Love on the Big Screen is a light-hearted novel that time-warped me right back to the future of my days as a college student - particularly as I read one scene that takes place in the dining hall of the fictitious Pison College, the novel's setting. It felt like my own group of friends had reunited and were once again eating every single meal together, just as we had every single day of the four years of our glory days. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Bill Torgerson had tape-recorded conversations from our little group.

That's where Torgerson succeeds with his novel. Love on the Big Screen is embued with all the elements that make the college years of the late 80s and early 90s so nostalgic for me. I mean, I can pretty much tell you what I was also doing on Thursday, December 6, 1990, the day that the opening scene of the novel takes place.

(But I won't, because ... well, that could be my own novel.)

Ahem. Moving on ....

Love on the Big Screen stars a full cast of characters, with the lead actor being one Eric Zaucha, known to all as "Zuke." (We'll get back to the others in a minute.) He's a likeable, sympathetic main character and Torgerson succeeded in making Zuke someone whom we all can relate to (male or female). Because, when you come right down to it, we've all been Zuke. We've all been led on. We've all been on the opposite end of an unrequited love relationship. We've all been pursued by someone we had "just friends" feelings about. We've all had our hearts broken.

Zuke is a student of '80s teen movies and his idol is one Lloyd Dobler, portrayed brilliantly by John Cusack in "Say Anything." Show of hands among those of us who remember the scene with Lloyd Dobler holding up his boom box (that's the relic that we old fogies in our 40s listened to our cassette tapes and CDs on before Steve Jobs gave us the iPod) blaring Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes"? The image is seared into our man Zuke's brain (and on his dorm room wall) and Lloyd Dobler's relationship with Diane Court is, to Zuke, the epitome of love everlasting as he imagines it to be with one Abby Grant. Zuke is also significantly influenced by the on-again-off-again-on-again courtship of one Harry and one Sally (as well he should be, because THAT movie ROCKS) and the entire library of John Hughes-created films.

Abby seems to be rather smitten with Zuke as well, and the two would be their own perfect pair of cute bookends (get it? A-Z?) if it wasn't for one problem. Abby is dating the Star Basketball Player of Pison College, an individual who goes by the nickname Cheese and who is showered by Kraft Singles during games. Will Abby dump Cheese for Zuke? Will Zuke get his girl? Will Zuke (who is also on the basketball team) ever get a chance to get off the bench and play in a game?

This is the cheesy stuff of '80s romantic comedies and it is a premise (along with the novel's other subplots) that works well in this novel ... except in this case, the trip down Memory Lane has a few potholes along the way in the form of significant distractions to the reader.

For starters, Love on the Big Screen is an incredibly wordy novel, one with several typos. While reading it, I had to fight the urge to get out my red pen. Many sentences seemed heavy with extraneous words, and that slowed down my reading to the point where it became noticeable to me. That shouldn't happen. There were also several inconsistencies - sometimes at pivotal events in the plot - where the action would suddenly, abruptly shift to a description of a relationship several years earlier or something that happened in Zuke's high school years. This happens AS EARLY AS PAGE 2, providing the reader with the same effect as kissing someone when they suddenly call you by the wrong name.

(Not, you know, that I would know anything about THAT.)

Another significant distraction came with Torgerson's penchant of giving nicknames to almost every character. There are a number of characters in this novel, and it's a bit hard to keep track of who's who. Throw in a nickname for each one of these people, and you find yourself needing a spreadsheet to keep track. I recognize that this bestowing of monikers is probably typical of college students and was probably included to give an air of authenticity and authority of one's characters, but I think that could have been (needed to have been) sacrificed, at least somewhat, for a better reader experience. Not every character needed a nickname.

There are other aspects of the novel that validated the college experience and the timeframe itself. (I loved the references to Saddam Hussein - remember, on December 6, 1990 we were just weeks away from Operation Desert Storm - and yeah, there was a time when gas really was $1.53 a gallon.)

