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grandcapitalr's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
awellreadwoman's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this read. It is one of those books that is purely FUN. It takes you into different realities in which our most beloved celebrities are just normal people doing normal things. It's a lot like the "they are just like us" columns in magazine but even better.
kaleys23's review against another edition
4.0
Originally reviewed for Niagara Life magazine, Fall 2016 edition.
Imagine getting a cone from an ice cream truck only to realize Leonard Cohen is serving you. Or coming to after surgery to find the surgeon had been Keith Richards. Or becoming friends with Meryl Streep after spending time at a spa in Mexico. All of these celebrity encounters – and many , many more – happen to Rose McEwan over the course of her life. Don’t I Know You? follows Rose from seventeen to sixty-seven and it is the most delightful journey.
The premise of Marni Jackson’s first work of fiction – celebrities popping up in Rose’s life in the oddest of manners – sounds far-fetched and slightly ridiculous, but Jackson handles it well. It completely made sense that John Updike was Rose’s writing instructor at a summer program and Taylor Swift working for Apple on the side was perfectly acceptable. It was so much fun trying to figure out who the celebrity was. The references were not always obvious. Sometimes the full name wasn’t used and other times the name wasn’t even explicitly mentioned (see if you can find Margaret Atwood).
The book is written in short stories all interconnected to form a novel of sorts. Some stories were from Rose’s perspective, first person, but others were third person. The changing perspective helped set the tone of the story. Each piece has its own feeling but when they’re all put together, they tell the story of a woman who has had an incredibly interesting life. Jackson tells this story so well that you will not want to stop reading about Rose and her celebrity encounters.
Imagine getting a cone from an ice cream truck only to realize Leonard Cohen is serving you. Or coming to after surgery to find the surgeon had been Keith Richards. Or becoming friends with Meryl Streep after spending time at a spa in Mexico. All of these celebrity encounters – and many , many more – happen to Rose McEwan over the course of her life. Don’t I Know You? follows Rose from seventeen to sixty-seven and it is the most delightful journey.
The premise of Marni Jackson’s first work of fiction – celebrities popping up in Rose’s life in the oddest of manners – sounds far-fetched and slightly ridiculous, but Jackson handles it well. It completely made sense that John Updike was Rose’s writing instructor at a summer program and Taylor Swift working for Apple on the side was perfectly acceptable. It was so much fun trying to figure out who the celebrity was. The references were not always obvious. Sometimes the full name wasn’t used and other times the name wasn’t even explicitly mentioned (see if you can find Margaret Atwood).
The book is written in short stories all interconnected to form a novel of sorts. Some stories were from Rose’s perspective, first person, but others were third person. The changing perspective helped set the tone of the story. Each piece has its own feeling but when they’re all put together, they tell the story of a woman who has had an incredibly interesting life. Jackson tells this story so well that you will not want to stop reading about Rose and her celebrity encounters.
yetanothersusan's review against another edition
4.0
Presented as a series of vignettes over the course of the life of Rose McEwan, this book starts off extremely believable. Rose has random encounters with a couple celebrities. After all, doesn't everyone at some point? But as the stories progress, the interactions become more and more fanatical with the last one obviously a weird food/alcohol induced dream or something. While I wish the book had stayed more towards the realistic end of the spectrum, it was very enjoyable and probably as close as I will come to reading a collection of short stories.
bent's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't like this book. I went in with a bad attitude - I didn't find the premise interesting but it was the book that my book club picked to read. It wasn't what I expected, but I still didn't like it.
I found the celebrity angle didn't really add anything to the book. In some cases, it detracted. I didn't see the need for John Updike to be the visiting author in the first story, or Joni Mitchell in the second. The beginning of the Leonard Cohen chapter I found sort of interesting, except the fact that the ice cream seller was Cohen kind of distracted from the parts of the story I enjoyed - the bizarre ice cream flavours and strange choice of music. I think that story had a kernel of something interesting, that was dispelled with the presence of Shell and the whole funeral sequence.
I didn't like the main character. I found her unsympathetic. Also a bit pretentious, but that might have just been the writing. I found that several stories/chapters reminded me of other things I'd read that had been better done.
I liked two things in the book: The beginning of the Mr. Softee chapter, and the sudden twist in the Meryl Streep chapter when we find out why Streep has been cultivating Rose's friendship. I thought that was brilliant and the only real emotional spark the book provided. Otherwise, it was a bit of a chore to read.
I found the celebrity angle didn't really add anything to the book. In some cases, it detracted. I didn't see the need for John Updike to be the visiting author in the first story, or Joni Mitchell in the second. The beginning of the Leonard Cohen chapter I found sort of interesting, except the fact that the ice cream seller was Cohen kind of distracted from the parts of the story I enjoyed - the bizarre ice cream flavours and strange choice of music. I think that story had a kernel of something interesting, that was dispelled with the presence of Shell and the whole funeral sequence.
I didn't like the main character. I found her unsympathetic. Also a bit pretentious, but that might have just been the writing. I found that several stories/chapters reminded me of other things I'd read that had been better done.
I liked two things in the book: The beginning of the Mr. Softee chapter, and the sudden twist in the Meryl Streep chapter when we find out why Streep has been cultivating Rose's friendship. I thought that was brilliant and the only real emotional spark the book provided. Otherwise, it was a bit of a chore to read.
shereadytoread's review
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
justjenn's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. I understand the author's motivation in writing about the ways in which celebrities touch our lives, but at times it felt too unbelievable, too forced. As the story progressed the circumstances in which the celebrities came into the narrator's life got less and less feasible. By the end it almost felt like a different book than the one I started. At the same time, though, I was frequently surprised by the beauty of the writing, and I must admit it was fun to see some of the celebrities I myself would want to encounter, even if just through the author's imagination.
alisonreads's review against another edition
4.0
The key to enjoying this book is to suspend your disbelief and live in a universe where it's realistic to have more than a few major celebrities walk into your life. I really liked Rose, the main character, and I loved how whimsical her life was, while still having to deal with things like self-doubt, divorce, and death.
aasplund's review
2.0
Where do I even start?!
It's a fun idea - celebrity cameos throughout someone's life. The first few chapters were really well done and really amusing (and this might be because I didn't know or care much about the celebrities in the beginning). But those final chapters killed me. Bob Dylan spending the summer at their lake house? Van Morrison drives public transportation and doesn't have a scheduled route? Leonard Cohen operates an ice cream truck? Also, the T. Swift and Leonard Cohen camping trip was far more than I could handle and ended the book on a bad note - it took things way too far and was way too bizarre.
Also, the characterization left a lot to be desired. It's got to be difficult to write about characters who actually exist, but still... All the characters felt like they were being written to be so absurd and unique that they'd be charming, which doesn't work when you're trying as hard as Marni Jackson was.
Overall, fun idea. Poorly executed and awful awful characterization.
It's a fun idea - celebrity cameos throughout someone's life. The first few chapters were really well done and really amusing (and this might be because I didn't know or care much about the celebrities in the beginning). But those final chapters killed me. Bob Dylan spending the summer at their lake house? Van Morrison drives public transportation and doesn't have a scheduled route? Leonard Cohen operates an ice cream truck? Also, the T. Swift and Leonard Cohen camping trip was far more than I could handle and ended the book on a bad note - it took things way too far and was way too bizarre.
Also, the characterization left a lot to be desired. It's got to be difficult to write about characters who actually exist, but still... All the characters felt like they were being written to be so absurd and unique that they'd be charming, which doesn't work when you're trying as hard as Marni Jackson was.
Overall, fun idea. Poorly executed and awful awful characterization.