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The Intern
When Jay Merchant lands an internship for the best job in music television, he is given a backstage pass to the biggest gig of his life. The velvet rope to the biggest VIP parties and hottest celebrities has been lifted and now he's got to capture it on camera. But with only six months to turn his intern dream into a real job, does he have what it takes? It's time to face the music...
388 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2012
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54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 18, 2020
This was a good book. Set in the 90s, it has a really fun story-line, told from the main character Jay's perspective. I love anything music, so having this story set in the music industry was a really fun read. Set all over the globe, from London's pubs and clubs to Las Vegas and Ibiza. Following the story of an intern in his first year in this new world was interesting, showing how the real industry works, and giving you a glimpse of what it would be like in real life. It was also fun seeing some of music culture's biggest names sewn into the story. Of course there's the bit of romance, which adds another element to the story, and humour between the characters makes this book funny too.
October 25, 2023
yea no
May 22, 2012
Do you love music as well as books? Are you curious about what's happening on the inside of the music industry or about being an intern? I the answer to those questions are yes then The Intern by Dillon Khan is a must read!
Jay Merchant has always been passionate about music and now he is offered the opportunity of a lifetime; to work as an intern in music television. In total there are six interns at The Beat, they will all have to show what they're made. After a six months internship(= working for free!) one of the interns will get a long term position at The Beat. Jay struggles to balance a job in the fast lane with a personal life(a microscopical time-slot available for his girlfriend Sophie and his friends).
My thoughts:
Where to start? Well I don't need more than a couple of seconds to think about that one. The answer is with the music of course and second what a great debut novel Khan has dished up for us. Dillon Khan's many pop cultural references took me right back to a wonderful time of my life. I have a great life now, don't get me wrong, but a time where I was carefree with no big responsibilities. It was like walking down the memory lane, lots of musical references and each chapter was named after a song title. The last chapter was titled Bitter Sweet Symphony and for me that was just the perfect ending of a great story! I love that song.
So being an intern is no joke, not even when you're working in an industry that from the outside seems all glam and fun(it might be fun but also HARD work into the wee hours of the night). Author Dillon Khan uses of his own personal experiences to tell the story about the darker sides of internship, it can great fun but is also quite draining and demanding. Khan himself has worked for MTV so he knows the industry he's writing about inside out. It was enlightening and a bit weird reading about being an intern in the UK, it offered a big contrast to the interns here in Norway where the interns get paid from day one and only work 37,5 hours pr. week.
The Intern was a book with wonderful humor, great characters, a story of what working as an intern might be and last but not least a lot of great and diverse music! I was so sad to let Jay and the others go, might we have some more? Pretty please! Jay might just have been the most normal, realistic character I have come across in a long time, kudos to Khan for writing with such an authentic voice. Also it was very refreshing to read a young adult(not suitable for the youngest YA reader) novel from a male point of view.
I would like to end start this review of The Intern by giving a huge thanks to Hannah from Puffin for getting me out of my comfort-zone. I have absolutely no regrets for dipping my toe into the water, none what so ever. Why not? Because I LOVED every minute I spent with The Intern in my hands and alongside Jay behind the scenes of the music media industry.
Lastly I want to point you all in the direction of The Intern homepage(http://theintern.co.uk/home/), it is awesome. I can honestly say that I haven't seen a book/author that has this kind of resourceful homepage before so check it out!
This review was originally published on my book blog Escape In A Book.
Jay Merchant has always been passionate about music and now he is offered the opportunity of a lifetime; to work as an intern in music television. In total there are six interns at The Beat, they will all have to show what they're made. After a six months internship(= working for free!) one of the interns will get a long term position at The Beat. Jay struggles to balance a job in the fast lane with a personal life(a microscopical time-slot available for his girlfriend Sophie and his friends).
My thoughts:
Where to start? Well I don't need more than a couple of seconds to think about that one. The answer is with the music of course and second what a great debut novel Khan has dished up for us. Dillon Khan's many pop cultural references took me right back to a wonderful time of my life. I have a great life now, don't get me wrong, but a time where I was carefree with no big responsibilities. It was like walking down the memory lane, lots of musical references and each chapter was named after a song title. The last chapter was titled Bitter Sweet Symphony and for me that was just the perfect ending of a great story! I love that song.
