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Not Working
"Pin-sharp, utterly addictive" Vogue
"A deadpan comic debut for the procrastination generation" The Guardian
Claire Flannery has quit her job in order to discover her true vocation - only to realize she has no idea how to go about finding it. Whilst everyone around her seems to have their lives entirely under control, Claire finds herself sinking under pressure and wondering where her own fell apart. 'It's fine,' her grandmother says. 'I remember what being your age was like - of course, I had four children under eight then, but modern life is different, you've got an awful lot on.'
Sharp, tender and funny, Lisa Owen's brilliantly observed debut Not Working is the story of a life unravelling and a novel that asks the questions we've never dared to say out loud.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 722 reviews
May 26, 2016
Not a book for me. An inconsequential, superficial and shallow central character. I got nothing from reading this other than irritation at the waste of time it was. Possibly others will get more from it than I did.
May 2, 2016
Twenty-something Claire decides to quit her job in order to find herself and decide what she'd rather be doing. Her family and friends are confused by her actions and eventually Claire manages to start pushing them away. In the midst of a disagreement with her mother and her relationship becoming strained with her doctor boyfriend Claire is determined to continue on her journey of self discovery.
Not Working had potential to be a really funny read but unfortunately I found that it fell way short of that mark in my opinion. It still had it moments here and there but a lot of it is so scattered that I struggled to make sense of just what was going on most of the time.
Written in somewhat of a diary type of format the book is made up of just random happenings in Claire's daily life. This format was so frantic that I really wasn't connecting much with Claire at all. Starting off after her leaving her job we randomly have someone tell her she needs to remove a Buddleia plant which Claire then seems to obsess with way more than you'd think would be anywhere close to entertaining. The argument with her mother was a little weird and slightly disturbing too, not sure how that even happened.
With the randomness of this read you can weed through and find some funny moments.
For instance Claire goes to the gym to cancel her membership and ends up signing up for a personal trainer instead. These little bits and pieces of funny moments though just weren't enough to make me fall in love with the jumpiness of the story.
Overall, not my cup of tea unfortunately and not really one I'd recommend.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
Not Working had potential to be a really funny read but unfortunately I found that it fell way short of that mark in my opinion. It still had it moments here and there but a lot of it is so scattered that I struggled to make sense of just what was going on most of the time.
Written in somewhat of a diary type of format the book is made up of just random happenings in Claire's daily life. This format was so frantic that I really wasn't connecting much with Claire at all. Starting off after her leaving her job we randomly have someone tell her she needs to remove a Buddleia plant which Claire then seems to obsess with way more than you'd think would be anywhere close to entertaining. The argument with her mother was a little weird and slightly disturbing too, not sure how that even happened.
With the randomness of this read you can weed through and find some funny moments.
For instance Claire goes to the gym to cancel her membership and ends up signing up for a personal trainer instead. These little bits and pieces of funny moments though just weren't enough to make me fall in love with the jumpiness of the story.
Overall, not my cup of tea unfortunately and not really one I'd recommend.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
March 23, 2016
Another paean to being young(ish) and not knowing what you want to do with your life, this debut is less acerbic than other recent novels of millennial ennui - such as
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
- but no less enjoyable. If we're using labels, it's most accurate to call it chick lit; heroine Claire Flannery is like Bridget Jones for the 2010s (this is a good thing). (Since writing this, I've discovered that comparison has been made all over the place and is also featured in the US blurb for the book. It's accurate, though that shouldn't be taken to mean the book is exactly the same sort of thing as Bridget Jones's Diary.)
