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Applicant
A priceless time bomb of pop culture, this serves as a compelling and secret look into an impossibly lost era. The author found discarded, confidential, PhD applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from 1965 to 1975 as he was rooting through the recycling bin for magazines. Photographs of the prospective students were stapled to many of the documents and this book collects these photos and pairs them with accompanying comments from employers and professors. The results are absurdist, confusing, often hilarious, and disturbing. They provide unique insight into outdated, 1970s social attitudes and ephemera yet much of the book’s appeal is found in what the book fails to say: the blank and despondent stares of its subjects, the outdated fashions and hairstyles, and its understated text.
- GenresNonfictionHumor
48 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2006
105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 4, 2016
Fairly hilarious, sometimes poignant and surprisingly telling collection of photos attached to snippets from job applicant reviews.
Jesse Reklaw apparently found a stash of a company's applicant files and published excerpts from interviewers' notes. My favorite bits were regarded the rejects. Sometimes it's painfully embarrassing, but mostly it's just good fun...well, at the expense of others. Clearly these notes are dated, as evidenced by the sometimes unprofessional personal reflections made by the interviewer.
I know the publishing date says 2006, but I read this in the year 2000 ("In the year 2000!") when it was just a photocopied zine handed out by Jesse at zinefests. I got my copy at the Beantown Zinetown event. Yes, we are acquainted, but this is good stuff and I would so even if I know Jesse. Hell, I'd even admit it was good if I hated Jesse.!
Jesse Reklaw apparently found a stash of a company's applicant files and published excerpts from interviewers' notes. My favorite bits were regarded the rejects. Sometimes it's painfully embarrassing, but mostly it's just good fun...well, at the expense of others. Clearly these notes are dated, as evidenced by the sometimes unprofessional personal reflections made by the interviewer.
I know the publishing date says 2006, but I read this in the year 2000 ("In the year 2000!") when it was just a photocopied zine handed out by Jesse at zinefests. I got my copy at the Beantown Zinetown event. Yes, we are acquainted, but this is good stuff and I would so even if I know Jesse. Hell, I'd even admit it was good if I hated Jesse.!
October 19, 2016
Regarding the cover photo:
"No brooding malaise or bitter rebellion in this man."
This little book includes photographs and admissions committee comments from Ph.D. applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from 1965 to 1975 that Reklaw--whose Couch Potato and Lovf: An Illustrated History Of A Man Losing His Mind I have read--found in some dumpster outside the building. Was a zine and was handed out at comics convention, stapled, trickling out from time to time from 1998-2005. Found photos, with absurd comments. Here's some, for a taste:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jesse...
Some mildly funny to very funny stuff. As someone who has actually done graduate admissions for decades, I was pretty amused.
Some of the comments included:
"signs of immaturity."
"hardly the life of the party type!"
"not as physically attractive as some."
"Weakness: she is a female and attractive, modest one so is bound to marry."
Becomes a kind of sociological commentary of the times, slight as it finally is. And a commentary on the power and idiosyncrasies of (male, white) admissions committees and power elites of those days.
"No brooding malaise or bitter rebellion in this man."
This little book includes photographs and admissions committee comments from Ph.D. applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from 1965 to 1975 that Reklaw--whose Couch Potato and Lovf: An Illustrated History Of A Man Losing His Mind I have read--found in some dumpster outside the building. Was a zine and was handed out at comics convention, stapled, trickling out from time to time from 1998-2005. Found photos, with absurd comments. Here's some, for a taste:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jesse...
Some mildly funny to very funny stuff. As someone who has actually done graduate admissions for decades, I was pretty amused.
Some of the comments included:
"signs of immaturity."
"hardly the life of the party type!"
"not as physically attractive as some."
"Weakness: she is a female and attractive, modest one so is bound to marry."
Becomes a kind of sociological commentary of the times, slight as it finally is. And a commentary on the power and idiosyncrasies of (male, white) admissions committees and power elites of those days.
March 15, 2012
My review of Applicant from Verbicide Online:
While rooting through a recycling bin for magazines, the editor of this booklet, Jesse Reklaw, stumbled upon a stack of old, yellowed confidential Ph.D. applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from 1965 to 1975. Stapled to nearly each application was a photograph of the prospective student, and the confidential recommendation letters and forms written by the applicants’ former professors and employers—never intended to be seen by anyone but the university reviews committee. How funny that, these many years later, a decade’s worth of such largely unflattering, bizarre, and judgmental commentary of these anonymous students has become available for anyone to see.
