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The Quality of Life Report
'Daum brings a crisp, wisecracking voice to her novel about Lucinda, a life-style correspondent for a morning television show, who, in search of a more interesting life, leaves New York for Prairie City, a fictional Midwestern town.'
One of today's most admired new voices blends social critique and a bittersweet love story marked by both style and substance.
Critics hailed Meghan Daum's My Misspent Youth as "pretty damn irresistible" (New York Newsday) for its fresh, funny, bracing take on modern life. In The Quality of Life Report, Meghan picks up on a timely theme and embodies it to perfection in the persona of Lucinda Trout.
Jaded by a life of eating from plastic containers, dodging the feng shui in her boss's office, and reporting on thong underwear as a lifestyle correspondent for New York morning television, the thirtyish Trout is ripe for escape. So when the rent on her tiny mouse-ridden apartment doubles overnight, she heads for Prairie City, USA, to feed her own and every New Yorker's heartland fantasy in dispatches tagged "The Quality of Life Report." "Real life" is what Lucinda's after—and, if possible, a man who knows how to wield a hammer. Fantasy becomes reality (in Prairie City, deviled eggs are a delicacy and fake nails are de rigueur); but reality has surprises up its sleeve. It takes Lucinda through an epiphany and an unlikely romance in a tale that is redemptive, wickedly witty, and heartbreaking all at once.
One of today's most admired new voices blends social critique and a bittersweet love story marked by both style and substance.
Critics hailed Meghan Daum's My Misspent Youth as "pretty damn irresistible" (New York Newsday) for its fresh, funny, bracing take on modern life. In The Quality of Life Report, Meghan picks up on a timely theme and embodies it to perfection in the persona of Lucinda Trout.
Jaded by a life of eating from plastic containers, dodging the feng shui in her boss's office, and reporting on thong underwear as a lifestyle correspondent for New York morning television, the thirtyish Trout is ripe for escape. So when the rent on her tiny mouse-ridden apartment doubles overnight, she heads for Prairie City, USA, to feed her own and every New Yorker's heartland fantasy in dispatches tagged "The Quality of Life Report." "Real life" is what Lucinda's after—and, if possible, a man who knows how to wield a hammer. Fantasy becomes reality (in Prairie City, deviled eggs are a delicacy and fake nails are de rigueur); but reality has surprises up its sleeve. It takes Lucinda through an epiphany and an unlikely romance in a tale that is redemptive, wickedly witty, and heartbreaking all at once.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
88 people are currently reading
991 people want to read
About the author
Meghan Daum
16 books435 followersMeghan Daum is the author of Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House, a personal chronicle of real estate addiction and obsessive fascination with houses, as well as the novel The Quality of Life Report and the essay collection My Misspent Youth. Since 2005 she has written a weekly column for The Los Angeles Times, which appears on the op-ed page every Thursday. She has contributed to public radio's Morning Edition, Marketplace and This American Life and has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Harper's, GQ, Vogue, Self, New York, Travel & Leisure, BlackBook, Harper's Bazaar, The Village Voice, and The New York Times Book Review.
Equal parts reporter, storyteller, and satirist, Meghan has inspired controversy over a range of topics, including social politics, class warfare and the semiotics of shag carpet. She has been widely praised in the press and elicits particular enthusiasm from Amazon.com customer reviewers, who have hailed her work as everything from "brilliant and outrageously funny" to "obnoxious, arrogant, rambling dribble," (sic). Meghan's work is included in dozens of college textbooks and anthologies, including The KGB Bar Reader, Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times, and The New Gilded Age: The New Yorker Looks at the Culture of Affluence.
Born in California in 1970, Meghan was raised primarily on the east coast and is a graduate of Vassar College and the MFA writing program at Columbia University's School of the Arts. She spent several years in New York City before making her now-infamous move to Nebraska in 1999, where she continued to work as an essayist and journalist and wrote The Quality of Life Report. Meghan has taught at various institutions, including California Institute for the Arts, where she was a visiting artist in 2004 and taught graduate nonfiction writing. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alan Zarembo, and their sheepdog, Rex
Equal parts reporter, storyteller, and satirist, Meghan has inspired controversy over a range of topics, including social politics, class warfare and the semiotics of shag carpet. She has been widely praised in the press and elicits particular enthusiasm from Amazon.com customer reviewers, who have hailed her work as everything from "brilliant and outrageously funny" to "obnoxious, arrogant, rambling dribble," (sic). Meghan's work is included in dozens of college textbooks and anthologies, including The KGB Bar Reader, Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times, and The New Gilded Age: The New Yorker Looks at the Culture of Affluence.