At the end of her 20s or the beginning of her 30s (I'm guessing; her age is never given), Claire quits her job - an amorphous marketing sort of thing - without another one to go to. With vague hopes of finding something 'meaningful', she winds up doing nothing all day, falling out with her mum, and accusing her boyfriend of cheating. And that's it, really; not so much an incisive, cynical examination of modern living as a charming comedy of errors. Claire, her boyfriend and family are all pretty well off (though not rich enough to keep 'not working' indefinitely, especially not in London), so there's never a real sense of actual peril, leaving the humour of the story to take centre stage. Again, the details - voicemails from Claire's mum, excruciatingly awful dinner parties - are pure Bridget Jones. But Owens' running commentaries on relationships and office life are surprisingly sharp for such a warm and feather-light story.
The narrative is also peppered with small observations and, I suppose, mini-stories Claire makes up as she goes about her days. Most are self-contained; many would fit into the category of microfiction. I have to admit I found them a bit distracting. Perhaps because the main narrative is often genuinely hilarious, many of them seem like non sequiturs or jokes without punchlines. That's my main complaint; in an alternative universe where I'm the editor of this book, I'd cut all of these sections.
Not Working is funny, incredibly readable and bound to be super-popular. It wasn't what I expected, but I was actually quite glad of that in the end - if I'd known to expect a chick-lit/comedy hybrid, it's unlikely I'd have read it, and I'd have missed out on a very entertaining book.
(I keep telling myself I've got to stop making references to other reviews in my reviews, but the Goodreads reviews for this - so far - really do make for fascinating reading in themselves. It's so interesting seeing how people of similar ages categorise themselves completely differently in terms of what generation they belong to and what they feel they should be 'relating' to. It's also interesting to see how the way the book has been sold to readers, or the angles from which they have approached it due to existing impressions - the Bridget Jones comparison vs. the idea that it's got some profound state-of-the-generation message at its heart - have affected responses.)
I received an advance review copy of Not Working from the publisher through NetGalley.
At the end of her 20s or the beginning of her 30s (I'm guessing; her age is never given), Claire quits her job - an amorphous marketing sort of thing - without another one to go to. With vague hopes of finding something 'meaningful', she winds up doing nothing all day, falling out with her mum, and accusing her boyfriend of cheating. And that's it, really; not so much an incisive, cynical examination of modern living as a charming comedy of errors. Claire, her boyfriend and family are all pretty well off (though not rich enough to keep 'not working' indefinitely, especially not in London), so there's never a real sense of actual peril, leaving the humour of the story to take centre stage. Again, the details - voicemails from Claire's mum, excruciatingly awful dinner parties - are pure Bridget Jones. But Owens' running commentaries on relationships and office life are surprisingly sharp for such a warm and feather-light story.
The narrative is also peppered with small observations and, I suppose, mini-stories Claire makes up as she goes about her days. Most are self-contained; many would fit into the category of microfiction. I have to admit I found them a bit distracting. Perhaps because the main narrative is often genuinely hilarious, many of them seem like non sequiturs or jokes without punchlines. That's my main complaint; in an alternative universe where I'm the editor of this book, I'd cut all of these sections.
Not Working is funny, incredibly readable and bound to be super-popular. It wasn't what I expected, but I was actually quite glad of that in the end - if I'd known to expect a chick-lit/comedy hybrid, it's unlikely I'd have read it, and I'd have missed out on a very entertaining book.
(I keep telling myself I've got to stop making references to other reviews in my reviews, but the Goodreads reviews for this - so far - really do make for fascinating reading in themselves. It's so interesting seeing how people of similar ages categorise themselves completely differently in terms of what generation they belong to and what they feel they should be 'relating' to. It's also interesting to see how the way the book has been sold to readers, or the angles from which they have approached it due to existing impressions - the Bridget Jones comparison vs. the idea that it's got some profound state-of-the-generation message at its heart - have affected responses.)
I received an advance review copy of Not Working from the publisher through NetGalley.
January 24, 2016
The first thing you need to know about this book is that the protagonist, Claire, is a 100% genuine gold-plated idiot. She’s self-absorbed, has the attention span of a gnat and expects the world to fall into her lap without her having to lift a finger. In other words, she is an accurate caricature of a generation Y yuppie.