So being an intern is no joke, not even when you're working in an industry that from the outside seems all glam and fun(it might be fun but also HARD work into the wee hours of the night). Author Dillon Khan uses of his own personal experiences to tell the story about the darker sides of internship, it can great fun but is also quite draining and demanding. Khan himself has worked for MTV so he knows the industry he's writing about inside out. It was enlightening and a bit weird reading about being an intern in the UK, it offered a big contrast to the interns here in Norway where the interns get paid from day one and only work 37,5 hours pr. week.
The Intern was a book with wonderful humor, great characters, a story of what working as an intern might be and last but not least a lot of great and diverse music! I was so sad to let Jay and the others go, might we have some more? Pretty please! Jay might just have been the most normal, realistic character I have come across in a long time, kudos to Khan for writing with such an authentic voice. Also it was very refreshing to read a young adult(not suitable for the youngest YA reader) novel from a male point of view.
I would like to end start this review of The Intern by giving a huge thanks to Hannah from Puffin for getting me out of my comfort-zone. I have absolutely no regrets for dipping my toe into the water, none what so ever. Why not? Because I LOVED every minute I spent with The Intern in my hands and alongside Jay behind the scenes of the music media industry.
Lastly I want to point you all in the direction of The Intern homepage(http://theintern.co.uk/home/), it is awesome. I can honestly say that I haven't seen a book/author that has this kind of resourceful homepage before so check it out!
This review was originally published on my book blog Escape In A Book.
March 26, 2012
Jay has landed an internship at Total BEATS and gets to live and breathe music all day long. Although he's thrown in at the deep end and basically starts off not having a clue what he's doing, he eventually finds his feet and is soon immersed in his new job to the exclusion of all else including his long-suffering girlfriend Sophia and his mother. He loves music and has the opportunity to turn his passion into a paying occupation but finds that his dream job may not be such a dream after all.
'The Intern' is Dillon Khan's first novel and offers a behind the scenes insight into the world of music. Khan himself worked at MTV for eight years so knows all the ins and outs of the industry and provides a realistic and honest portrayal of the highs and lows of working in such an environment. Jay faces long hours, little praise for his work and is surrounded by people who always put themselves first. On the plus side, he gets to meet musicians who he admires, is showered with freebies and never knows quite what he's going to be doing from one day to the next. Although he's living his passion, I like the way there's always a fine line drawn between enjoying his job and hating it.
I think Jay came across as very reminiscent of many young adults who leave university after finishing their degree and then either don't have a clue what they want to do or have the relevant qualifications but are unable to get a job in their chosen field. Although I found Jay's struggle to make a mark for himself in the music world interesting, I didn't one hundred percent connect with him as a character. Admittedly he had grown on me by the end of the book and I'm glad his story ended on a high note but I have to say that he wasn't always that likable and I didn't like the way he sometimes treated the other people in his life. I also found some of the parts in the narrative where he has repeated imaginary conversations in his head with music stars such as Eminem, Whitney Houston and Dido amusing but a bit distracting at times.
Set in the year 2000, my favourite thing about this book was reminiscing over some of the music that was around at the time. Like Jay, I can remember taping songs off the radio onto cassette tapes so that I could listen to that week's big hits over and over again. It's hard to believe now in such a digital age but back then that was the best way (even though it may have been illegal!) to get your hands on all the current songs.
'The Intern' is an enjoyable and fascinating account of what it's actually like to work in the industry. Music lovers in particular will find this an interesting read. However, although I found it a refreshing change of pace from a lot of the paranormal books which are on the shelves at the moment, I just found that all important spark with the main character missing and I do so like a character who I can really root for. This was still an accomplished and impressive debut which I think will appeal especially to the older teen audience.
'The Intern' is Dillon Khan's first novel and offers a behind the scenes insight into the world of music. Khan himself worked at MTV for eight years so knows all the ins and outs of the industry and provides a realistic and honest portrayal of the highs and lows of working in such an environment. Jay faces long hours, little praise for his work and is surrounded by people who always put themselves first. On the plus side, he gets to meet musicians who he admires, is showered with freebies and never knows quite what he's going to be doing from one day to the next. Although he's living his passion, I like the way there's always a fine line drawn between enjoying his job and hating it.
