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fbroom's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about these essays. I like the way she writes but I found the content to be boring at times like the airlines essay or the Ravenheart essay (my two least favorite ones).
Quotes
My addiction to PFSlider’s messages indicated a monstrous narcissism. But it also revealed a subtler desire that I didn’t fully understand at the time. My need to experience an old-fashioned kind of courtship was stronger than I had ever imagined.
I have recently woken up to the frightening fallout of my own romantic notions of life in the big city: I am completely over my head in debt. I have not made a life for myself in New York City. I have purchased a life for myself.
I spent money on my education and my career. These are broad categories. There’s room here for copious rationalizations and I’ll make full use of them. I live in the most expensive city in the country because I have long believed, and had many people convinced, that my career was dependent upon it. I spend money on martinis and expensive dinners because, as is typical among my species of debtor, I tell myself that martinis and expensive dinners are the entire point—the point of being young, the point of living in New York City, the point of living. In this mind-set, the dollars spent, like the mechanics of a machine no one bothers to understand, become an abstraction, an intangible avenue toward self-expression, a mere vehicle of style.
These days, being a creative person in New York is, in many cases, contingent upon inheriting the means to do it.
But I’m capable of being extremely shallow, far more superficial that I’m often given credit for.
People who must have wood floors are people who need to convey the message that they’re quite possibly better than most people. They’re people who leave the New York Review of Books on the coffee table but keep People in the bedroom. They’re people who say “I don’t need to read Time or Newsweek because I can get everything I need from the Times.” They’re people who would no sooner put the television
Quotes
My addiction to PFSlider’s messages indicated a monstrous narcissism. But it also revealed a subtler desire that I didn’t fully understand at the time. My need to experience an old-fashioned kind of courtship was stronger than I had ever imagined.
I have recently woken up to the frightening fallout of my own romantic notions of life in the big city: I am completely over my head in debt. I have not made a life for myself in New York City. I have purchased a life for myself.
I spent money on my education and my career. These are broad categories. There’s room here for copious rationalizations and I’ll make full use of them. I live in the most expensive city in the country because I have long believed, and had many people convinced, that my career was dependent upon it. I spend money on martinis and expensive dinners because, as is typical among my species of debtor, I tell myself that martinis and expensive dinners are the entire point—the point of being young, the point of living in New York City, the point of living. In this mind-set, the dollars spent, like the mechanics of a machine no one bothers to understand, become an abstraction, an intangible avenue toward self-expression, a mere vehicle of style.
These days, being a creative person in New York is, in many cases, contingent upon inheriting the means to do it.
But I’m capable of being extremely shallow, far more superficial that I’m often given credit for.
People who must have wood floors are people who need to convey the message that they’re quite possibly better than most people. They’re people who leave the New York Review of Books on the coffee table but keep People in the bedroom. They’re people who say “I don’t need to read Time or Newsweek because I can get everything I need from the Times.” They’re people who would no sooner put the television
somanybookstoread's review against another edition
5.0
I love her approach, her humor, her ability to take an everyday occurrence and shape it into something literally beautiful. There were essays in which I laughed at loud and one that almost made me cry. Really good stuff packed into this slim book. I am so glad I reread this and can't want to do so again!
faithgeiger's review against another edition
3.0
Very well crafted essays but I wish they had a bit more heart! Nothing particularly moved me. But lots of interesting insights.
ntk_basis's review against another edition
5.0
Completely obsessed with this book. Didn't want it to ever end. She can capture an emotion like it's nobody's business.
jackgoss's review
3.0
Whenever I read essay-style memoirs I get my hopes up that the writers will be immensely funny, brilliantly witty, mindbogglingly intelligent or at the very least my kindred spirits who have the same deep thoughts as me plus that ability to express them in writing. Most of the time I'm let down. Meghan Daum's essays, aptly enough, revolve around the theme of being let down. Or more specifically, being let down after developing a whole big fantasy about how some situation will play out.
I did enjoy several of the essays. Some are funny, some are intelligent, none are my soul mates. Not even close. Basically, while I appreciate her honesty, I think Megan Daum is a rich-kid snob.
Specifics:
Love the concept of baby dolls as meta (without using the word "meta", because the book came out in 2001 and back then "aesthetic" was the word of the day).
Did not understand the carpet essay. I get that she's accepting and celebrating her own brand of snobbishness. And I found that mildly entertaining. I'd probably do the same. But I don't understand the association of carpet with faux-class. In my neck of the woods, no one pretends carpet is a sign of wealth. You have to be wealthy to afford anything other than wall to wall carpet.