*Digression warning*
I recently read a blog post (here) that outlined an interesting thesis about generation Y yuppies and why many of them are, on the whole, quite unhappy. The Reader’s Digest version is that the generally middle-class parents of gen y yuppies had lived through a period of unexpected affluence from the 60s onwards. These parents’ lives had turned out way better than they could ever have imagined compared to the lives of their own parents, who had lived through the hardships of the second world war. When they had children of their own during the 80s and 90s, these offspring were instilled with an incredible sense of optimism: they were led to believe that the world was their oyster. However, the real world could never live up to their gargantuan expectations; they don’t just want to work in secure and well-paid jobs like their parents had aspired to, they want jobs that are also fulfilling on a spiritual level; they want to travel the world and still have money left over for the deposit on a house; they want romantic relationships that are gratifying on every level all of the time, and so on.
While the blog post used a fair amount of hyperbole to get its point across, it did reflect many conversations I’d had with friends in our early twenties when we’d just left Uni and were trying to work out what to do next. So when I read the blurb for Not Working on Netgalley I thought that this could be an interesting exploration of that very phenomenon. And it turns out it was.
*Digression over*
The book is less of a novel and more of a series of (very) short vignettes from Claire’s life. Claire is in her late 20s and recently quit her job in marketing because it wasn’t fulfilling her. At the start of the book she is supposedly trying to find a job that will give her life meaning, but what she’s really doing is slouching around the house all day procrastinating and calling her boyfriend Luke (a surgeon) while he’s at work to run trifling concerns past him.
Claire’s fundamental problem is that she is paralysed by far too much choice in terms of what she wants to do with her life. She has no doubt that she can be anything she wants to be, but what does she want to be? A farmer? A playwright? Prime Minister? It’s a quandary that will be familiar to many.
Despite my earlier assertion that Claire is an idiot (which is true), she’s also pretty funny. The book is littered with sections on her half-baked ideas and schemes. For example:
Lists
I’ve been keeping a list on my phone of business ideas, should I chance upon an adventurous millionaire. So far it reads:
1) Black milk (for goths?)
In some ways this book was underwhelming: some of the headed sections are just one sentence long, while the longest span only a few pages. For me, the staccato rhythm meant that it took me a while to engage with the plot and characters. However, by the end I had genuinely warmed to Claire, who is self-aware and witty even if she is a nincompoop.
But the main reason I ended up giving this book four stars is because it didn’t focus on Claire’s romantic life. Comparisons with Bridget Jones’ Diary are unfair. Claire doesn’t spend her entire life fretting about her weight or her clothes or her love life. Luke is a very supportive partner and his love and respect for her is never in question. Claire’s problems revolve around her career and her relationship with her family, not chasing after/trying to keep a bloke, and that was SO UNBELIEVABLY REFRESHING.
There was a little bit of weirdness though...
If I had to describe this book in one word it would be ‘wry’. It’s not laugh out loud funny but it is intelligent, well written and will make you roll your eyes in a knowing way. Everyone knows someone like Claire. If you don’t, it’s probably you.
*Digression warning*
I recently read a blog post (here) that outlined an interesting thesis about generation Y yuppies and why many of them are, on the whole, quite unhappy. The Reader’s Digest version is that the generally middle-class parents of gen y yuppies had lived through a period of unexpected affluence from the 60s onwards. These parents’ lives had turned out way better than they could ever have imagined compared to the lives of their own parents, who had lived through the hardships of the second world war. When they had children of their own during the 80s and 90s, these offspring were instilled with an incredible sense of optimism: they were led to believe that the world was their oyster. However, the real world could never live up to their gargantuan expectations; they don’t just want to work in secure and well-paid jobs like their parents had aspired to, they want jobs that are also fulfilling on a spiritual level; they want to travel the world and still have money left over for the deposit on a house; they want romantic relationships that are gratifying on every level all of the time, and so on.
