Review: Spin: A Novel by Robert Rave

Title: Spin: A Novel

Author: Robert Rave

Genre/Pages: Fiction/352

Publication: St. Martin’s Press; August 18, 2009

Rating: 4 BOOKMARKS

An all-access pass behind the velvet ropes of New York’s trendiest hot-spots, Spin: A Novel, dishes on the frenetic and cut-throat world that is PR. 

With a little bit of fast thinking and a white lie or two, twenty-something Taylor Green finds himself on the right side of the velvet ropes at the opening of Domino, one of Manhattan’s hottest new restaurants. 

Kismet is smiling down on Taylor–not only does he manage to fast-talk his way past the ‘door dragon’, but also scores a career coup in the same night.  Just by being in the right place at the right time, he’s able to swoop in and snatch up a coveted Assistant position at Jennie Weinstein Public Relations (JWPR), the PR firm of the city.

With his new job comes new responsibilities and fabulous perks.  Coveted party invitations and oodles of swag come Taylor’s way, but he also finds himself at despotic Jennie’s beck and call.  Reminiscent of Lauren Weisberger’s Amanda Priestly (The Devil Wears Prada), Jennie Weinstein keeps Taylor hopping day and night with her imperious (and sometimes illegal!) demands and requests via calls, texts, and messages to his Blackberry.

As the novel progresses, a dramatic shift occurs: our provincial hero begins to assimilate to his boss’s nefarious ways.  Taylor’s family and friends don’t recognize him anymore; gone is the slightly bumbling, awww-shucks, guy.  In his place is a corporate assassin–he’s got some dirt on Jennie and isn’t afraid to wield the information, using it as leverage to secure himself better accounts and more responsibility within the firm.

Jennie Weinstein isn’t accustomed to people standing up to (or blackmailing) her, but just how far is she willing to go to shut Taylor Green down for good?  Will Taylor come to his senses and see that his new-found false values are only propelling him further from the people who care about him most? 

A gritty account of the not-so-nice aspects of the PR world, Spin: A Novel sheds light on how the industry (sometimes?!?!) works–journalists, gossip columnists, sales and marketing people, brand and restaurant owners, and PR firms enjoying their quid pro quo “moral” code.

So, is Spin: A Novel a Roman à clef?  Robert Rave did work for Lizzie Grubman, a well-know publicist who has been described by New York Magazine as, “…the most powerful girl (female publicist) of all.”  A few of Jennie’s more outlandish stunts seem to have been pulled from the headlines of the New York rags, but I’ll leave you to decide how much of Spin is based in reality and how much is spun from Rave’s imagination.

Thanks to Marnie at MB Public Relations for this review copy.

Review: The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi

Title: The Wish Maker

Author: Ali Sethi

Genre/Pages: Fiction/432

Publication: Riverhead Books; June 11, 2009

Rating: 2.5 BOOKMARKS

A sweeping saga told in lyrical prose about one Pakistani boy’s coming of age during a climate of political and social change.

Ali Sethi’s debut novel, The Wish Maker, is an ambitious novel–almost an epic–spanning two decades (plus flashbacks), several governments, and much social and political unrest.  Make no mistake, Sethi is a masterful storyteller with a mature voice that belies his young years–he was in his early 20s when he wrote this novel–but I felt that the story suffered from information and sensory overload.

The Wish Maker tells the story of Zaki Shirazi, a young boy growing up in a house filled with women.  Zaki’s mother is a journalist who writes for a magazine and leans toward the liberal left, while his grandmother is more of an old-fashioned conservative.  Zaki’s cousin also lives in the house and struggles to find herself throughout the novel.

The pages were filled with scores of secondary characters and it was challenging to keep everyone straight.  Additionally, unfamiliar terms and foreign phrases were peppered throughout and  I looked up several to give myself a more solid understanding of the story and dialogue.   

This book could very well go on to receive much critical acclaim–the writing is wonderful–but for me it had too much going on and ambled along accounting for all the daily minutia of Zaki’s days.  I appreciated the imagery and characterization but felt that there was no real resolution with some characters and that some of the secondary story lines just petered out.

Thanks to Matt at Penguin Books (Riverhead) for this review copy!

How about you?  Have you read this novel?  Am I way out in left field with my review?   What’s your take?  

