Modern Romance

An Investigation

By: Aziz Ansari

Narrated by: Aziz Ansari

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

At some point every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it's wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated?

Some of our problems are unique to our time."Why did this guy just text me an emoji of a pizza?" "Should I go out with this girl even though she listed Combos as one of her favorite snack foods? Combos?!" "My girlfriend just got a message from some dude named Nathan. Who's Nathan? Did he just send her a photo of his penis? Should I check just to be sure?"

But the transformation of our romantic lives can't be explained by technology alone. In a short period of time, the whole culture of finding love has changed dramatically. A few decades ago, people would find a decent person who lived in their neighbourhood. Their families would meet and, after deciding neither party seemed like a murderer, they would get married and soon have a kid, all by the time they were 24. Today people marry later than ever and spend years of their lives on a quest to find the perfect person, a soul mate.

For years Aziz Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for Modern Romance the book, he decided he needed to take things to another level. He teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and designed a massive research project, including hundreds of interviews and focus groups conducted everywhere from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They analysed behavioural data and surveys and created their own online research forum on Reddit, which drew thousands of messages. They enlisted the world's leading social scientists, including Eli Finkel, Helen Fisher, Sheena Iyengar, Barry Schwartz, Sherry Turkle, and Robb Willer. The result is unlike any social science or humour book we've seen before.

In Modern Romance, Ansari combines his irreverent humour with cutting-edge social science to give us an unforgettable tour of our new romantic world.

©2015 Aziz Ansari (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Interesting ideas and research.

Would you consider the audio edition of Modern Romance to be better than the print version?

The author narrates the book which makes it a whole lot funnier. Considering he's a stand up comedian. He also adds a few jokes here and there as an extra.

What did you like best about this story?

The ideas and research presented in this book are quite interesting. Like, he talks about relationships and marriage in specific periods, like the 30s, 60s, 80s, 90s. Gives a lot of contrasts compared to modern life. He also talks about dating culture indifferent countries, like Japan and Argentina and the different attitudes of people there. Makes you think about different perspectives and points of view.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed a lot by the author's jokes, and the facts presented here did give me some serious forethought.

Any additional comments?

I'd highly recommend this as something funny and interesting. If the topic is something that you want to know more about, then definitely give this Audiobook a listen. It really makes you think about modern dating.

Loved it!

Loved it. I caught myself laughing out loud many times. Buy it! Interesting topic with hilarious stories and examples.

well done, informative and funny

like the title says, Aziz has a very relaxed and easy style. A good read.

Incredible.

This should be mandatory reading / listening for anyone struggling with today's climate for romance. This reading, in particular, feels like it's the right way to appreciate the subject matter, Aziz being as hilarious as he is.

10/10 would swipe right.

Great reading by Aziz, but expected deeper content

Would you consider the audio edition of Modern Romance to be better than the print version?

Yes, love Aziz reading, so much fun.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

They did a research to write the book, great job, so much interesting facts, especially the first chapter.

The least interesting is too much time describing how romance are built today, as we didn't know the dynamics. So it gets a bit boring in this way. Expected more of the first chapter rich content.

What about Aziz Ansari’s performance did you like?

Great job!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

No.

Aziz Ansari

This was a great pick as a first audio book. Aziz's ensures that he keeps u entertained throughout with his funny voices. Doubt if the paperback wud be worth the read though.