Originally self-published as a zine from 1998 to 2005 by Reklaw himself, Applicant is now available on a much larger-scale, in a professionally published format. What was once a funny zine is now a funny book. Upon first opening it with no idea what it was about, I read the introduction and flipped through the book as fast as I could to read the excerpted ascertainments of each pictured student. Some of the text that Reklaw chose to use is curt and direct: “stubborn” it says below a photo of an awkwardly grinning female; “lacks focus” below the photo of a young man in a suit and tie, with side-swept hair and a mustache. A photo of a balding man in horn-rimmed glasses states “singularly devoted to the sponges.” Other humorous aspects are, of course, the self-conscious and awkward appearance of these nameless folks, and the out-of-date fashions and hairstyles that you’ll see only on VH1 reruns of "American Bandstand" or parading down Bedford Avenue in tidal waves of irony.
Beneath the humor, though, lies the true quality of Applicant as a gem of a sociological study and an impossibly rare time capsule of the images and attitudes of a past generation. “Weakness:” it states in accompaniment to a photo of a white woman with long brown hair, “she is a female and an attractive, modest one so is bound to marry.” Another similar caption reads “Domestic responsibilites may intervene,” while an afro’d black woman’s caption states that “her performance was excellent amid a class of almost all white students indicating that she has overcome any environmental handicaps.” “His faults will be those of his generation,” in regards to an unsmiling man with long dark hair and a dark beard. “He may not have the staying power of those who used to believe in the system.” On the contrary, the unhappy looking man whose photo graces the cover of the book: “No brooding malaise or bitter rebellion in this young man.”
Upon flipping through this book several times, I began to brood myself. Though laugh-out-loud funny at times, there is something pitiable about the people pictured — surely many of them went on to long, productive, lucrative careers, but to read these frank and simple summations of people every bit as complex as you or me is disturbing. It’s disturbing to think that this is the same grinder that I and anyone else who has ever attended school or gotten a job has been put through. It’s the same unspoken judgment we pass on other human beings in social settings, or in our private thoughts, simply put to paper without fear of reprisal or exposure. The attitudes toward women, non-whites, and anyone even potentially involved in a counterculture movement seems distant, antiquated — but this sets one to thinking further: has our society changed that much? Have opinions and attitudes morphed and evolved, or have we simply buried living, breathing prejudice beneath the guise of acceptance and equality? And what the fuck is up with those haircuts anyway? You will read this book and laugh, and think, and marvel that such a simple concept can affect such bipolar feelings.
While rooting through a recycling bin for magazines, the editor of this booklet, Jesse Reklaw, stumbled upon a stack of old, yellowed confidential Ph.D. applicant files for the biology department at an Ivy League university from 1965 to 1975. Stapled to nearly each application was a photograph of the prospective student, and the confidential recommendation letters and forms written by the applicants’ former professors and employers—never intended to be seen by anyone but the university reviews committee. How funny that, these many years later, a decade’s worth of such largely unflattering, bizarre, and judgmental commentary of these anonymous students has become available for anyone to see.
Originally self-published as a zine from 1998 to 2005 by Reklaw himself, Applicant is now available on a much larger-scale, in a professionally published format. What was once a funny zine is now a funny book. Upon first opening it with no idea what it was about, I read the introduction and flipped through the book as fast as I could to read the excerpted ascertainments of each pictured student. Some of the text that Reklaw chose to use is curt and direct: “stubborn” it says below a photo of an awkwardly grinning female; “lacks focus” below the photo of a young man in a suit and tie, with side-swept hair and a mustache. A photo of a balding man in horn-rimmed glasses states “singularly devoted to the sponges.” Other humorous aspects are, of course, the self-conscious and awkward appearance of these nameless folks, and the out-of-date fashions and hairstyles that you’ll see only on VH1 reruns of "American Bandstand" or parading down Bedford Avenue in tidal waves of irony.
Beneath the humor, though, lies the true quality of Applicant as a gem of a sociological study and an impossibly rare time capsule of the images and attitudes of a past generation. “Weakness:” it states in accompaniment to a photo of a white woman with long brown hair, “she is a female and an attractive, modest one so is bound to marry.” Another similar caption reads “Domestic responsibilites may intervene,” while an afro’d black woman’s caption states that “her performance was excellent amid a class of almost all white students indicating that she has overcome any environmental handicaps.” “His faults will be those of his generation,” in regards to an unsmiling man with long dark hair and a dark beard. “He may not have the staying power of those who used to believe in the system.” On the contrary, the unhappy looking man whose photo graces the cover of the book: “No brooding malaise or bitter rebellion in this young man.”
