There will be spoilers in this commentary, but that's okay, because you won't want to read it after this anyway.Yes, I actually took notes on this book whilst reading it. My not-long-awaited commentary is as follows:pg 11: Oh, now I know the narrator's name. Took her long enough. Angel. Okay. What?pg 47: I've just realised what is bothering me about this--the characters seem very unnaturally-put together. Their traits clash a lot, and not in a good way. For example, this is what I've got so far of Lucy Fiamma:a) wears designer clothes that match badly.b) exudes a sense of powerc) interrupts peopled) represents famously famous authorse) uses a ton of exclamation marksf) is professionalg) jumps all over the place in her thought processesh) is randomly seductive, even especially toward her female employeesi) renames her workers to make them sound betterIt's not that the characters are rounded--more that they're simply thrown together in a slapdash fashion. It's as though Debra tried to make them interesting but ended up just adding random clashing (not contrasting) traits.pg 50: Kel-I-mean-Nora (notice that Lucy doesn't try to rename Angel) is described as being hostile, yet she's amazingly communicative and helpful when Angel's in a jam.pg 60: Look, I've already read The Devil Wears Prada and I'm not particularly anxious to read it again. Where's the metafiction?pg 84: Ooh, plot!pg 85: Nope, plot's gone. This book is extraodinarily slow.pg 86: Okay, that didn't need to be there. Ew.pg 89: Wait, I thought this lady liked exclamation marks in places where no exclamation mark was ever intended to be. Where are they in her memo? On the bright side, Ginsberg does provide some actual scenes of Lucy Fiamma making a hard sell, instead of just telling us. Still, it feels like Debra's trying to hard to draw attention to that fact. Oh, look, I can write a smooth-talking hard seller!pg 90: Oh. Now she's researching her boss's sleep habits. Plot makes small reappearance.pg 91: How on earth does one do yoga in a skirt?pg 104: Still a slow-moving book. I have to say, I don't always like the main character. She can be petty and annoying, though generally sympathetic. Just realistic flaws, I guess. Ginsberg's done a remarkably great job of characterising Angel, I'll give her that. In fact, she's done a good job on Damiano-or-whatever-his-name-is, too. Shame that the book is so boring that I skipped ahead at about page 70. I now know whodunnit. Should I spoil it for you? No, not yet.pg 116: Right. Wasn't expecting employer nudity there. And yet, it happened. Needlessly. Chalk up yet another point against Lucy Fiamma being a well-rounded character. With emphasis on the well.pg 142: It's strange. It feels like the book is moving very fast, and yet it's going nowhere at all. You can actually use the Dan Brown technique here and still know what's going on. (Okay, okay, I coined the term 'Dan Brown technique' myself, but let me explain it anyway. The Dan Brown technique is when you read every third page or paragraph of a novel and it still makes sense.)pg 164: Okay, I got my metafiction. So far, I'm enjoying the novel-within-the-novel more than the book. Something is wrong, here.pg 174: Wow, freaky emotionally manipulative boss.pg 192: Plus, Malcolm's fully just turned from sweetheart boyfriend to Anger Boy. Yeah, that makes sense. (Spoiler: he also randomly sleeps with both Angel's boss and her co-worker. Dare I say it, but the transformation seems just a little forced.)pg 198: Yeah, this girl spends way more time than she should angsting about how to deal with female co-workers who have not actually asked her out yet. And probably never will. She's been doing it throughout the whole book, but I haven't mentioned it until now. Geez, Angel, get a grip!pg 320: So, apparently Lucy's little towel-dropping thing was (forced) foreshadowing. Yeah. And also, dare I say it, stupid. further down page 320: Okay. Obligatory sex scene. Excuse me whilst I read with my eyes shut. I'll get back to you later.pg 395: You know, I'm still not sure how she figured out that Lucy did it, just from that little encounter...OTHER NOTES: Malcolm just seemed to flick the switch from 'nice' to 'awful' very suddenly. And Angel does the same from aggressively competitive and petty to overly nice. Maybe they're both bipolar. (No offence to those with bipolar syndrome.) Dami's romantic tricks were a little corny and over-done. I mean, come on. He gave her angel-hair pasta, some Angelica wine or something, an angel fish (isn't the rule that you never give a person you like something that they have to feed or water?), an angel necklace, and--yes, you guessed it. He's a pastry chef, so he baked her angel-food cake.CONCLUSION: Go read something else. Really.
