The Rosie Project

Simsion, Graeme. The Rosie Project. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2013. Print

First Sentences:

I may have found a solution to the Wife Problem.

Description:

Picture in your mind First Officer Spock of the Starship Enterprise - oddly handsome, coldly logical, confused by the irrationality of others, virtually friendless, and oblivious to the niceties of social interaction.

Now picture Spock as a modern day professor of genetics at a major university - bicycling around town, awkwardly interacting with students, following his down-to-the-minute schedule of activities and meal-planning, living a satisfied life in his own insulated world of order.

So now you have a firm image of Don Tillman, the brilliant, quirky main character in Graeme Simsion's first novel, The Rosie Project. Always confident and unintentionally funny, he is a fascinating figure as he narrates his daily activities, reveals his solid reasoning for decisions, and offers his honest, often scathing impressions of the world of people.

But Don Tillman is lonely and would like a partner, a wife. After several disastrous encounters with women, he develops "The Wife Project," a detailed questionnaire to weed out unsuitable women. Although he receives 279 responses (all duly charted on a spreadsheet, of course), he finds that somehow each one fails to meet all the criteria he has set out for his perfect mate.

That is until Rosie comes into his office. Unbeknownst to Don, she was sent by Don's colleague, Gene, to settle a bet. Don mistakes Rosie for someone Gene has selected from the Wife Project applicants as someone Don should at least give a try, even if she is not totally perfect. 

Rosie has her own search project: she is looking to identify her biological father. All Rosie knows is that her now-deceased mother slept with a man at her medical school graduation party ("engaged in unprotected sex outside her primary relationship?" in Don's words). The result of that union, Rosie, does not have the same eye color as her father and her mother would not reveal the other man before she died. Rosie convinces Don to figure out how to collect and analyze DNA samples from the 44 potential candidates to determine once and for all her biological father. 

Don, while scientifically intrigued, soon finds the task frustrating, especially when he is alongside a woman he has already rejected as a Wife Project contender for her smoking, inappropriate dress, tardiness to appointments, and a host of other failures.

You can probably see where this is going, but I will stop there. The joy of The Rosie Project is in the writing and the narration by Don in his scientifically logical yet peculiar voice. He calmly details his interactions with the real world, creating lists of what he learns and what actions he should take to better address future situations. 

Don is a uniquely compelling character, one you really care about. Although he rigorously prepares himself for every potential outcome, he find himself continually failing both with the challenges of the DNA experiment and also the Wife Project. Rosie, his companion in the adventure, is the opposite of Don in every way with her emotions, common sense, and worldly experiences. Nevertheless, she is a quality person with hidden talents that slowly unfold.

And along their merry way are encounters with Dave the baseball fan, Mary the bipolar-disorder researcher, Gene who tries to bed a woman from every country, the Hungarian cleaning lady, and "the weird guy at Momofuku Ko restaurant." Through these encounters, Don and Rosie find they must make adjustments to the DNA and Wife Project pursuits, for better or worse.

I can't remember when I have enjoyed a book as much as this for pure fun, interesting story, wonderful characters, clever writing, and a completely satisfying outcome. Best of all, the book jacket says Graeme Simsion is working on a sequel to The Rosie Project, so life is good.

Highly, highly recommended.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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