An underachiever's diary - Benjamin Anastas

With his debut novel, Benjamin Anastas has written a hymn to the imperfect; in the character William, he has created a definitive antihero for the 90s.

'Sparkling . . . extremely funny, bursting with one-liners and the familiar, sharp wit of the New York neurotic' Observer

'As a diarist, William is a sit-down comedian. We are in the nerdy, nervy territory of Woody Allen and Nicholson Baker here . . . both funny and moving' Time Out

'A richly comic novel that directs its satirical energies against the idea of success . . . a deft performance' Daily Telegraph

'Unconcerned as to whether he is liked or loathed, William can cast a curious rhetorical spell and, in the end, we love him despite ourselves' The Times

'The sly fiction's greatest strength is the finely tuned voice Anastas has created for William, who takes us . . . through his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood without ever faltering in his often droll, deadpan delivery . . . his celebration of less over more serves as an unusual tonic' LA Times

Benjamin Anastas is the author of An Underachiever's Diary. He is a former editor at the literary magazine Grand Street and his essays and reviews appear regularly in the New York Observer, the Village Voice, the New Republic Online, and the New York Times Book Review.