While the blog post used a fair amount of hyperbole to get its point across, it did reflect many conversations I’d had with friends in our early twenties when we’d just left Uni and were trying to work out what to do next. So when I read the blurb for Not Working on Netgalley I thought that this could be an interesting exploration of that very phenomenon. And it turns out it was.
*Digression over*
The book is less of a novel and more of a series of (very) short vignettes from Claire’s life. Claire is in her late 20s and recently quit her job in marketing because it wasn’t fulfilling her. At the start of the book she is supposedly trying to find a job that will give her life meaning, but what she’s really doing is slouching around the house all day procrastinating and calling her boyfriend Luke (a surgeon) while he’s at work to run trifling concerns past him.
Claire’s fundamental problem is that she is paralysed by far too much choice in terms of what she wants to do with her life. She has no doubt that she can be anything she wants to be, but what does she want to be? A farmer? A playwright? Prime Minister? It’s a quandary that will be familiar to many.
Despite my earlier assertion that Claire is an idiot (which is true), she’s also pretty funny. The book is littered with sections on her half-baked ideas and schemes. For example:
Lists
I’ve been keeping a list on my phone of business ideas, should I chance upon an adventurous millionaire. So far it reads:
1) Black milk (for goths?)
In some ways this book was underwhelming: some of the headed sections are just one sentence long, while the longest span only a few pages. For me, the staccato rhythm meant that it took me a while to engage with the plot and characters. However, by the end I had genuinely warmed to Claire, who is self-aware and witty even if she is a nincompoop.
But the main reason I ended up giving this book four stars is because it didn’t focus on Claire’s romantic life. Comparisons with Bridget Jones’ Diary are unfair. Claire doesn’t spend her entire life fretting about her weight or her clothes or her love life. Luke is a very supportive partner and his love and respect for her is never in question. Claire’s problems revolve around her career and her relationship with her family, not chasing after/trying to keep a bloke, and that was SO UNBELIEVABLY REFRESHING.
There was a little bit of weirdness though...
If I had to describe this book in one word it would be ‘wry’. It’s not laugh out loud funny but it is intelligent, well written and will make you roll your eyes in a knowing way. Everyone knows someone like Claire. If you don’t, it’s probably you.
May 15, 2016
BABT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b078xpfqDescription: Lisa Owens's comic debut novel tells the story of a life unravelling in minute and spectacular ways, voicing the questions we've all asked ourselves but never dared to say out loud.
Thirtysomething Claire Flannery has quit her job to discover her true vocation, only to realise that she has no idea how to go about finding it. In her muddled but somehow impeccable logic she discovers that, 'the more time you have, the less time you have'. As the weeks stretch into months with nothing to show but an overflowing internet search history and an unintended feud with her mother, Claire finds herself sinking under pressure and wondering where her life fell apart.
Read by Emily Bruni
April 18, 2016
The whole time I was reading this witty debut novel, I was either giggling or nodding along: so much of it felt true to my experience of voluntarily giving up full-time work in London. Claire Flannery is around 30 and recently left her job in “creative communications” to find her true vocation. Her boyfriend of seven years, Luke, is a trainee brain surgeon, after all, so earns plenty for them to keep paying the mortgage on their London flat. But all her new extra time – precious little of which she actually spends searching and applying for jobs – only encourages her to dwell on the uncertainties of her life: how she matches up to her peers, whether Luke will propose soon, whether she should have a baby, what her parents and grandmother think of her after a drunken revelation at her grandfather’s funeral, and so on.
At first I found the novel’s format – lots of short vignettes and thoughts, under headings – a little bit off-putting, but as I settled into it I really enjoyed it. This has really helped the time on the cross trainer go by this past week. It is definitely, as many other reviewers have stated, a bit like Bridget Jones for a younger generation. And that’s a good thing, if you ask me.
Favorite passages:
“Office Life – It’s the little things you miss: free pens, notebooks, coffee, the colour printer. The incidental conversation.”