Cherche auteur désespérement est le livre que j'ai eu la chance de recevoir lors de la 3ème opération Babélio-Masse Critique.Séduite par le résumé, j'ai coché la case correspondante à ce titre. C'est sur la plage que je l'ai dévoré! Le cadre de l'histoire s'intègre dans le monde des livres, de l'édition et des agents littéraires. En gros l'appât idéal pour une amoureuse des livres.4ème de couverture : Angel Robinson a l'impression de vivre un rêve. Elle qui ne jure que par les livres vient de décrocher un poste d'assistante dans la plus célèbre agence littéraire des Etats-Unis. Mais elle découvre rapidement qu'il faut composer avec une patronne hystérique, des collègues lunatiques et des auteurs capricieux. Elle réussit pourtant, grâce à son sens littéraire hors pair, à se rendre indispensable et repère plusieurs projets intéressants. Un en particulier : le roman d'un auteur anonyme, livré chapitre par chapitre. Angel tombe sous le charme au gré des envois du mystérieux écrivain. Jusqu'au jour où elle comprend que le texte s'inspire de sa propre vie... Un éloge pétillant des plaisirs de la lecture, un roman jubilatoire qui séduira tous les amoureux des livres.J'ai trouvé l'appât aussi savoureux que ce qu'il en avait l'air. Vivre l'intérieur du monde des livres, avec une intrigue prenante qui donne envie d'aller toujours plus loin, voici ce que propose l'auteur. Le fond de l'histoire n'est peut-être pas d'une originalité surprenante. Malgré le fait que je n'en ai entendu que des échos, les personnages font penser à ceux du Diable s'habille en Prada. Le style est très agréable, fluide sans s'apesantir sur des détails ou des digressions inutiles. L'action avance à grand pas en laissant une bonne place au suspense. Les personnages sont attachants ou détestables (selon le rôle qu'ils ont).Ce livre est un très bon divertissement plutôt bien écrit.Ce fût donc une expérience positive.Cherche auteur désespérément, Debra GINSBERG, Presse de la cité, 2008, 3,5 étoiles.
Do You like book Blind Submission (2006)?
The Devil is a Literary AgentThis is a page-turner and I am the perfect audience for a book like this. Read further to see if you may be as well.Reason #1: It's very well written. Debra Ginsberg has an easy way with words, moves the plot forward with each page, and develops her characters, such as they are, beautifully.Reason #2: Like the protagonist, Angel Robinson--a bookstore employee-turned assistant to a high-powered literary agent--I'm a voracious reader, I appreciate books and am sympathetic to authors.Reason #3: I have experienced the submission process established by a multitude of literary agents (and their assistants), and this story offers an in-the-bowels look at how the business of book selling/publishing works. It may be extreme in terms of characterization and plot, but that's what makes "Blind Submission" a page-turner. And what voracious reader doesn't enjoy a book that she can read in one-to-two sit-down sessions?All that said, this story bothered me. The agent, Lucy Fiamma, (the literary world equivalent to the fashion industry's Miranda Priestly in the novel known as "The Devil Wears Prada") didn't have one likeable or redeeming quality. Everything about Lucy Fiamma is loathsome. It made me wonder why the sweet and innocent, and obviously intelligent Angel Robinson put up with her outrageous demands, her rude demeanor, and her entirely inappropriate behavior. Having experienced a boss from hell myself when I was in my late 20s and trying to get ahead, I remember putting up with a degree of humiliation, but in this story, it's so over the top that it makes Angel seem too wimpy to be a heroine I could champion. Of course it's easy to guess that she "wins" in the end, and I'm afraid, it was obvious to me who was the anonymous author submitting poorly written (almost painful to read) excerpts of a novel called Blind Submission," which Lucy was hot to have published. I feel I ultimately kept reading because I wanted to see exactly how Angel would break free from Lucy AND I wanted to see how the "love story" would be resolved. Ginsberg does leave her reader with a satisfying ending, with all loose ends wrapped up neatly.I'm a fan of Debra Ginsberg's writing. Her memoir, About My Sisters had me completely riveted. I look forward to following her career, as I feel great things are to come.
—Michele
Chick Lit, which goes like this: Chick on the periphery of an industry (in this book--the world of literary agents) tells about industry while struggling to "make it" in the world, and finds true love with another peripheral player. Lots of fashion and/or food descriptions as well as insight into the industry. I happen to like the genre (I skim the fashion and food parts and double read the sex scenes. I'm a guy, after all.) Being a writer who disdains the whole concept of middlemen (sales agents) and the authority (Editors, publishers, & their whores) I found a lot I liked in this story. The author wrote an entertaining story with a fun mystery and lots of unlikable characters; and, I think, was laughing at herself while writing it. She also foreshadowed her second novel, "The Gift," which I will definitely read. Ginsberg's dedication says all you need to know about the story: "For all the writers who have yet to be published and for the book lovers who will one day read their work." Not great writing but good enough, clever.
—mark
A quick-and-dirty mystery about the publishing business. Debra Ginsberg writes in a style very similar to one she mocks and she cheats on the ending (rather than write it, she uses a series of news releases to wrap things up too quickly and tidily). The characters are forgettable. The premise of a blind submission interesting. But, this novel doesn't have pretensions. It can be appreciated for what it is: a quick, entertaining riff on writers, agents and publishers."Reading was only part of the thrill that a book represented. I got a dizzy pleasure from the weight and feel of a new book in my hands, a sensual delight from the smell and crispness of the pages. I loved the smoothness and bright colors of their jackets. For me, a stacked, unread pyramid of books was one of the sexiest architectural designs there was. Because what I loved most about books was their promise, the anticipation of what lay between the covers, waiting to be found."
—Marguerite
