Breakaway Books

Authored by Dolly Alderton; Published November 2023

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When I first started Good Material, I kind of hated it. A little part of me dreaded picking it up every time. It is a disturbingly detailed and accurate recounting of a bad break up, and, as a mark of quite how good it is, it brought me back to how awful I felt after my last bad break up—over five years ago.

The book starts off with Andy, lamenting that his long time girlfriend has suddenly broken up their several year relationship after a trip to Paris. Andy is a relatively obtuse and aimless dude, struggling to make it as a comedian, and I confess, I did not feel at all sympathetic with him when the book started. Page after page of self-pity, and then a line would strike me like a lightning bolt: it was exactly the way I felt when I broke up with my serious boyfriend. My sympathy started to build.

All of those things that we are far too ashamed to admit we did after a break up—they’re all described in Good Material. Andy starts working out obsessively, goes on a crazy diet, tries and fails to rally his friends around him, makes poor decisions about his living circumstances. He feels comforted and also uncomfortable when spending time with the couple that used to match so perfectly with his relationship. Sometimes I wanted to shake Andy; at other points I wanted to hug him. But I consider it the mark of a truly talented writer that by the end, I felt for him. Sympathy, affection, all of it.

The last section of the book is narrated by Jen, Andy’s ex-girlfriend, and it was a perfect reversal. A mirror image of Andy’s narrative, it resounded with every inch of my female experience, a treatise on how difficult it is to date men. About how it is okay not to want to date, and it is okay to be alone, especially if you’re not lonely. 

I have rarely (never?) read a book and thought: yes, this is a happy ending, and no, the couple isn’t together. I’m glad this is the first.