Upon flipping through this book several times, I began to brood myself. Though laugh-out-loud funny at times, there is something pitiable about the people pictured — surely many of them went on to long, productive, lucrative careers, but to read these frank and simple summations of people every bit as complex as you or me is disturbing. It’s disturbing to think that this is the same grinder that I and anyone else who has ever attended school or gotten a job has been put through. It’s the same unspoken judgment we pass on other human beings in social settings, or in our private thoughts, simply put to paper without fear of reprisal or exposure. The attitudes toward women, non-whites, and anyone even potentially involved in a counterculture movement seems distant, antiquated — but this sets one to thinking further: has our society changed that much? Have opinions and attitudes morphed and evolved, or have we simply buried living, breathing prejudice beneath the guise of acceptance and equality? And what the fuck is up with those haircuts anyway? You will read this book and laugh, and think, and marvel that such a simple concept can affect such bipolar feelings.
November 1, 2014
This summer, I was on several hiring panels. As candidates left and began to blur together we lamented how much easier it would be if we had photos next to their names, which reminded me of this awesome little Zine. It's a collection of photos of applicants with brief personnel notes from the 70s (?) that were found in an old file (?) or dumpster (?).
One of the notes reads, "“Weakness: she is a female, and an attractive, modest one, so is bound to marry". the notes coupled with the photos are pretty great and wish there were volumes more.
One of the notes reads, "“Weakness: she is a female, and an attractive, modest one, so is bound to marry". the notes coupled with the photos are pretty great and wish there were volumes more.
July 21, 2021
delightful. while I was at a friends house I slipped this into my back pocket thinking I'd steal it and read it later. wound up reading it while on his toilet. then I put it back on his kitchen table. wonder what my application photo would say about me. "prone to theft but not a thief"
May 12, 2020
I guess in the pre-internet age, before every image was borrowed, owned by Facebook, photo shopped, made into a meme and shared on every mf’ing digital platform available this might have been risqué. Got a couple chuckles, not much to it material wise.
December 22, 2019
I keep it in my purse for when I need a little boost. Why is this book so grounding??!! :)
February 27, 2020
fantastic little zine thankfully published. good work to this finder of these lost files.
December 30, 2024
Guilty pleasure.
June 20, 2008
This book is actually a 'zine.
"Her vivacity can occasionally distracting"
"I can imagine that he could be wearing on constant close exposure"
"Weakness: she is a female and an attractive, modest one so is bound to marry"
Applicant is a collection of actual photos that had been attached to Ph.D applications from 1965-1975, rescued from a recycling bin at an Ivy League school by editor Jesse Reklaw.
Under the photos are quotes from the applicants' former professors or employers, addressing personality traits, or "strengths and weaknesses".
Fascinating and funny, in a painfully true way.
"Her vivacity can occasionally distracting"
"I can imagine that he could be wearing on constant close exposure"
"Weakness: she is a female and an attractive, modest one so is bound to marry"
Applicant is a collection of actual photos that had been attached to Ph.D applications from 1965-1975, rescued from a recycling bin at an Ivy League school by editor Jesse Reklaw.
Under the photos are quotes from the applicants' former professors or employers, addressing personality traits, or "strengths and weaknesses".
Fascinating and funny, in a painfully true way.
February 28, 2008
Wow! This book is rad.
A fellow dumpstered a bunch of grad school applications and compiled them into this small tome. Each two page spread includes a late 6os/early 70s era photo and some information that the interviewers wrote about the person in the picture.
It makes me wonder what has been said about me as I've gone through countless application processes.
A fellow dumpstered a bunch of grad school applications and compiled them into this small tome. Each two page spread includes a late 6os/early 70s era photo and some information that the interviewers wrote about the person in the picture.
It makes me wonder what has been said about me as I've gone through countless application processes.
January 3, 2009
As an employee in an Admissions Office at a college, I found this book to be humorous and shocking. The pictures of applicants to a PhD program from long ago are pretty amusing in of itself. Couple that with random quotes from their recommender's letters, and you've got a great bathroom read. Or a read on the subway. In any event, a quick, amusing read.
January 30, 2008
There wasn't much to this. Based on other reviews I was expecting to laugh a bit more often than I did. I would have probably liked this if we could have read more of the reference letters instead of just the one-liners that the editor picked out.
May 21, 2013
Go read this! So good/funny. Found a copy in the zine section of Wellington central library today and read it through twice. Probably going to buy a copy now so it's around whenever I want to have a look.
Want to read
July 3, 2007This sounds absolutely hilarious!
October 5, 2008
Super simple book, but absolutely hilarious. Going into more detail might ruin some of the joy of it!
April 2, 2009
I found this to be pretty funny. I like to see people publishing things they found in the garbage.
September 14, 2009
A hilarious account to the awkwardness of being judged. Adding to my distaste of finding work where the requirements are for me to be "well groomed".
June 11, 2012
Short, but stellar...
January 16, 2013
Mildly amusing at best. Finished it in under two minutes.
Read
January 21, 2019singularly devoted to the sponges
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews