Synopsis: Rakoff
tells of her year spent in the publishing agency that represented J.D.
Salinger.
Date finished: 12
August 2014
Rating: ***
Comments:
I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, enjoyable (for the most
part—more on that in a second) read. Unfortunately, this is one of those
memoirs that will slip quietly from my mind within a few months.
Rakoff is just out of college when she lands a personal
assistant job at a publishing agency (never named) in the 1990s. Her boss (also
unnamed) is a bit difficult. Her boyfriend’s a jerk. Her life at the time is in
disarray. And she has just been presented with her college credit card bills to
pay. It’s your typical twenty-two-year-old stuff. Although Rakoff is a few
years ahead of me, I could relate to the period of time she’s talking about and
the office atmosphere at that time. (Putty-colored desktop computers weren’t
yet on everyone’s desktop, for example.)
The trouble with this book is it’s a coming-of-age story
about a woman who doesn’t know who the heck she is, so the reader, no matter
how patient and understanding, can’t know who the heck she is. No conclusions
are reached. No hindsight is engaged by the grown-up Rakoff. She worked a year,
moved on, and who knows what happened to her. And because we didn’t know her
(because she didn’t know herself) who really cares what happened to her?
What is a coming-of-age story without wisdom? Blah.
The parts about Salinger were sweet. I think that’s part of
the reason I finished the book, so I’d be sure not to miss any hints into
Salinger’s personality or life.
In the end, this just didn’t satisfy me. I think it would be
a good beach read, but it’s not for the reader looking for a personal story
with any depth.
Would you recommend
this to a friend?
I don’t think so.
You might also enjoy:
Summer at Tiffany
Yes, this was a ephemeral read...I enjoyed it but there was not much there to hang on to. I didn't even feel like bothering to write a review, so thanks for expressing my thoughts pretty exactly.
ReplyDeleteIt's really too bad. This could have been a great book.
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