The Tom Drake Experience
A serialized novel, updating fortnightly.
A young professional in Chicago discovers the nebulous power of style, which subsequently threatens to consume him as he propels himself towards the American Dream.
The Tom Drake Experience
Fashion. Fiction. Flow.
Tags: coming of age drama fashion literary fiction modeling modern fiction music online novels romance third person
Links: review feed
sort order: editorial preference member preference listing date name
Reader recommendations . . .
Similar listings . . .
Editorial Reviews
A serious character study
Tom Drake is deeply insecure. He hates all that he was. He wishes to be someone else.
It isn’t often that I find myself disagreeing with Grace’s reviews, but on The Tom Drake Experience, I totally do. I’m not going to go so far as to say it’s brilliant, but, to date, at Chapter 24, I think it’s pretty damned good.
This is a story that builds slowly. It starts as shallow as a puddle, and every chapter, pours in more rain. It’s a character study, of a man who can’t stand the weakness he came from, who can’t see any value in what the struggle gave to him, who is so desperate to be somebody — as measured by external standards — that he spends every waking moment trying to kill off and bury every little piece of who he was, so that he can erect in his place a facade he thinks everyone will adore.
But old self dies hard, and new self can’t stand without its foundation.
The writing in Tom Drake is crisp, at times beautiful. At a glance, I might have said the first half-dozen chapters are considerably more described than I like, but, reading it . . . I realize that all that description is characterization. This is how he wants to see himself. This is how he wants to define himself — by how other people see him.
The Tom Drake Experience is one of those stories where you have to look beneath the surface, beneath what it obviously is, to what it actually is. And my sense, at this moment, is that what it actually is will be heart-breaking when it is done. Because, for all his shallowness, for all his grasping, for all his disdain, Tom Drake is a character I’m finding myself caring about, more and more. And I can’t think things are going to end well for him.
To those of you who like a good character study, who like subtle, careful writing, I wholeheartedly recommend The Tom Drake Experience.
Help us improve! Register or log in to rate this review.
Is this review inaccurate or abusive? Report it!
Shallow Dreams
(Review written after reading 10 chapters).
A part of me feels as though I’m reading a paid advertisement - so many brands are mentioned, and their features and details are expounded upon.
I feel as though I’m reading about the life of a magazine ad - not the model within, who is probably only using their body to pay for university, but the character portrayed within. The man at the bar with the flawless suit and the perfectly photogenic drink.
I am sure that there are people who base their entire life around their wardrobe, but being inside the POV of a vapid fashionista isn’t compelling.
There were two real emotion - inexplicable anger in a bar, which was more disturbing than anything, leading one to wonder exactly how stable the MC is, and one flashback to a rejection by a girl in high school.
The style is also somehow awkward - it doesn’t flow as it should (especially considering that "flow" is one of the words in the tagline).
There’s no chapter list either - meaning that you have to click back through the pages of posts in order to find the beginning - however this is a rather easy fix.
Help us improve! Register or log in to rate this review.
Is this review inaccurate or abusive? Report it!
Most Helpful Member Reviews
TDE
Young urban professionals, the Esquire generation, can relate to The Tom Drake Experience. It’s somewhat like Fight Club without the blood and gore. The influence of Tom Chiarella is palpable.
Help us improve! Register or log in to rate this review.
Is this review inaccurate or abusive? Report it!