
And really, haven’t great minds like this been bullied enough? This kind of comedy always leaves me feeling like a bully. Like those TV show writers, Simsion want us to laugh at Don, to enjoy his confusion, struggles, and befuddlements that honestly might relate more to a social disability as compared to inexperience with the real world. While The Rosie Effect has a few fun moments, it left me with the same guilt I feel watching Sheldon on "The Big Bang Theory". And like a sitcom, sometimes you can’t help but wonder what the rest of the audience is laughing at. There is no art or surprise here for the literary buff, just the occasional giggle. Most of the plot conflicts are generated through miscommunication or badly attempted misdirection. Each chapter is like an episode on a sitcom, and the characters act and talk like they have a live studio audience in front of them. Reading the book, I couldn’t help but wonder if Simsion was consciously channeling television in the writing. He begins to take on the problem of fatherhood like an overzealous researcher, at one point even comically taking over a birthing class because he assumes he knows more than the teacher. For a mind like Don’s, the pregnancy can only mean trouble. And at the beginning of this book, Don gets the news that he’s about to become a father.


But while Sheldon is only awkwardly dating his love interest on TV, Don is happily married. Think Sheldon Cooper from "The Big Bang Theory". He’s incredibly smart and analytic, but seriously lacking in social skills. The lead character and narrator of the Rosie series is Don Tillman.

Give yourself a few minutes you’ll be caught up by the first commercial break.

It was like tuning into the second season of a TV sitcom. Exhibit A: "The Rosie Effect" by Graeme Simsion, which is the sequel to his New York Times bestseller "The Rosie Project".While I never read The Rosie Project, I didn’t feel at all confused or lost in the second book. But while there’s plenty of talk about how bad television is for humans, no one ever talks about the influence it has on books. It’s pretty common to hear people complain about the impact TV has on society.
