The End of Men: A Novel

The real struggle with the novel is that the women are unlikable. All women of privilege and means, their concerns about feeling loved or being strong enough to handle it all are really the kind of first-world problems we’ve read about a hundred times. One has to wonder if Harper Collins would have looked twice at this novel if Karen Rinaldi weren’t an employee there. The women are vapid, and the question they attempt to answer—can women really have it all—is a bit dated. And the title, The End of Men is misleading in that much of the book wouldn’t exist without its male characters. Isabel’s battle between her husband and a past love, the pseudo-dangerous stranger stalking Beth, Maggie’s dissatisfaction with her husband, and Anna’s difficulty reconciling her work self with her wife/mom self all rely on men. So, when Maggie quips “this is the end of men” as she steps into singlehood, her remark feels hollow and disingenuous.