“Outsourcing – I’d happily split any money I earned, fifty-fifty, with someone who’d tell me what to do with my hair, what to eat, how to dress, when to bleed the radiators, get the windows cleaned, paint the walls, which articles in which publications to read, the salient points of this Syria thing and the best use of my skills and time on this earth.”
I also loved the recurrence of buddleia and Claire’s made-up saying “It’s neither kitten nor cat” (for “neither one thing nor the other”).
At first I found the novel’s format – lots of short vignettes and thoughts, under headings – a little bit off-putting, but as I settled into it I really enjoyed it. This has really helped the time on the cross trainer go by this past week. It is definitely, as many other reviewers have stated, a bit like Bridget Jones for a younger generation. And that’s a good thing, if you ask me.
Favorite passages:
“Office Life – It’s the little things you miss: free pens, notebooks, coffee, the colour printer. The incidental conversation.”
“Outsourcing – I’d happily split any money I earned, fifty-fifty, with someone who’d tell me what to do with my hair, what to eat, how to dress, when to bleed the radiators, get the windows cleaned, paint the walls, which articles in which publications to read, the salient points of this Syria thing and the best use of my skills and time on this earth.”
I also loved the recurrence of buddleia and Claire’s made-up saying “It’s neither kitten nor cat” (for “neither one thing nor the other”).
January 9, 2016
I'm only a few years older than the author of this novel, but it made me feel ancient and rather pathetic. It's narrated by Claire Flannery, who's maybe about 30-ish and is lamenting her lost youth (yes, really!). She owns a flat in London with her boyfriend Luke, who is a trainee brain surgeon, but she suspects him of having an affair with one of his colleagues. She quits her job of six years and attempts to find out what she really wants to do in life, but things don't go to plan. Soon her mother is not talking to her, and she discovers that her father is at risk of being made redundant. Ah, the terrible trauma of those who can afford to buy property in London!
If this sounds a bit grim, it's not. It's a very mild comedy, written in a fragmented style, more like a series of sketches and observations than a novel. Each short section (some just a sentence long of things that Claire has seen on the bus or on the street) has its own title. There are other, longer sections where she goes to the hairdressers or the gym, or a cafe, etc.
I don't think this book is aimed at me; I didn't warm to Claire at all. She's quite shallow, ignorant (who doesn't know what a buddleia is?!) and self-obsessed, and I found her a bit dull. But she's the only character who seemed at all real. I thought the portrayal of the older generation - the parents and grandmother - particularly stereotyped.
I'm sorry, this review makes me sound like a miserable git (I suppose I am, really!), but I prefer my comedy to be darker, edgier and more hard-hitting. This is like a quirky, more literary version of Bridget Jones' Diary for the 21st century, but not as entertaining or funny. Having said all this, I'm sure that there are lots of readers who will enjoy it, it just wasn't for me.
If this sounds a bit grim, it's not. It's a very mild comedy, written in a fragmented style, more like a series of sketches and observations than a novel. Each short section (some just a sentence long of things that Claire has seen on the bus or on the street) has its own title. There are other, longer sections where she goes to the hairdressers or the gym, or a cafe, etc.
I don't think this book is aimed at me; I didn't warm to Claire at all. She's quite shallow, ignorant (who doesn't know what a buddleia is?!) and self-obsessed, and I found her a bit dull. But she's the only character who seemed at all real. I thought the portrayal of the older generation - the parents and grandmother - particularly stereotyped.
I'm sorry, this review makes me sound like a miserable git (I suppose I am, really!), but I prefer my comedy to be darker, edgier and more hard-hitting. This is like a quirky, more literary version of Bridget Jones' Diary for the 21st century, but not as entertaining or funny. Having said all this, I'm sure that there are lots of readers who will enjoy it, it just wasn't for me.
