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sunset8305's review
5.0
This book was so well written - I couldn’t put it down! It provided great insight into the ‘mystique’ of agency / publishing life, and I could truly visualize and experience the author’s office setting... sounded awfully cozy (albeit outdated for its time). Beyond all that, I appreciated how much this book humanized JD Salinger - I felt like I got more insight into him as a human being from this book than other articles/etc. that I’ve read. Makes me respect him even more. I’d definitely read this again and recommend to others, Salinger and non-Salinger fans, alike.
rest15resistance's review
3.0
This was a pretty light read. I read it because I'm studying memoirs, and it's actually pretty good as far as that. She frames the story really well. It's starts off slowly but it doesn't take long for it to get more interesting.
When you write a memoir, they say that you should do so in scenes, kind of like a movie, and Rakoff does a good job of that-the timing and the placement of certain anecdotes as she peels back the layers of the characters. The characters were what I found to be most interesting, and maybe not even so much them, but her depiction of them because, of course, you're seeing them through her eyes. She has a gift of summing them up so succinctly in an almost poetic way–her friend Jenny, her boyfriend Don, roommate Leigh, and so many others. You really feel like you have an insider's look into their lives, and you see that not everything is really what it seems with these upper-middle class, white, young adults during the 90's.
As far as my memoir study, I guess I learned that one doesn't have to start at the beginning and end at the end. There are so many little stories, or situations, or single events, that one can really explore and analyze into something meaningful. Rakoff focused on a single year in her life, working at a very unique literary agency. In telling us about this experience, we also slowly learn other details that become relevant from the authors past, her family background, that of her friends. There's also a slight glimpse of what life was like as a New Yorker in this particular time, and slight critiques on the emergence of modern technology, computers specifically, as they began to overtake office environments during that era.
It's hard to really grasp concisely what this book is about, mainly because there isn't just one thing, but rather many things, and not in a bad way. There is the waywardness of finding ones footing in adulthood after college, navigating changing friendships, complicated romances, balancing the traditional with the new, and of course a sort of ode to J.D. Salinger. One thing really doesn't overtake the other.
The ending for me seemed a bit rushed, but I guess you have to end it at some point of relevance right? I don't regret reading it, Rakoff is a good writer, and even at times sparked my interest to read Salinger's work, which I haven't read as of yet. Honestly, she made the telling of her experience at this seemingly very mundane place, layered with interest and depth.
When you write a memoir, they say that you should do so in scenes, kind of like a movie, and Rakoff does a good job of that-the timing and the placement of certain anecdotes as she peels back the layers of the characters. The characters were what I found to be most interesting, and maybe not even so much them, but her depiction of them because, of course, you're seeing them through her eyes. She has a gift of summing them up so succinctly in an almost poetic way–her friend Jenny, her boyfriend Don, roommate Leigh, and so many others. You really feel like you have an insider's look into their lives, and you see that not everything is really what it seems with these upper-middle class, white, young adults during the 90's.
As far as my memoir study, I guess I learned that one doesn't have to start at the beginning and end at the end. There are so many little stories, or situations, or single events, that one can really explore and analyze into something meaningful. Rakoff focused on a single year in her life, working at a very unique literary agency. In telling us about this experience, we also slowly learn other details that become relevant from the authors past, her family background, that of her friends. There's also a slight glimpse of what life was like as a New Yorker in this particular time, and slight critiques on the emergence of modern technology, computers specifically, as they began to overtake office environments during that era.
It's hard to really grasp concisely what this book is about, mainly because there isn't just one thing, but rather many things, and not in a bad way. There is the waywardness of finding ones footing in adulthood after college, navigating changing friendships, complicated romances, balancing the traditional with the new, and of course a sort of ode to J.D. Salinger. One thing really doesn't overtake the other.
The ending for me seemed a bit rushed, but I guess you have to end it at some point of relevance right? I don't regret reading it, Rakoff is a good writer, and even at times sparked my interest to read Salinger's work, which I haven't read as of yet. Honestly, she made the telling of her experience at this seemingly very mundane place, layered with interest and depth.
kristianawithak's review
4.0
I loved this book. Joanna Rakoff worked for the literary agency that represented J.D. Salinger. It is a coming of age in New York, fresh out of college, what am I going to do with my life type of book with phone calls by Salinger and an in face meeting with him. It was as lovely as I hoped it would be.
fbroom's review
4.0
A light hearted, fun and charming read. She is a young graduate with an MFA and this is her first real job. The memoir spans a full year of Joanna's life in New York working at the Agency. This though isn't really about Salinger, but maybe the publisher wanted it to be? It's about her struggle with adjusting to real life with student loans, a low income in publishing and with her not so great boyfriend. Some people as always would complain that these aren't real problems but this is book isn't about a tragedy. This is a light read.
