Andy Mozina's "Contrary Motion," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Contrary Motion: A Novel by Andy Mozina.

The entry begins:

Matt Grzbc, the novel’s protagonist, is a divorced harpist living in Chicago and preparing for a symphony audition. He’s tall, ambitious, handsome, late 30’s, with a slightly robotic affect, a dark sense of humor, some crippling anxieties, a romantic life on the skids, and a six-year-old daughter to help raise. While trying to do justice to the important relationships in his life and prep for the audition, he plays weddings, brunches at the downtown Marriott, and bedside vigils at a hospice. After careful reflection, it seems to me that only John Krasinski, aka Jim Halpert from The Office, can play the role. He can do hangdog, he can do wiseass, he can do internal distress. He doesn’t look like a harpist, but neither does Matt, so that would be just right. Krasinski also wrote and directed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, the film adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s short story collection, so I feel we have some influences in common.

Matt has two love interests. His ex-wife Milena’s good sense, resilience, and unself-conscious sexiness could call for Jennifer...[read on]

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My Book, The Movie: Contrary Motion.

--Marshal Zeringue