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A review by ageorge1877
My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff
5.0
You know what lads I absolutely shagged this. Blitzed through it.
Memoir in which gal graduates and works for JD Salinger's literary agency.
A fascinating insight into the twilight of Salinger's writing career plays accompaniment to the grand wrestle match of being 23 and creative.
Joanna is out here just tryna make it work. Tryna figure out who she is and what she wants, while everyone she knows is drifting in different directions. There's this one bit where she meets up with an old friend and she wants to find a cool restaurant in Brooklyn but her friend just wants to eat pasta nearby and I cant explain it but... It Hits Different. I was welling up.
This book made me realise that New York as a setting is just The Boi. It's where the 'creative class' mingle to throw danishes at ducks. It's where everything is crisp and brown or grey. But above all it's where everybody comes to be cringe. And Adult Rakoff's retrospective on this cringe is so well toned and charming. Everyone feels so vulnerable with their silly little dreams, even Salinger, even Don (her red flag bf who is somehow the most horrid man alive but also kinda likeable).
Objectively it's not a Perfect book and yes there were times where it felt like it was slightly forcing the engagement with Salinger's actual work. BUT,,, tbh lads this was just pure Resonation. I'm 23 and about to move to a new city to do creative bullshit, and quite frankly this book made me really excited to be cringe again.
Memoir in which gal graduates and works for JD Salinger's literary agency.
A fascinating insight into the twilight of Salinger's writing career plays accompaniment to the grand wrestle match of being 23 and creative.
Joanna is out here just tryna make it work. Tryna figure out who she is and what she wants, while everyone she knows is drifting in different directions. There's this one bit where she meets up with an old friend and she wants to find a cool restaurant in Brooklyn but her friend just wants to eat pasta nearby and I cant explain it but... It Hits Different. I was welling up.
This book made me realise that New York as a setting is just The Boi. It's where the 'creative class' mingle to throw danishes at ducks. It's where everything is crisp and brown or grey. But above all it's where everybody comes to be cringe. And Adult Rakoff's retrospective on this cringe is so well toned and charming. Everyone feels so vulnerable with their silly little dreams, even Salinger, even Don (her red flag bf who is somehow the most horrid man alive but also kinda likeable).
Objectively it's not a Perfect book and yes there were times where it felt like it was slightly forcing the engagement with Salinger's actual work. BUT,,, tbh lads this was just pure Resonation. I'm 23 and about to move to a new city to do creative bullshit, and quite frankly this book made me really excited to be cringe again.