Review: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

Title: The Weight of Silence

Author: Heather Gudenkauf

Genre/Pages: Fiction/373

Publication: Mira; July 28, 2009

Rating: 3.5 BOOKMARKS

Employing multiple narrators, Heather Gudenkauf weaves a suspenseful novel about two young girls who go missing from their beds early one summer morning.

In the pre-dawn hours of an August morning in Iowa, seven-year-old Calli Clark is violently dragged into the woods against her will.  Her fear is palpable, but Calli can’t call out for help because she suffers from selective mutism.  Nearby, Petra Gregory, Calli’s best friend and voice, is lured from her own bedroom after spying something from her window.  Does she see her friend or is it someone more sinister?

As the novel progresses, the narrators shift with each new chapter.  We take in the story through the eyes of Calli, her mother Antonia, her older brother Ben, Petra’s dad, and Deputy Sheriff Louis.  Through each of their narratives, we get the backstory about Calli’s mutism, the family dynamics of the Clark household, life in the Gregory house, and Antonia’s relationship with Louis.

Gudenkauf gives Calli a voice as a narrator despite the fact that she doesn’t speak, while Petra, Calli’s mouthpiece in life, remains silent–her perspective of the story untold.  Anxiety builds as the novel progresses and suspicion is cast on several characters.  Compounding the fear is the  local unsolved murder of another little girl who went missing from her bedroom.  Will Calli and Petra meet the same end?

The Weight of Silence is such a page-turner–I read it in one night, staying up until the wee hours to finish it!  The novel is rife with symbols–the woods, the yellow house, the music note chain–and themes of family, friendship, substance abuse, and loss.   This book would be ideal for a book club selection and comes with discussion questions at the end of the novel. 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book!

 

Review: The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Chances by Mark Millhone

Title: The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Chances

Author: Mark Millhone

Genre/Pages: Nonfiction, Memoir (Humor, Relationships)/192

Publication: Rodale Books; July 7, 2009

Rating: 3.5 BOOKMARKS

 

Nat’s ‘In a Nutshell’:  One man’s nine month journey to hell and back with a layover in Dallas where he picks up a honey of a used car hoping it will have the power to ferry him back (literally and metaphorically) to his wife, children, and the way things used to be.

To say that things aren’t going well for Mark Millhone and his family would be an understatement.  In the span of time equivalent to a baby’s gestation, Millhone fields tragedy after trauma, from his mother’s death, father’s diagnosis with cancer, infant son’s near-death after birth, and older son’s run-in with the family dog’s fangs. 

As his world and marriage crumble around him, Millhone takes to his computer, stalking eBay Motors for a car.  His salvation comes in the form of a 1994 BMW 7 series–the panacea to all that ails him.  The symbolism is clear–the car is much more than just four wheels and seat–it’s redemption with leather upholstery.  Under the pretext of asking for help, Millhone orchestrates some father-son bonding by enlisting his father to ride shotgun on the drive home from the Lone Star State (where the Beemer is)  to the Big Apple (where Millhone lives).

In the interim, Mark packs up his wife and sons and trundles them off to his in-laws’ house in upstate New York.  He mentions that in better times, he and his wife owned and renovated a farmhouse in Margaretville.  My great-grandfather owns a piece of prime real estate in the Margaretville Cemetery and has been in residence there since 1954.  Before that, he owned a dairy farm in Halcottsville, where my dad summered as a boy.  (It was a kick to read about these towns–especially since I spent part of my summer vacation there last month!)

Millhone and his father make the epic drive, and as readers we ride along, getting filled in on the back story.  He doesn’t shy away from the telling–even when it would be less painful or easier to edit events or conversations.  He confronts his failures and examines his self-doubt.  He openly discusses the difficult relationship he had with his mother and the challenge that parenthood really is. 

It was refreshing to read such an honest account of how parenting and marriage can, despite best efforts and intentions, go bad.  No one sets out to be a bad spouse or parent, but both roles are jobs that require Herculean dedication and responsibility.  Millhone’s memoir examines marriage, family relationships, and being a father with humor and authenticity that comes from experience and perseverance.    

This memoir acted as springboard in my house for some interesting discussions about marriage and family.  Children dramatically impact the landscape of a marriage and the husband-wife dynamic shifts.  If you have children, did you find the adjustment to be more or less difficult than you anticipated?  Do you have any tips for dealing with this issue?

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this memoir–nonfiction is one of my favorite genres!