Born in California in 1970, Meghan was raised primarily on the east coast and is a graduate of Vassar College and the MFA writing program at Columbia University's School of the Arts. She spent several years in New York City before making her now-infamous move to Nebraska in 1999, where she continued to work as an essayist and journalist and wrote The Quality of Life Report. Meghan has taught at various institutions, including California Institute for the Arts, where she was a visiting artist in 2004 and taught graduate nonfiction writing. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alan Zarembo, and their sheepdog, Rex
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
August 14, 2013
YOWZERS. Could this BE any worse?? I got this title off of, if you can imagine, the freaking NPR website so you would THINK it wouldn't completely blow bubbles, but noooo.
This weak attempt at social commentary/humor/something I have not yet figured out is about a chatty, asinine, equal parts insecure and self righteous whiny woman who decides she has just about had it with chasing the American Dream in Manhattan where even a studio apartment is beyond reach and she is like, so, I mean, WHATEVER about her shallow job reporting on social trends, so she decides to move to a place called, not kidding, Praire Country or Farm or something equally dumb and shove her New York superiority as well as born again out of towner righteousness in everyone's face, and presumes to have several married and otherwise men hit on her, and attempt a TV series on how life in Prarieville is just so much more I mean REAL than us yoga pants wearing latte chugging snobs.
Well the thing is, I even kind of agree with her, but the writing was so very poor (tell, don't show being the trend here) that I couldn't even appreciate the parts that might have even been good. Blarrgh.
This weak attempt at social commentary/humor/something I have not yet figured out is about a chatty, asinine, equal parts insecure and self righteous whiny woman who decides she has just about had it with chasing the American Dream in Manhattan where even a studio apartment is beyond reach and she is like, so, I mean, WHATEVER about her shallow job reporting on social trends, so she decides to move to a place called, not kidding, Praire Country or Farm or something equally dumb and shove her New York superiority as well as born again out of towner righteousness in everyone's face, and presumes to have several married and otherwise men hit on her, and attempt a TV series on how life in Prarieville is just so much more I mean REAL than us yoga pants wearing latte chugging snobs.
Well the thing is, I even kind of agree with her, but the writing was so very poor (tell, don't show being the trend here) that I couldn't even appreciate the parts that might have even been good. Blarrgh.
March 5, 2013
Hmm. Sort of chick lit for the Ivy League set. I didn't like many people in this book, especially the narrator who is the personification of one of my own personal pet peeves: Life Does Not Exist Outside of New York City. That attitude has been the major reason for my unwillingness to EVER visit the city, which was finally (I thought) exorcised by the events of September 11, 2001.
And yet, here it raises its head again in a story about a 30ish "woman" who heads into the wilds of the midwest to report on life there for the viewers of a New York talk/information show that's about as deep and meaningful as the layer of scum on a spring-fed pond. As is the 'heroine.'
Reading this book was painful and depressing for me on many levels. I know this chick, and can't STAND her! Since a tiny bit of her exists in me, that led to feelings of desperation at the sight of my own failings. She is also the embodiment of all I loathe about women's magazines (Cosmo, et al.) and their cheap attempts at "serious" articles. The author's description of winter in the upper midwest is spot-on, which means that I'm having my usual mid-winter blecchhhhh NOW, in the midst of a perfectly lovely stretch of 70-degree-and-sunny weather. The only person I liked in the book turns out to be a meth addict, and I can totally see WHY because I'd probably do meth too if I had to be around this dingbat for more than 30 seconds. By the way, I hardly think it's as easy as it appears to quit cranking on meth. In any case, what I'm saying is that everything negative about the main character is me, and....there is nothing particularly positive about her except that on the last page she pulls her head out of her butt for the first time in the book. She is the least proactive person I think I've ever read about, which is precisely the way I was raised NEVER to be. She drove me frickin' CRAZY!
And then the end. Poof: magic wand time. Tie it all up in a neat little package of sudden awareness, motivation, and being saved by the evil NewYorkians. This is definitely a book I will remember, but certainly not fondly, since the things I liked about it made me profoundly depressed about my life, and the parts I didn't like (see the opening lines of this paragraph for example) were simply hideous.
And yet, here it raises its head again in a story about a 30ish "woman" who heads into the wilds of the midwest to report on life there for the viewers of a New York talk/information show that's about as deep and meaningful as the layer of scum on a spring-fed pond. As is the 'heroine.'