I read this in in Los Angeles / November 2014
I read this in in Los Angeles / November 2014
ruth24's review
4.0
My sister recommended this to me and I'm glad she did because I really enjoyed it. It's a memoir written by [a:Joanna Rakoff|1398038|Joanna Rakoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1244473126p2/1398038.jpg] about her time working for the literacy agency that represented J. D. Salinger or "Jerry" as he's called in the book.
[b:My Salinger Year|18630531|My Salinger Year|Joanna Rakoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388374724s/18630531.jpg|26423293] is full of all of the kinds of things that delight bookish people: dimly lit mahogany offices, shelves lined with books, cold New York winters, and hipsters at cafes and rooftop parties aspiring to be writers. I'd especially recommend this book to my publishing friends and any fans of Salinger. While I never really took to [b:The Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398034300s/5107.jpg|3036731] or [b:Nine Stories|4009|Nine Stories|J.D. Salinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1514839407s/4009.jpg|1839377], this book made me want to re-read Salinger because of how much his books seem to have touched other people. Maybe I was missing something?
[b:My Salinger Year|18630531|My Salinger Year|Joanna Rakoff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388374724s/18630531.jpg|26423293] is full of all of the kinds of things that delight bookish people: dimly lit mahogany offices, shelves lined with books, cold New York winters, and hipsters at cafes and rooftop parties aspiring to be writers. I'd especially recommend this book to my publishing friends and any fans of Salinger. While I never really took to [b:The Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398034300s/5107.jpg|3036731] or [b:Nine Stories|4009|Nine Stories|J.D. Salinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1514839407s/4009.jpg|1839377], this book made me want to re-read Salinger because of how much his books seem to have touched other people. Maybe I was missing something?
melanieritchie's review
5.0
I rarely share my thoughts on why I like a book. I'm not good at explaining why and I'm not sure my thoughts are helpful to others. Yet, maybe I'll start to share my thoughts, just so I can recall why a book was so great to me.
This book did not read like a memoir. Often I read a novel and have to remind myself it isn't real. This memoir was so beautifully written it felt more like fiction and I had to keep reminding myself it was real. I graduated university roughly the same time as the author. We shared many similar experiences. She gave me some insight into my choices and behaviours as a young adult. Maybe even some closure to painful experiences.
There were little parallels in the story that I really loved. We share the same favourite Judy Blume book. I even bought it to read on a car trip vacation.
I picked up the book at the library because of the title. How could I resist that? When I was 15, I first read Catcher in the Rye. Probably because it was mentioned in Sassy Magazine, or maybe a different novel I was reading. Or maybe because I'd read "For Esmé, with Love and Squalor" in english class and loved it. I got it out of my school's library. It had the carousel horse cover. I didn't like the book. At all. Then a year later I read it again, for some reason I can't recall. I loved it. I became a typical Salinger fan and read all his other works. Then in my twenties, I read about how he was a jerk and decided he was an eternal adolescent. Right around the time I realized that most of the authors/poets I loved were a-holes (cough, Cohen, cough). So I picked up this book, hoping to glean some insight into Salinger. It was such a pleasant discovery to learn about the world of Joanna Rakoff instead.
This book did not read like a memoir. Often I read a novel and have to remind myself it isn't real. This memoir was so beautifully written it felt more like fiction and I had to keep reminding myself it was real. I graduated university roughly the same time as the author. We shared many similar experiences. She gave me some insight into my choices and behaviours as a young adult. Maybe even some closure to painful experiences.
There were little parallels in the story that I really loved. We share the same favourite Judy Blume book. I even bought it to read on a car trip vacation.
I picked up the book at the library because of the title. How could I resist that? When I was 15, I first read Catcher in the Rye. Probably because it was mentioned in Sassy Magazine, or maybe a different novel I was reading. Or maybe because I'd read "For Esmé, with Love and Squalor" in english class and loved it. I got it out of my school's library. It had the carousel horse cover. I didn't like the book. At all. Then a year later I read it again, for some reason I can't recall. I loved it. I became a typical Salinger fan and read all his other works. Then in my twenties, I read about how he was a jerk and decided he was an eternal adolescent. Right around the time I realized that most of the authors/poets I loved were a-holes (cough, Cohen, cough). So I picked up this book, hoping to glean some insight into Salinger. It was such a pleasant discovery to learn about the world of Joanna Rakoff instead.
laila4343's review
5.0
Gorgeous writing, a memoir that reads like a novel, a wistful portrait of New York City and the literary publishing world of the late 1990s. I loved this book. More thoughts at Big Reading Life: https://bigreadinglife.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/my-salinger-year-by-joanna-rakoff/