan decides to go into therapy.

Margolis writes a fast-paced book, with some explosively funny moments. At times the writing is on the formulaic side, and is sometimes repetitive. But so long as you don’t expect great literature, this is a good read. If you aren’t familiar with British culture, and don’t have at least a passing familiarity with the culture of London Jews, you may find that you are missing a number of jokes. But if Bridget Jones’s Diary, Trainspotting and The Full Monty can be hits in the US, then so can this book.

Anna and Dan operate independently for nearly all the book, and it’s not clear what holds them together as a couple. Anna experiments with affairs apparently out of frustration with her unsatisfying sex life. Being a comic novel, author Margolis doesn’t do much to really explain this frustration; her characterization doesn’t go probe very deep. The book is rather lazy in other ways too; for example, her portrayal of a hypocritical American feminist is a cheap shot which doesn’t really work, even as humor. Disappointingly, she misses the opportunity to find real humor in Dan’s psychotherapy. The best moments are the silly and crude ones, but they make the book worth reading.

Categories: Fiction