Reading this book was painful and depressing for me on many levels. I know this chick, and can't STAND her! Since a tiny bit of her exists in me, that led to feelings of desperation at the sight of my own failings. She is also the embodiment of all I loathe about women's magazines (Cosmo, et al.) and their cheap attempts at "serious" articles. The author's description of winter in the upper midwest is spot-on, which means that I'm having my usual mid-winter blecchhhhh NOW, in the midst of a perfectly lovely stretch of 70-degree-and-sunny weather. The only person I liked in the book turns out to be a meth addict, and I can totally see WHY because I'd probably do meth too if I had to be around this dingbat for more than 30 seconds. By the way, I hardly think it's as easy as it appears to quit cranking on meth. In any case, what I'm saying is that everything negative about the main character is me, and....there is nothing particularly positive about her except that on the last page she pulls her head out of her butt for the first time in the book. She is the least proactive person I think I've ever read about, which is precisely the way I was raised NEVER to be. She drove me frickin' CRAZY!
And then the end. Poof: magic wand time. Tie it all up in a neat little package of sudden awareness, motivation, and being saved by the evil NewYorkians. This is definitely a book I will remember, but certainly not fondly, since the things I liked about it made me profoundly depressed about my life, and the parts I didn't like (see the opening lines of this paragraph for example) were simply hideous.
August 17, 2008
Another book club book that I guess for the most part I enjoyed, though I really have difficulty in classifying my response to it.
I found myself caught up in the story - it was easy to ignore the wackos, loud teenagers, and smelly people on the bus while I was reading it - I was able to easily lose myself in the story. But I also found myself terribly annoyed at the narrator for being such a stupid woman.
I suppose ease of read and capturing my attention is probably indicative of the simplicity of the prose? It didn't challenge with complex sentence constructions or difficult concepts (which of course provide their own sense of delight when you master them) but I'm sure that the plot will not stick with me and I can feel it fading even now, only a few weeks later.
The premise is that a New York morning show reporter becomes fascinated by "Prairie City" in the heart of the midwest during a news story and moves there, ostensibly to write a series of reports - "quality of life" reports - for the show in which she demonstrates to New Yorkers how quality of life improves out in the midwest. Her life does improve in some ways, but she brings her annoying self and her urban assumptions to the prairie city, which gets her into trouble in reading people, danger, and motivations.
The character annoyed me, but it was a fun "plane ride" kind of book.
I found myself caught up in the story - it was easy to ignore the wackos, loud teenagers, and smelly people on the bus while I was reading it - I was able to easily lose myself in the story. But I also found myself terribly annoyed at the narrator for being such a stupid woman.
I suppose ease of read and capturing my attention is probably indicative of the simplicity of the prose? It didn't challenge with complex sentence constructions or difficult concepts (which of course provide their own sense of delight when you master them) but I'm sure that the plot will not stick with me and I can feel it fading even now, only a few weeks later.
The premise is that a New York morning show reporter becomes fascinated by "Prairie City" in the heart of the midwest during a news story and moves there, ostensibly to write a series of reports - "quality of life" reports - for the show in which she demonstrates to New Yorkers how quality of life improves out in the midwest. Her life does improve in some ways, but she brings her annoying self and her urban assumptions to the prairie city, which gets her into trouble in reading people, danger, and motivations.
The character annoyed me, but it was a fun "plane ride" kind of book.
June 28, 2014
I tore through this book in about two and a half days, and found it an enjoyable read that went down easy. I guess you'd say it's chick lit (of the deliberately smart variety), and also satire, a little bit? It's funny. I laughed out loud a number of times. I liked that it lampoons the NYC media world — that was my world for a while, so I had a soft spot for those descriptions, and also the way that the descriptions of the main character's new Midwestern home, "Prairie City," are filtered through her New York-centric point of view; everything is compared to the way it is, or would be, in New York. I do that, even though it's silly and a little obnoxious, and this book may appeal to any New Yorker or former New Yorker who's had the same tic.
This book has gotten a hard rap from the Goodreads community. I agree with a lot of the criticisms that have been made, but somehow those same things didn't bother me. For example, I'm not sure that creating a totally realistic character was job #1 for the author; writing a book with a certain somewhat formulaic kind of structure, limning that structure with real-life details and points (exaggerated at times for effect), and making the whole thing funny seem to me to have been the goal here—and on those scores, the book is pretty much a success.
What makes The Quality of Life Report charming is that it's a collection of keen observations, woven into a story that isn't ashamed to be just that: a tale, an entertainment, not the baring of somebody's soul. The focus is on these funny people and places the main character encounters, and the musings about place that they inspire. Even if those musings don't ultimately add up to anything incredibly profound, The Quality of Life Report is a fun ride and a humorous but largely accurate (in that broad-strokes, satirical kind of way) portrait of some American anxieties about 'lifestyle' around the turn of the millennium.
I've read Daum in the past, and I will read more Daum in the future!
This book has gotten a hard rap from the Goodreads community. I agree with a lot of the criticisms that have been made, but somehow those same things didn't bother me. For example, I'm not sure that creating a totally realistic character was job #1 for the author; writing a book with a certain somewhat formulaic kind of structure, limning that structure with real-life details and points (exaggerated at times for effect), and making the whole thing funny seem to me to have been the goal here—and on those scores, the book is pretty much a success.
What makes The Quality of Life Report charming is that it's a collection of keen observations, woven into a story that isn't ashamed to be just that: a tale, an entertainment, not the baring of somebody's soul. The focus is on these funny people and places the main character encounters, and the musings about place that they inspire. Even if those musings don't ultimately add up to anything incredibly profound, The Quality of Life Report is a fun ride and a humorous but largely accurate (in that broad-strokes, satirical kind of way) portrait of some American anxieties about 'lifestyle' around the turn of the millennium.
I've read Daum in the past, and I will read more Daum in the future!
July 15, 2009
While on furlough from work, I picked up Meghan Daum’s novel, The Quality of Life Report, which I got on paperbackswap, and was VERY eager to read. The Quality of Life Reportis loosely based Daum’s own experience, when she relocated from city life to the country. The novel’s main character, Lucinda Trout, discovers Prairie City (in an undisclosed Midwestern state — I assumed Iowa, though other people’s reviews have guessed Kansas or Nebraska) on a segment shoot for her local New York morning show. In meeting some of the more educated and bohemian members of Prairie City’s community, Lucinda decides that she can easily and happily make a life for herself, especially since rent is lower and life is slower. She even finds a way for her television show to fund the cost of her move, by promising heartland musings for New York audiences.
Almost immediately after moving, Lucinda is barraged with Prairie City-zens who have her best interests in mind. She is asked out by various men — married and not, and all generally too old for her. Her connections in Prairie City invite her to every party, every benefit, every club, and generally are ready to have her wow and amuse them with her tales of city life. This adoration wears thin for Lucinda, who quickly eschews her new friends’ advice and starts to make her own choices. She moves into a somewhat-sketchy neighborhood (though much safer than some places she’s lived in in New York), purchases a flimsy American car without four-wheel drive, and starts dating Mason Clay, a local artist, equal parts sexy and eccentric.
Since Prairie City is big enough for everyone to NOT know everyone, Mason is a relative stranger to most of her new connections and it seems that Lucinda likes it that way. Mason, though handsome and charming, has a lot of baggage that Lucinda has to prepare herself for. He has three children, from three different women (one ex-wife, one ex-girlfriend, and one one-night-stand), he has no career aspirations and works in a grain elevator, his house is an A-frame cabin in the woods, he is a habitual pot smoker and he bathes in a lake. Lucinda becomes taken with his charm, and soon convinces herself that Mason’s rough edges are part of “country living”, and since she had very little luck finding and keeping a boyfriend in New York, where men are very high maintenance, she may as well try on a country boy for size and see where it takes her.
Lucinda and Mason’s relationship starts well — they enjoy each other’scompany, they have seemingly great sex (though the book never goes into explicit detail, it’s just an assumption that I’ve made) and Lucinda doesn’t mind acting as almost-step-mother to at least 2 of Mason’s children — the older boys. Soon, the two decide to purchase a farm, which Mason fills with decrepit, disgusting animals, including a pig and a horny horse. Unfortunately, after moving onto the farm, Mason also develops a nasty meth habit, which he hides from Lucinda until the night a film crew is set to tape a segment on rural barn dances in her house.
Lucinda, in utter denial about Mason’s behavior, tells him to stop and keeps the news of the addiction to herself. She assumes he isn’t using, though the signs and symptoms are directly in front of her, and she retreats from any sort of social scene, to avoid confrontation. The second half of the novel really delves into Lucinda’s denial and avoidance of the topic — which can, at times, definitely feel infuriating. Daum builds up Lucinda enough that, as a reader, you start to like her, so that when Lucinda starts to make excuses for Mason, assuming that he’s not using, you do start to feel devastation when it’s clear that he is.