I think Jay came across as very reminiscent of many young adults who leave university after finishing their degree and then either don't have a clue what they want to do or have the relevant qualifications but are unable to get a job in their chosen field. Although I found Jay's struggle to make a mark for himself in the music world interesting, I didn't one hundred percent connect with him as a character. Admittedly he had grown on me by the end of the book and I'm glad his story ended on a high note but I have to say that he wasn't always that likable and I didn't like the way he sometimes treated the other people in his life. I also found some of the parts in the narrative where he has repeated imaginary conversations in his head with music stars such as Eminem, Whitney Houston and Dido amusing but a bit distracting at times.
Set in the year 2000, my favourite thing about this book was reminiscing over some of the music that was around at the time. Like Jay, I can remember taping songs off the radio onto cassette tapes so that I could listen to that week's big hits over and over again. It's hard to believe now in such a digital age but back then that was the best way (even though it may have been illegal!) to get your hands on all the current songs.
'The Intern' is an enjoyable and fascinating account of what it's actually like to work in the industry. Music lovers in particular will find this an interesting read. However, although I found it a refreshing change of pace from a lot of the paranormal books which are on the shelves at the moment, I just found that all important spark with the main character missing and I do so like a character who I can really root for. This was still an accomplished and impressive debut which I think will appeal especially to the older teen audience.
April 18, 2012
I don’t think that I really have too much to say about The Intern, it was one of those reads that was entertaining if not exciting and totally realistic to read. I think that Khan did a great job in writing an entertaining story about a young man going into a job in the media and the highs and lows of the lifestyle. I can’t say I was gripped, I read this book over about a week and was reading other books in between, but I never wanted to put it off, I was reading it when I wanted a little reality in between the paranormal and science fiction books that I have been reading, or a little maturity between romantic teeny books. I think that maybe it was a bit mature for me (not mature in dirty, mature in grown up terms) because Jay was a few years older than myself (22 or 23?) and I think that I just couldn't relate to him as a character which is something that i look for in realistic fiction.
I did love how well Khan wrote the ups and downs of a life in media, how 'miserable' Jay was when he started and how he gained and lost things. It was written so realistically and I believed every single though in Jay's head. I also liked how Jay was a completely honest character, just like any guy I might meet on the street I felt as though everything he did was something that I could see somebody in his position doing in real life. I didn't like a lot of his decisions but I believed them and I think that the reason I didn't really love Jay as a character just because he was such a real boy!
The place that this book went wrong is that it's being promoted as young adult fiction which was just not what I found when I read it and to be honest if had been pitched to me as what it actually is I just wouldn't have accepted it for review. I would recommend it to people maybe aged 20 to 30, or young adult readers that like more mature books, I don't really think it was my thing.
If you guys aren't sure about reading it I would recommend that you check out Raimy's review over at Readaraptor, since she had different thoughts on the book: Check it out here
Overall Rating: D+/C-
I did love how well Khan wrote the ups and downs of a life in media, how 'miserable' Jay was when he started and how he gained and lost things. It was written so realistically and I believed every single though in Jay's head. I also liked how Jay was a completely honest character, just like any guy I might meet on the street I felt as though everything he did was something that I could see somebody in his position doing in real life. I didn't like a lot of his decisions but I believed them and I think that the reason I didn't really love Jay as a character just because he was such a real boy!
The place that this book went wrong is that it's being promoted as young adult fiction which was just not what I found when I read it and to be honest if had been pitched to me as what it actually is I just wouldn't have accepted it for review. I would recommend it to people maybe aged 20 to 30, or young adult readers that like more mature books, I don't really think it was my thing.
If you guys aren't sure about reading it I would recommend that you check out Raimy's review over at Readaraptor, since she had different thoughts on the book: Check it out here
Overall Rating: D+/C-
August 25, 2012
I treated myself to the DVD box set of The Hills and The City and watching Whitney, Lauren and Audrina work their way up the ladder at Teen Vogue, People’s Revolution and Epic Records is really reminiscent of a lot of aspiring creatives who are trying to get their foot on the ladder. The term intern stands for a form of on the job training that is taken up by undergraduates or graduates looking to gain entrance into a career. Mostly an American concept the internship has become more common in the UK over the last few years especially in coveted careers such as music, fashion, journalism, PR, marketing and beauty. The Intern has become quite an iconic figure in pop culture with lots of reality shows based around them and there is even a film made about it which I reviewed a few years ago. So I was really fascinated when I came across this book on Facebook but I got really excited by the digital marketing campaign (once a marketeer always a marketeer) which consists of some rather cutting edge videos about working in the creative industries and a rather swish website. The website also contains lots of advice on how to get into industries such as journalism, PR, publishing, TV and radio. There are also several Talking Heads videos with big players in those industries who discuss what they look for when hiring talent and how to get yourself noticed.
