“Why do we all say we prefer honesty but rarely give that courtesy to others?”
-Aziz Ansari, Modern Romance
The reason Aziz Ansari gives for writing this book is that he was looking everywhere for a modern book about dating, but couldn’t find one. So this is where his book comes in! In Modern Romance, Ansari examines the ways that dating has changed over the years with the implementation of technology. His driving question was: since technology has theoretically made dating easier, why are so many people frustrated?
A lot of the points that Ansari brings up are interesting and valid. One of the sections I found most interesting was about the power behind texting conversations. Since texting is many people’s main mode of communication, there are a lot of implications behind a variety of things in text messages, especially when it comes to time. How long do you wait before texting someone back? What does a wait to return a text mean when you’re dating someone? Ansari examines all these questions, and I just found the communication patterns fascinating.
The book was a bit tainted, though, with the recent allegations that came out against Ansari. If you’re someone that’s seen Ansari’s show, Master of None, he didn’t seem like one of those people who would have these sorts of allegations come out about him. Even his comments about dating in his book seemed that way, so learning of his behavior on that date tainted the book slightly for me. The information he was presenting was still interesting, but perhaps I won’t take some of his advice to heart.
Overall, a fascinating look at the modern dating realm.
3.5/5 stars