I feel like I have given enough spoilers away in the plot, so I’ll stop here. I do think that The Quality of Life Report tackles some really interesting subject matter — particularly reflecting that Midwestern cities often have as many quirks as their east-coast counterparts, and that sometimes “the simple life” isn’t quite that simple. The writing definitely has some quirks — the pacing is often off, with strong details being spared in key scenes. Lucinda’s voice, though, is funny, smart, quirky, and intelligent — she is very real and likable, even in extremely unlikable situations. I think if you are looking for a book that is a little lighter than literary fiction, but a little heavier than chick lit, you should look no further. By no means is this a “must read,” but it does fit the bill for a summer book.
Almost immediately after moving, Lucinda is barraged with Prairie City-zens who have her best interests in mind. She is asked out by various men — married and not, and all generally too old for her. Her connections in Prairie City invite her to every party, every benefit, every club, and generally are ready to have her wow and amuse them with her tales of city life. This adoration wears thin for Lucinda, who quickly eschews her new friends’ advice and starts to make her own choices. She moves into a somewhat-sketchy neighborhood (though much safer than some places she’s lived in in New York), purchases a flimsy American car without four-wheel drive, and starts dating Mason Clay, a local artist, equal parts sexy and eccentric.
Since Prairie City is big enough for everyone to NOT know everyone, Mason is a relative stranger to most of her new connections and it seems that Lucinda likes it that way. Mason, though handsome and charming, has a lot of baggage that Lucinda has to prepare herself for. He has three children, from three different women (one ex-wife, one ex-girlfriend, and one one-night-stand), he has no career aspirations and works in a grain elevator, his house is an A-frame cabin in the woods, he is a habitual pot smoker and he bathes in a lake. Lucinda becomes taken with his charm, and soon convinces herself that Mason’s rough edges are part of “country living”, and since she had very little luck finding and keeping a boyfriend in New York, where men are very high maintenance, she may as well try on a country boy for size and see where it takes her.
Lucinda and Mason’s relationship starts well — they enjoy each other’scompany, they have seemingly great sex (though the book never goes into explicit detail, it’s just an assumption that I’ve made) and Lucinda doesn’t mind acting as almost-step-mother to at least 2 of Mason’s children — the older boys. Soon, the two decide to purchase a farm, which Mason fills with decrepit, disgusting animals, including a pig and a horny horse. Unfortunately, after moving onto the farm, Mason also develops a nasty meth habit, which he hides from Lucinda until the night a film crew is set to tape a segment on rural barn dances in her house.
Lucinda, in utter denial about Mason’s behavior, tells him to stop and keeps the news of the addiction to herself. She assumes he isn’t using, though the signs and symptoms are directly in front of her, and she retreats from any sort of social scene, to avoid confrontation. The second half of the novel really delves into Lucinda’s denial and avoidance of the topic — which can, at times, definitely feel infuriating. Daum builds up Lucinda enough that, as a reader, you start to like her, so that when Lucinda starts to make excuses for Mason, assuming that he’s not using, you do start to feel devastation when it’s clear that he is.
I feel like I have given enough spoilers away in the plot, so I’ll stop here. I do think that The Quality of Life Report tackles some really interesting subject matter — particularly reflecting that Midwestern cities often have as many quirks as their east-coast counterparts, and that sometimes “the simple life” isn’t quite that simple. The writing definitely has some quirks — the pacing is often off, with strong details being spared in key scenes. Lucinda’s voice, though, is funny, smart, quirky, and intelligent — she is very real and likable, even in extremely unlikable situations. I think if you are looking for a book that is a little lighter than literary fiction, but a little heavier than chick lit, you should look no further. By no means is this a “must read,” but it does fit the bill for a summer book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2008
Laugh out loud funny and heartbreaking at the same time. A quick read, entertaining for sure. Interestingly enough, I read it cause I heard it recommended on NPR by Prep's author, Curtis Sittenfield--as one of her favorite "chick lit" books. I had a really strange relationship with Prep (guess i should add it to my books, eh?) I thought it was a good story and I thought there was a lot in it, including a lot I should have related to--experience in a privileged educational institution, but I just didn't like the self-centered-ness of the character by the end--anyway, this tangent is really meant to say that similarly, I wasn't sure about Lucinda Trout throughout the story either, but the thing is, she knew (at least looking back, if you are to believe her as the narrator) that she screwed up and kind of recognizes her faults more than Prep's protagonist. And I did like the undercurrent of tension between the liberal women's group and the cosmopolitan coming from a "post-feminist" life in NYC, in addition to the many tensions brought to light by Lucinda's move to Prairie City.
July 28, 2009
The premise of this book was very inviting: a sophisticated, young Manhattanite struggles to make ends meet in her entry-level TV job and decides to try Mid-western living. The romance of the plains. . . the egalitarian social environment . . . and, the affordability of the housing all were seductive. So far, so good.