Now onto the book which is a roman a la clef about Jay Merchant, an aspiring TV exec who lands an internship in music television. His career launches at an exciting time for music where different genres are being embraced and he gets to see the glamorous life of the music biz. Of course comparisons with The Devil Wears Prada have been made but that is not surprise as it is an insight into what it is like to have a career in a sexy industry. Who wouldn’t want to read about that? The Intern is written by Dillon Khan, a music journalist who works for MTV. Dillon quite clearly has friends in cool places judging by the celebrity clad testimonials left by the likes of Trevor Nelson, June Sarpong and Lisa I’Anson. The Intern looks like a delicious read.
Now onto the book which is a roman a la clef about Jay Merchant, an aspiring TV exec who lands an internship in music television. His career launches at an exciting time for music where different genres are being embraced and he gets to see the glamorous life of the music biz. Of course comparisons with The Devil Wears Prada have been made but that is not surprise as it is an insight into what it is like to have a career in a sexy industry. Who wouldn’t want to read about that? The Intern is written by Dillon Khan, a music journalist who works for MTV. Dillon quite clearly has friends in cool places judging by the celebrity clad testimonials left by the likes of Trevor Nelson, June Sarpong and Lisa I’Anson. The Intern looks like a delicious read.
April 12, 2012
I looooove music, and I've always been a little bit curious about jobs in the music industry so when I was emailed about The Intern, I *had* to request a copy for review!
The novel is set in 2000, and Jay is interning at the London offices of The Beat, one of the coolest music channels around, for six months. Jay's hoping that by the end of those six months, they'll love him enough to give him a full time position at The Beat. His time spent there is a hurricane of exclusive music videos, parties with celebrities and tight deadlines and gradually, his lifer outside work starts to unravel.
My favourite thing about The Intern was how realistic it was. I loved that it wasn't sugar-coated and we see how hard Jay has to work to keep his bosses happy. I'm not going to lie, I've always thought that working at a music channel would be really awesome and chilled, but it's much crazier than I could possibly imagine. It requires dedication and determination and fortunately, Jay had both of those things. Seeing how he had to manage both his work life and social life was interesting. Also, I felt that Jay's character really grew throughout the story, as his amount of experience in the music industry increased.
I found The Intern very insightful and interesting, but unfortunately, I think it lacked that extra-special spark needed to hook me in. On various occasions I found my thoughts wandering. It wasn't that I didn't find it interesting exactly, but I just didn't feel like my attention was grabbed enough, if you get what I'm trying to say. I would recommend this, especially to music fans like myself, and people aspiring to go into the music business! A very fun and fast-paced read.
Also: what about Angela! I really liked her! I honestly thought she would appear again by the end of the story, and her and Jay would fall in love or something like. But they didn't, and that made me sad :(
The novel is set in 2000, and Jay is interning at the London offices of The Beat, one of the coolest music channels around, for six months. Jay's hoping that by the end of those six months, they'll love him enough to give him a full time position at The Beat. His time spent there is a hurricane of exclusive music videos, parties with celebrities and tight deadlines and gradually, his lifer outside work starts to unravel.
My favourite thing about The Intern was how realistic it was. I loved that it wasn't sugar-coated and we see how hard Jay has to work to keep his bosses happy. I'm not going to lie, I've always thought that working at a music channel would be really awesome and chilled, but it's much crazier than I could possibly imagine. It requires dedication and determination and fortunately, Jay had both of those things. Seeing how he had to manage both his work life and social life was interesting. Also, I felt that Jay's character really grew throughout the story, as his amount of experience in the music industry increased.
I found The Intern very insightful and interesting, but unfortunately, I think it lacked that extra-special spark needed to hook me in. On various occasions I found my thoughts wandering. It wasn't that I didn't find it interesting exactly, but I just didn't feel like my attention was grabbed enough, if you get what I'm trying to say. I would recommend this, especially to music fans like myself, and people aspiring to go into the music business! A very fun and fast-paced read.