Essays on polyamory and flight attendants seemed out of place and boring. Rejected New Yorker articles that she worked too hard on to not publish somewhere, anywhere, how about in the book?
I think at some point, Daum considered herself to be the voice of her generation, or at least of her aesthetic. A short 8 years later and I find myself not in her aesthetic or her generation and marveling at how fast times change.
I did enjoy several of the essays. Some are funny, some are intelligent, none are my soul mates. Not even close. Basically, while I appreciate her honesty, I think Megan Daum is a rich-kid snob.
Specifics:
Love the concept of baby dolls as meta (without using the word "meta", because the book came out in 2001 and back then "aesthetic" was the word of the day).
Did not understand the carpet essay. I get that she's accepting and celebrating her own brand of snobbishness. And I found that mildly entertaining. I'd probably do the same. But I don't understand the association of carpet with faux-class. In my neck of the woods, no one pretends carpet is a sign of wealth. You have to be wealthy to afford anything other than wall to wall carpet.
Essays on polyamory and flight attendants seemed out of place and boring. Rejected New Yorker articles that she worked too hard on to not publish somewhere, anywhere, how about in the book?
I think at some point, Daum considered herself to be the voice of her generation, or at least of her aesthetic. A short 8 years later and I find myself not in her aesthetic or her generation and marveling at how fast times change.
bookofcinz's review
3.0
I have to admit I am a fan of Meghan Daum. I read “Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed” that she edited and I wanted to read something that she actually wrote, I was not disappointed. I am not a big fan of essays but Daum really wowed me with these pieces. I like that all the topics covered were totally random while being interesting and thought provoking. Yes the essay “Carpet” threw me on a loop but I totally got the analogy she was going for.
Daum’s voice is poignant, I am hoping she will take the leap and write a book. A great read.
Daum’s voice is poignant, I am hoping she will take the leap and write a book. A great read.
adam_armstrong_yu's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this for a second time, the portions I enjoyed before were equally--if not more--worthwhile, yet the sections that I once found dull, or less engaging, were heightened, and I was kind of trudging through them. With that said, Daum is so fantastic at mining her life for truths most people are afraid to admit to themselves, let alone out loud, and for that she has always remained an inspiration in my own writing. "On the Fringes of the Physical World," "Publishing and Other Near-Death Experiences," and especially "Variations on Grief" are real stand-outs.
bookishblond's review
4.0
I love Meghan Daum.
These essays are wonderful, but they are very "of the time" (2001). The most obvious examples are the underlying tones of what we would call "classism" these days (the ideal of the New York girl with a English degree and dreams of publishing sadly doesn't exist anymore) and the essay about the polyamorous Ravencrest family (saying that they built a brand around their lifestyle is objectively accurate, but not really kind).
My advice to you is to read Meghan Daum's more recent books. Subscribe to her Substack. Listen to her podcasts, The Unspeakable & A Special Place in Hell.
(Not sponsored by Meghan Daum. But I want to be. Meghan Daum, if you're reading this, let's work something out!)
These essays are wonderful, but they are very "of the time" (2001). The most obvious examples are the underlying tones of what we would call "classism" these days (the ideal of the New York girl with a English degree and dreams of publishing sadly doesn't exist anymore) and the essay about the polyamorous Ravencrest family (saying that they built a brand around their lifestyle is objectively accurate, but not really kind).
My advice to you is to read Meghan Daum's more recent books. Subscribe to her Substack. Listen to her podcasts, The Unspeakable & A Special Place in Hell.
(Not sponsored by Meghan Daum. But I want to be. Meghan Daum, if you're reading this, let's work something out!)
sofiamarielg's review
3.0
I had been meaning to read this book for a while because of two key reasons. The first was that everywhere I read, Daum was touted as an iteration of my all-time hero Joan Didion. The second was that it seemed that in this book she would divulge some precious nuggets of sageness that would lessen the blow of my impending quarter-life crisis. Unfortunately, My Misspent Youth only delivered weak, lukewarm pieces of both. It is possible to see the Didion comparisons in her journalism pieces on polygamy and flight attendants. I mostly enjoyed these but for the fact that they were heavily watered down with Daum's personal opinions, which were too overbearing for what could have been simple, well-written essays about American life. In terms of writing that could help any twenty-something, the titular essay did most of the legwork by making me feel better about my college debt. Everything else was shrouded by heavy pretension, in particular the essay solely dedicated to express Daum's disdain for carpet. Overall, not exactly the best tome with which to inaugurate this year of reading - but a somewhat interesting one, at least.