The New York Times announced this as a "notable book" and it held lots of promise to be witty AND wise. It was fine, but as others have noted on GoodReads---our narrator demanded too much suspension of disbelief from us. Her behaviour just didn't add up and, in the end, it was hard to either like or respect her---or, the novel. There were definitely enjoyable aspects to it, and more than a few poignant scenes, but it disintegrated into something far less than its promised potential. Just like the principal character.
The New York Times announced this as a "notable book" and it held lots of promise to be witty AND wise. It was fine, but as others have noted on GoodReads---our narrator demanded too much suspension of disbelief from us. Her behaviour just didn't add up and, in the end, it was hard to either like or respect her---or, the novel. There were definitely enjoyable aspects to it, and more than a few poignant scenes, but it disintegrated into something far less than its promised potential. Just like the principal character.
April 18, 2019
This is clearly a love it or hate it book. I loved it and can't wait to read whatever else Meghan Daum chooses to write. It totally taps into my ambivalent love affair with my Midwestern roots and all things New York.
August 14, 2021
AWFUL
The premise had promise but oh my goodness was this bad.
The premise had promise but oh my goodness was this bad.
March 10, 2018
I think I continued reading this from sheer stubbornness and wanting to see if the main character, Lucinda, would ever shed the self-importance and self-absorption she mixed with self-loathing. I'm not sure that she got there. Every time she went to the "Hinky Dink" I cringed. When she made observations about the people around her, she was usually judgmental and superior. She spent much of the rest of the time feeling sorry for herself, yet doing nothing to change her situation. There were times in the book she could have shown a more complex set of emotions and motives, but she let me down every time.
It felt like she took one giant leap (her moving from New York to "Prairie City") and then decided that was enough action on her part and fell into a pattern of letting things continually happen to her. She did things because they were easy. It was easier for her to let others do things for her, or to her, than to take control of her own life. Why would you upend your entire life and move halfway across the country to just sit there and do nothing to move yourself forward?
The main character herself sums up why I spent much of the book wanting to grab her by the shoulders and shake her:
"[a]fter all the ways that I'd felt I had overcome my shallowness and arrogance and bitterness over people like Haley Bopp owning prime downtown real estate, the truth was not only was I still shallow and arrogant, I was also shallow and arrogant in a way that hurt people."
It felt like she took one giant leap (her moving from New York to "Prairie City") and then decided that was enough action on her part and fell into a pattern of letting things continually happen to her. She did things because they were easy. It was easier for her to let others do things for her, or to her, than to take control of her own life. Why would you upend your entire life and move halfway across the country to just sit there and do nothing to move yourself forward?
The main character herself sums up why I spent much of the book wanting to grab her by the shoulders and shake her:
"[a]fter all the ways that I'd felt I had overcome my shallowness and arrogance and bitterness over people like Haley Bopp owning prime downtown real estate, the truth was not only was I still shallow and arrogant, I was also shallow and arrogant in a way that hurt people."
May 31, 2017
First I'd like to thank Curtis Sittenfeld for her forward in the new edition, which helped clarify why I loved this book so much when I read it ten years ago, and why I loved rereading it even more. I also feel this book was written for me, and that Daum is incapable of dull writing. This book has deserved way more credit that it has received, and I suspect the problem is its billing as comic, or chick lit, because then readers feel betrayed by the dark turns, the unflinching observations of humanity. For while TQOLR is sharp, hilarious, and a quick read, it's ha-ha in the way that gives you a stitch, as in, "ow." If Daum were a man and had written about war, everyone would be reading this book in the public schools. But no, she writes about everyday hurt, and how naive expectations of living the pastoral American Dream might lead to a faceful of stallion jizz.
March 28, 2015
At first, when i started this book it felt fresh and funny. (coming with recommendations from ira glass and melissa bank and loads of other good reviews, how could it be wrong?) But as i trudged through I had a hard time seeing this as a successful satire. It seemed more like just another chicklit book that drills the same obvious idea into your head through cliche characters and an anonymous setting. I had a hard time relating to the main character while i was reading and often strongly disagreed with her actions and thoughts. eventually, when i finished the novel, i felt a little more satisfied. if anything this book points out the mistakes we make and the way we struggle to be happy with our lives, even if it means fabricating them.
November 5, 2010
Though I was attracted to the story and eager to read the book, I was disappointed to find I could not relate to or otherwise warm up to the main character, which pretty much spoiled it for me. I found her to be unkind and pretty uninteresting. I also found the narrative focus to be vague and superficial; the writer doesn't focus on the character's day-to-day moments or feelings in her new life, or the development of the romance, or the final content of and reaction to the "Quality of Life" segments... Nothing that was really interesting to me got much coverage at all -- it was a brisk trip through what started out as a powerful lifestyle change, and ended up looking like a train wreck.