Also: what about Angela! I really liked her! I honestly thought she would appear again by the end of the story, and her and Jay would fall in love or something like. But they didn't, and that made me sad :(
October 5, 2015
Thanks to Puffin firstly for this book, and I was excited after reading the promotion material. Taking a break from the usual contemporary paranormal young adult books, this work of fiction was welcome and refreshing in more ways than one.
Jay Merchant has a chance to make his dream come true, and he grabs an internship with both hands that propels him into the world of Beats. Landing himself on his feet after an unsuccessful job at Foot Locker where his dreams were going nowhere, we see the author Dillon Khan raise Jay to accept the challenge of making something of this opportunity.
Realising his opportunity to make his dreams come true, Jay pushes himself to work as hard as he can and throughout the story, we as the readers can't help but feel proud of how his character grows, how he reaches his potential and makes sacrifices to achieve his dream.
Khan teaches us, through simplistic and easy to follow writing, that you have to do what it takes to get what you want - if it's worth it, you'll fight for it. Thanks to Jay's wit and the humour that flowed easily in the book, readers can dive straight in to the story from beginning to end in one sitting.
There's no sugar coating to Jay's experiences as you feel the full effect of everything he does through - and this boils down to Khan's realistic writing in portraying Jay's struggles and life. I approve. It sends home a message of struggle, potential, dreams, ambitions, hard work and so much more - it's real and it's happening and I'm glad I read Dillon Khan's fantastic book to put a smile on my face :)
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Jay Merchant has a chance to make his dream come true, and he grabs an internship with both hands that propels him into the world of Beats. Landing himself on his feet after an unsuccessful job at Foot Locker where his dreams were going nowhere, we see the author Dillon Khan raise Jay to accept the challenge of making something of this opportunity.
Realising his opportunity to make his dreams come true, Jay pushes himself to work as hard as he can and throughout the story, we as the readers can't help but feel proud of how his character grows, how he reaches his potential and makes sacrifices to achieve his dream.
Khan teaches us, through simplistic and easy to follow writing, that you have to do what it takes to get what you want - if it's worth it, you'll fight for it. Thanks to Jay's wit and the humour that flowed easily in the book, readers can dive straight in to the story from beginning to end in one sitting.
There's no sugar coating to Jay's experiences as you feel the full effect of everything he does through - and this boils down to Khan's realistic writing in portraying Jay's struggles and life. I approve. It sends home a message of struggle, potential, dreams, ambitions, hard work and so much more - it's real and it's happening and I'm glad I read Dillon Khan's fantastic book to put a smile on my face :)
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
March 15, 2012
Jay Merchant is struggling he can’t pay his full rent and his current job at the foot locker is not his dream job and does not pay enough. Then he lands on his feet when he gets accepted as an intern at the Beats.
The Beat’s is known world wide and jay soon learns how lucky he is to get a chance to intern there when so many people are dying for the chance to be a part of this music phenomenon but like most things working at the Beat’s comes with a price.
This book was really easy to get into thanks to the witty and funny conversations the comical thoughts that jay has during the book. Jay was a cool character that did not think he was better than anyone but he did change during the course of the book and he grows as a character.
While this book is not my normal paranormal or fantasy type that I normally read I was not disappointed this book has something else a taste of Jay’s life and while the book is fictional to me it felt very real which made this book brilliant. Jay works so hard to keep the job of his dreams to get the good money to be someone important and while all that is amazing what got to me was while he was working so hard and putting in so many hours he slowing had less time for everything before the Beats. I have to say this book had a really good taste of real life and how working and juggling with your social life and everything else can be hard. I loved that the author did not sugar coat everything and I felt that was another reason the book was so good.
5 stars
The Beat’s is known world wide and jay soon learns how lucky he is to get a chance to intern there when so many people are dying for the chance to be a part of this music phenomenon but like most things working at the Beat’s comes with a price.
This book was really easy to get into thanks to the witty and funny conversations the comical thoughts that jay has during the book. Jay was a cool character that did not think he was better than anyone but he did change during the course of the book and he grows as a character.
While this book is not my normal paranormal or fantasy type that I normally read I was not disappointed this book has something else a taste of Jay’s life and while the book is fictional to me it felt very real which made this book brilliant. Jay works so hard to keep the job of his dreams to get the good money to be someone important and while all that is amazing what got to me was while he was working so hard and putting in so many hours he slowing had less time for everything before the Beats. I have to say this book had a really good taste of real life and how working and juggling with your social life and everything else can be hard. I loved that the author did not sugar coat everything and I felt that was another reason the book was so good.
