A Familiar Tale, Told With Style

Those in search of summer beach reading might pick up The Romantics, a new novel by Galt Niederhoffer ’97...

Those in search of summer beach reading might pick up The Romantics, a new novel by Galt Niederhoffer ’97.

According to Janet Maslin of the New York Times, Niederhoffer succeeds at breathing new life into an all-too-familiar scenario: the story unfolds at a wedding in which the maid of honor, the bride's college roommate, has a "history" with the groom.

In the novel, Maslin finds overtones of "well-wrought cynicism." She appreciates the heroine's "sharp eye" for the "tribal habits" of the bride's WASPy family, and particularly likes the depiction of the mother of the bride:

Augusta is capable of growing indignant about iceberg lettuce when Tom's family puts it on the menu at the rehearsal dinner.

This week's New Yorker discusses the novel in a downright catty tone, though the account dwells more on the proceedings at a book party for Niederhoffer in New York than on the book itself. Author Rebecca Mead notes the similarities between the heroine, "clever, ill-at-ease, Brooklyn-dwelling Laura Rosen," and Niederhoffer herself, "the clever, ill-at-ease daughter of the eccentric investor Victor Niederhoffer [’64]."

Harvard Magazine mentioned Ms. Niederhoffer's first novel, A Taxonomy of Barnacles, in the May-June 2006 Off the Shelf.

You might also like

Off the Shelf

The wealth gap, shamanism, the life of David Nathan, and more

Making Money Funny

Matt Levine’s spunky Bloomberg column

Reconstructing the Berlin Wall

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Most popular

The Poet of Old Age

Donald Hall, chronicler of life

The Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Centennial Medalists

Six alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are honored.

Explore More From Current Issue

Can an Orange a Day Stave off Depression?

A research study digs into the gut microbiome.

How AI Could Be Raising Your Energy Bill

Utilities shift AI infrastructure costs onto consumers.

Harvard Commencement 2025

Harvard passes a test of its values, yet challenges loom.