February 12, 2020
If I were not a fairly resolute completist, I would not have finished this. This was a very frustrating book, and the second in a row where I did not like the main character. Lucinda needed to be slapped in my opinion. She seemed to blame everyone but herself for her problems, until the very end, and was needlessly helpless, and very condescending.
December 9, 2020
Well thank God that's over. What a terrible book. Terrible characters, terrible stories. What could the writer have been thinking??? It was like a "Doc Hollywood" story gone terribly bad. The whole meth thing was awful. I can't believe my friend, who normally has good taste, gave me this book to read.
January 16, 2015
1/15/15: In light of the fact that Meghan Daum's career has recently hit a high point with the success of The Unspeakable, I have a lot of thoughts about this 10-year-old novel. Perhaps this weekend I'll have time to write a review.
October 10, 2018
Love Daum (and you will do if you identify with Gen X New Yorkers who love to make fun of everything and everyone) but this is a novel and she doesn't come across as masterful at this medium. Highly recommend her essays though.
December 30, 2019
I really liked this one. Interesting premise nad it held my attention.
December 24, 2017
This depressed me somehow, despite its light breezy tone. Interesting stories about giving up urban life for the country, but it would have been better as memoir.
March 15, 2019
I need to start paying attention to the ratings on the book BEFORE I start it. This one had promise on the back but was not very good.
September 15, 2018
My quick thoughts:
--I primarily read this book as maintenance for my GoodReads most read authors list. I'm at the point where any authors with 4 books are starting to drop off...reading this book bumps Meghan Daum into the 5-book level. I'll be doing that with a few other authors too.
--There is a part of this book that reminds me of some of my decisions around and after college, except in my case, I moved to West Virginia and Pennsylvania. (My NYC time came later.)
--There are many places in the book where I liked the conceptual arc, but wasn't 100% sold on some of the specifics of the story. There is a good message behind the scenes. (Perhaps like the drug market season of the wire.)
--I appreciate that the book gives many characters a chance to show up as more than caricatures. There is humor, some dark turns, and a lot more horse semen than you might expect from the story overview on the book jacket.
--This is Daum's first novel. And it feels like a first novel...ecstatic, occasionally erratic, and passionate. I wish other novels had followed. It would have been interesting to see how her written voice developed.
--I primarily read this book as maintenance for my GoodReads most read authors list. I'm at the point where any authors with 4 books are starting to drop off...reading this book bumps Meghan Daum into the 5-book level. I'll be doing that with a few other authors too.
--There is a part of this book that reminds me of some of my decisions around and after college, except in my case, I moved to West Virginia and Pennsylvania. (My NYC time came later.)
--There are many places in the book where I liked the conceptual arc, but wasn't 100% sold on some of the specifics of the story. There is a good message behind the scenes. (Perhaps like the drug market season of the wire.)
--I appreciate that the book gives many characters a chance to show up as more than caricatures. There is humor, some dark turns, and a lot more horse semen than you might expect from the story overview on the book jacket.
--This is Daum's first novel. And it feels like a first novel...ecstatic, occasionally erratic, and passionate. I wish other novels had followed. It would have been interesting to see how her written voice developed.
March 8, 2025
satire is not the right word for this book. it's earnest, but also very funny. I had a hard time separating the author from the narrator - I kept picturing Daum doing all the Lucinda things - and since I like her (the author) so much, I gave the narrator more leeway and empathy than I usually would. Also, I know Daum traded her NYC life for the midwest so I kept looking for the story of what happened to her while out there. for example, Daum is vocally and happily childless, so I wonder if she's had the chance to try it out like the book depicts. I sort of hope she did; it's good to know the things you are rejecting.
anyhow, as a story, it was entertaining enough (due to the humour) but I got to be honest: I was horrified at what the main character was willing to endure to achieve the veneer of her fantasy of leaving big city problems for the so-called simple life and big sky of rural life. I kept waiting for the financial hammer to fall. in true fiction form, it never did.
anyhow, as a story, it was entertaining enough (due to the humour) but I got to be honest: I was horrified at what the main character was willing to endure to achieve the veneer of her fantasy of leaving big city problems for the so-called simple life and big sky of rural life. I kept waiting for the financial hammer to fall. in true fiction form, it never did.
June 7, 2025
ATY wanted a book characterized by opposites in the title. This can be a report or a novel, right? It is a novel about Lucinda Trout, a journalist in New York City, who seeks a more authentic life. She works for a TV station on an early morning segment. After a trip to Wisconsin, she feels that life there is better than her life in New York City. So she proposes moving to Prairie City and making reports there comparing life in each place. Obviously, it will not be an unbiased report. It will be humorous, though. Concept and reality bore no resemblance to each other. Lucinda does learn one very important thing from the experience, though. Naw, I am not going to tell you what it was. Have fun!
March 24, 2021
Sometimes Ms. Trout owns her elitist POV and recognizes her sets’ skewed values but other times she is blind to them. She is very slow to recognize the good-heartedness of the Prairie City residents. She does not run into the insularity I have heard of from people who have moved to small cities but evidently PC has a college which I have seen makes a big difference for small cities. Ms. Trout makes some poor decisions, which we all do and although she seems to think that there is larger room for error in a more rural setting, I wonder. I think her choice of jobs in NYC was her biggest mistake.
I neither loved nor hated this book and it seemed a little off kilter.
I neither loved nor hated this book and it seemed a little off kilter.
July 25, 2022
Sardonic humor but unconvincing relationships
I liked it best for the creatively sardonic and often self deprecating ways the main character describes things. The the town was unrealistically presented as urbane, populated by intelligent, enlightened, laid back liberals. As the story progressed, however, dissonance to that portrayal became evident in most of the characters. Lucinda's boss was an exaggerated characature, and the depiction of her boyfriend and their relationship was so unlikely it failed to be convincing.
I liked it best for the creatively sardonic and often self deprecating ways the main character describes things. The the town was unrealistically presented as urbane, populated by intelligent, enlightened, laid back liberals. As the story progressed, however, dissonance to that portrayal became evident in most of the characters. Lucinda's boss was an exaggerated characature, and the depiction of her boyfriend and their relationship was so unlikely it failed to be convincing.
May 11, 2024
I gave this book 4 stars but it might be closer to 3.5. I liked it. I chuckled a lot and even laughed out loud a few times.
I grew up on the Canadian prairies - on a farm, and dashed away before the ink was dry on my high school diploma. Though a parody on both rural and city life, I could definitely relate.
The writing was ok, and often very funny.
This was a very easy read, but sometimes I felt like I was reading a script or a play, especially near the end.
Overall, a fun, quick read for those who want a break from reading more involved, heavier lit. :)
I grew up on the Canadian prairies - on a farm, and dashed away before the ink was dry on my high school diploma. Though a parody on both rural and city life, I could definitely relate.
The writing was ok, and often very funny.
This was a very easy read, but sometimes I felt like I was reading a script or a play, especially near the end.
Overall, a fun, quick read for those who want a break from reading more involved, heavier lit. :)
October 15, 2023
Modern Pioneer
What happens when a smart professional career woman moves to the Heartland to pursue the American Dream? She goes through disillusionment, trial and travail, snowbound winter, and the fear that she has lost her identity. But she also finds joy and draws unexpected strength from the prairie and the people. Her journey is laugh out loud funny at times and poignant at others. Viewed through her satiric narration, I is always interesting.
What happens when a smart professional career woman moves to the Heartland to pursue the American Dream? She goes through disillusionment, trial and travail, snowbound winter, and the fear that she has lost her identity. But she also finds joy and draws unexpected strength from the prairie and the people. Her journey is laugh out loud funny at times and poignant at others. Viewed through her satiric narration, I is always interesting.
March 19, 2017
I thought this book was great. It is a story about a NY TV reporter who decides to move to Prairie City to find "the authentic America". This book is hilarious. It satirizes the world of Uptown NYC trend setters and at the same time the "authentics" in Prairie City. The lesson that Lucinda learns is that there is hypocrisy and profiling and pain wherever you go.
November 27, 2019
4* This is my first experience with this author -- and it will not be my last. I enjoyed this audiobook a lot.
While I greatly enjoy how readers/narrators/performers contribute and bring to life a fine story, this audiobook comes with yet another bonus. At the end is an interview with the author, and while listening to that I became more determined to seek out more of her work.
Good one!
While I greatly enjoy how readers/narrators/performers contribute and bring to life a fine story, this audiobook comes with yet another bonus. At the end is an interview with the author, and while listening to that I became more determined to seek out more of her work.
Good one!
March 6, 2025
A well-narrated tale of a 30-something's pre-midlife crisis. Lucinda (an NYC television producer) decides to leave the big city and move to where life is more meaningful: the Midwest. The results are definitely mixed. Overall a strong story with relatable moments, funny moments, and dramatic moments.
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