5 stars
February 14, 2015
Read a MTV/music scene (I Want My MTV- Craig Adams) book a couple years back, so mostly all I can say is, accurate From what I know anyway. The crazy fun, glitz and parties, but also the hard work involved. Love the idea of an 'empathetic workplace', where everybody works hard and parties hard... together. Sure, it means you have no other real life relationships, but when you're 'passionate' I guess you really throw in all you've got like Jay... or do you not?
A fun read.
Tech notes/thoughts:
1. Love the plot device of the time bomb. 6 months internship means you have a neat timeframe AND a nice exit route for Jay.
2. James III is a fun one. The other interns- didn't remember them much, nor do I want to care. Too many characters, not enough development imo. Also like Pritz. An annoying but memorable sidekick.
3. Jay turns down money AND saves a damsel in distress AND saves the department etc etc etc? Hero much. A little cliche, but a little pandering to please... or is it only because it was done amidst the chaos of hardcore partying and drugs that I found this... a little contrived? Is this where the author wants to say, we do crazy shit, but we draw the line at certain parts? (Perhaps so)
4. No shit about how 'average' or goodlooking Jay is. Points and thumbs up for that. Had enough of that shizz ( 'average' guy gets hot chicks and doesn't know why)
Got into this analysing thing because I've been reading Bakuman and it makes me want to deconstruct everything and learn from it.
A fun read.
Tech notes/thoughts:
1. Love the plot device of the time bomb. 6 months internship means you have a neat timeframe AND a nice exit route for Jay.
2. James III is a fun one. The other interns- didn't remember them much, nor do I want to care. Too many characters, not enough development imo. Also like Pritz. An annoying but memorable sidekick.
3. Jay turns down money AND saves a damsel in distress AND saves the department etc etc etc? Hero much. A little cliche, but a little pandering to please... or is it only because it was done amidst the chaos of hardcore partying and drugs that I found this... a little contrived? Is this where the author wants to say, we do crazy shit, but we draw the line at certain parts? (Perhaps so)
4. No shit about how 'average' or goodlooking Jay is. Points and thumbs up for that. Had enough of that shizz ( 'average' guy gets hot chicks and doesn't know why)
Got into this analysing thing because I've been reading Bakuman and it makes me want to deconstruct everything and learn from it.
April 4, 2012
If I had to sum up The Intern in three words – fast, fun and frantic! Set in 2000, Jay joins the London office of The Beat – the hippest music channel (think MTV) as an intern for six months, hoping desperate that he will be given the elusive full time position at the end. And so he gets swept up in a whirlwind lifestyle of music videos, celebrity parties and late nights, while the rest of his life starts to fall apart.
I have to admit I loved the peak into the behind the scenes life of music celebrities and parties (I like a good headline as much as the next person!) and it did feel very realistic. It was easy to see that Dillion Khan was pulling on his years of experience at MTV. It was an eye opening experience! The writing was immersive and gave a strong portrayal of the politics and hard work behind the music. However by the end I was finding the partying a little repetitive but Jay was an appealing character that I wanted to see how it ended. I could certainly sympathise with him not wanting to return to unemployment!
Each chapter is named after a song and I’m almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t recognise enough of them! Overall, this is a fun light read that gives an intriguing peak into the back room of early 21st century music industry.
Recommended for fans of Danny Wallace and Dave Gorman. 7 out of 10
I have to admit I loved the peak into the behind the scenes life of music celebrities and parties (I like a good headline as much as the next person!) and it did feel very realistic. It was easy to see that Dillion Khan was pulling on his years of experience at MTV. It was an eye opening experience! The writing was immersive and gave a strong portrayal of the politics and hard work behind the music. However by the end I was finding the partying a little repetitive but Jay was an appealing character that I wanted to see how it ended. I could certainly sympathise with him not wanting to return to unemployment!
Each chapter is named after a song and I’m almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t recognise enough of them! Overall, this is a fun light read that gives an intriguing peak into the back room of early 21st century music industry.
Recommended for fans of Danny Wallace and Dave Gorman. 7 out of 10
April 12, 2012
This book is a really good read. Having worked my arse off as an intern back in the day for free for over 6 months (i'm not bitter, honest!!), i can really relate to the experiences that Jay has throughout the book. Working as an intern taught me all the skills i rely on at work to this today, and it's those values have definitely kept me grounded and helped me appreciate all the work runners and interns do for a company. Being an intern is tough, but its the best way to get into an industry and experience every aspect of a big corporation - and a great way of helping you find your strengths and weaknesses for the future. The book highlights the ups and downs, of which often seems to those on the outside, a dream job. The sacrifices that Jay has to make and the excesses that some of his colleagues indulge in remind me of similar moments in my internship - which weren't always the highs!! The book highlights just how valuable and fun internships are, but doesn't idealise them, detailing all the long hours and hard work you need to dedicate to the job in order to impress. This really is an enjoyable read and the addition of various music tracks mentioned throughout the book brought back some great memories of some great times. If you buy this book, i've no doubt you'll enjoy it - it kinda made me want to be an intern again!
April 7, 2012
I read this book with trepidation. Having started my TV career as an intern at MTV back in the day, reading this book catapulted me back 16 years to where it all began.
Every single character Jay Merchant came across was believable, every situation reminiscent of those I had experienced. The extreme highs, the lows, the politics, the emotions, the friendships, the endless toil, the parties, adrenaline-fuelled experiences and the general surreal nature of everything associated with being an intern at a television company that was perceived to be the centre of global cool.
The references were spot on and relevant and the story engaging and the writing crisp and fresh.
Dillon has nailed this rollercoaster of a ride. 5 star read without a doubt
Every single character Jay Merchant came across was believable, every situation reminiscent of those I had experienced. The extreme highs, the lows, the politics, the emotions, the friendships, the endless toil, the parties, adrenaline-fuelled experiences and the general surreal nature of everything associated with being an intern at a television company that was perceived to be the centre of global cool.
The references were spot on and relevant and the story engaging and the writing crisp and fresh.
Dillon has nailed this rollercoaster of a ride. 5 star read without a doubt
October 12, 2013
I found the main character really unlikable and difficult to relate to. For some readers that won't be an issue but for me it's a big bugbear. The fact that he got caught up in his job made sense but when he outright refused to admit that it had taken him over it seemed unrealistic. Surely no character is that stupid.
Slight spoiler, but I hated the way he treated his girlfriend like shit and then somehow ended up coming to an agreement with her that they had both made mistakes and they weren't gonna blame each other. That's just bull and, again, unrealistic. Even the most reasonable girlfriend - which is how Sophia was painted - would have walked away. By the end of it I don't believe anyone learnt any lasting lessons.
Slight spoiler, but I hated the way he treated his girlfriend like shit and then somehow ended up coming to an agreement with her that they had both made mistakes and they weren't gonna blame each other. That's just bull and, again, unrealistic. Even the most reasonable girlfriend - which is how Sophia was painted - would have walked away. By the end of it I don't believe anyone learnt any lasting lessons.
November 26, 2013
it took some getting into, I have to admit. I guess it's coz I've always clashed with media types, especially the beardy ones, and have little interest in this field of the media. I still don't know who Puff Daddy is and I don't want to find out either. All that said, the second half of the book picked up nicely, watching the lead character balance or unbalance is work/personal life. The lesson here is, work must always play second fiddle to your personal life. The other way round, and you're well and truly screwed!
April 24, 2012
This book was everything I expected it to be, fun, fast, very tiring but very true to the world of an intern.
Dillon has managed to capture all his experiences and bring them to us. I didn't want to put the book down and found myself inside each 'Beats' party and 'China White' night out.
I would definitley recommend this to anyone that wants to get into this industry, I wish I had a ticket for this ride, maybe in my next life!!!!
Dillon has managed to capture all his experiences and bring them to us. I didn't want to put the book down and found myself inside each 'Beats' party and 'China White' night out.
I would definitley recommend this to anyone that wants to get into this industry, I wish I had a ticket for this ride, maybe in my next life!!!!
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April 8, 2012sadly, I just couldn't get into this at all. Did not finish. no review. :(
January 9, 2020
As someone who worked at MTV for 5 years I was curious to read this, but it was a bit lame. Sorry
March 28, 2012
Review to come...
April 26, 2012
Review coming soon.
February 23, 2013
An interesting glimpse into the life of an intern.
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