To me, being a somewhat picky reader, these issues (the need for another round - at least - of edits; the distractions with the names; the somewhat choppy-at-times narrative) were hard to overlook. They obscured for me the essence of this novel. Perhaps I am being particularly critical here because Torgerson is a writing professor and I expected ...well, something more robust in terms of the writing.

That being said, Torgerson does have a sharp eye and ear for all the elements that comprise the collegiate world. He nails this once in a lifetime experience exceptionally well, particularly through his dialogue which seemed authentic to me. (Word to the wise, however: there are more than quite a few over-the-top crude and graphic phrases included, which I didn't think were entirely necessary.) Zuke's character was well-done and others had the potential to be stronger than they were - just as the novel itself.
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William Torgerson’s Love On The Big Screen is a fun, nostalgic love story — from the dudes’ perspective. Zuke’s best friends — a group of guys with funny nicknames like “The Dini” and “Cowboy” — are all searching for the same ideals: “God, knowledge, compassion and women.” I didn’t realize the novel has a religious bent until a few chapters in, but no matter. Torgerson was never preachy or overt with the boys’ explorations of faith. In fact, I found it rather interesting.

Our main fella here is Eric “Zuke” Zaucha, the son of a sports fanatic who chooses his small school for its basketball team. Always one to adapt for women, seeing Abby on the first day of classes presses Zuke to declare himself an English major — the better to study near her book-loving self, you see. As a devotee of classic ’80s films like “Say Anything” and “Sixteen Candles,” Zuke is waiting for his own great cinematic love story to unfold. Convinced his own romantic life will mimic what he sees on the big screen, he befriends Abby . . . even though there’s a big ol’ beefy boyfriend to contend with.

Torgerson’s strength lies in evoking a very specific era: late ’80s America. And when it comes to feeding readers bits of tasty nostalgia, Love On The Big Screen delivers. The pop culture references had me smiling, and I’d imagine anyone who came of age in this time will find lots to bring back memories. Though set in a specific time, the boys’ individual stories feel pretty universal — and it’s easy to forget we’re not dealing with a modern-day love triangle. Until a guy calls only to get his lady’s roommate, who “forgets” to give her a message on his behalf. And then you think, Oh yeah: no cell phones. No email. No texting.

The guys beyond Zuke didn’t make much of a lasting impression, and I never felt like I got to know anyone outside Zuke, Abby and Marie I wanted to know more about the Brothers and wished their friendship had been explored further. For me, the major appeal of Love On The Big Screen was the idea of an ’80s-era romantic comedy told from a man’s perspective. And while the book didn’t fail in that regard, I guess I just wanted a little more.

BUT. But. I don’t want to leave the impression I didn’t enjoy Torgerson’s work; I really did. It’s cute, fun and light, and it easily held my attention over 214 pages. I loved the setting, the era and the boundless appeal of an underdog like Zuke — and I think the novel would appeal to folks who enjoy contemporary stories with a heaping side of nostalgic whimsy. On that front, this coming-of-age novel delivers. ( )

I received this book from the author through Goodreads and first I would like to say thank you for the inscription and autograph of the book. That makes it so special.

Now about the book - how refreshing to read a book about love from the boys point of view. Zuke is a college freshman who does not have a lot of experience with the opposite sex and what he does know about love comes from the movies he has watched growing up. In love with Abby, Zuke takes almost all the same classes as she does and forms a special friendship with her. But Abby is dating the school jock. Zuke and his friends hold weekly meetings of the brothers in Pursuit, where they meet wearing boxer shorts and helmets and discuss what is going on with their lifes and then play a game. Sounds like Revenge of the Nerds.

This book was so much fun to read. Zuke and his friends are very likable and you just get drawn into their story. I actually thought that there would be more references to movies than there actually were but that was ok. I highly recommend this book. How fun would it be for a second book to come out about Zuke and his friends and to see how far they have come in relationships and what they are doing. I would definitely buy that book ( )