May 7, 2016
I was really looking forward to reading Not Working. The idea of reading a book about a woman in her 30's who quits her job was quite appealing. However, the book did not live up to my expectations.
What I found problematic was that Claire was not very likable; for the most part, she was whiny, selfish, and idiotic. It wasn't until I got close to the end that she grew on me.
I received a copy of this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
What I found problematic was that Claire was not very likable; for the most part, she was whiny, selfish, and idiotic. It wasn't until I got close to the end that she grew on me.
I received a copy of this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
Read
July 21, 2021 DNF @ 8%
April 25, 2016
I have spent the past couple of days trying to smother my snorts of laughter as Lisa Owens describes in frighteningly accurate detail some of the things that flit through my brain on a regular basis. Most of us will have, at one time or another, dreamt of handing in our notice and spending some time 'discovering' who we really are. We'll think of all of the things that we'd do with our spare time, before embarking upon a career that really does mean something. We'll get fit, we'll organise our wardrobe, read the unread books, listen to the music, watch the box sets and visit our family. We'll then start out again, fresh and reinvigorated, to become the person we just know is hiding inside.
Yeah right...... Just like Claire Flannery, I too can promise myself that today I WILL fire up the laptop and organise my finances, complete the outstanding paperwork, reply to emails and tidy up my blog. And, just like Claire Flannery, I can find myself three hours later having done none of those things but knowing much more about the ancient medicines of China, how to make a new bag from an old bag, the secret of eternal youth and a sure-fire way to earn millions of pounds in the next seven days. Damn that internet!
Claire Flannery finds out that not working is actually much more difficult and tiring than working. Things that she didn't have time to notice when she spent five days a week commuting to a job that didn't inspire her seem to take on such an incredible importance. Her dreams become more vivid, her relationship with her family begin to break up rather than to get stronger, her friends don't really understand and the jobs websites are uninspiring and quite alien.
Having time on her hands makes Claire look more closely at her seven-year relationship with trainee brain surgeon Luke, and she begins to panic. Does she really want a new career, or is it time to have a baby?
Lisa Owens has structured Not Working brilliantly in a series of short, sharp chapters that look at the minutiae of life through the eyes of a woman who is struggling to deal with life in the rat-race. Her observations are funny and completely on the mark, there is a tenderness to Claire's character combined with a vulnerability that makes her one of the most wonderful lead players of any book that I've read recently. In short, I adore Claire. She's comic, honest, totally down to earth, not afraid to follow her dreams, but afraid of what this might mean. She's not beyond backing down when she realises that she's wrong, she's as close to perfection as a fictional character can possibly be.
Not Working is skilfully written, it's beautiful and it's so so honest. I love it.
http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox...
Yeah right...... Just like Claire Flannery, I too can promise myself that today I WILL fire up the laptop and organise my finances, complete the outstanding paperwork, reply to emails and tidy up my blog. And, just like Claire Flannery, I can find myself three hours later having done none of those things but knowing much more about the ancient medicines of China, how to make a new bag from an old bag, the secret of eternal youth and a sure-fire way to earn millions of pounds in the next seven days. Damn that internet!
Claire Flannery finds out that not working is actually much more difficult and tiring than working. Things that she didn't have time to notice when she spent five days a week commuting to a job that didn't inspire her seem to take on such an incredible importance. Her dreams become more vivid, her relationship with her family begin to break up rather than to get stronger, her friends don't really understand and the jobs websites are uninspiring and quite alien.
Having time on her hands makes Claire look more closely at her seven-year relationship with trainee brain surgeon Luke, and she begins to panic. Does she really want a new career, or is it time to have a baby?
Lisa Owens has structured Not Working brilliantly in a series of short, sharp chapters that look at the minutiae of life through the eyes of a woman who is struggling to deal with life in the rat-race. Her observations are funny and completely on the mark, there is a tenderness to Claire's character combined with a vulnerability that makes her one of the most wonderful lead players of any book that I've read recently. In short, I adore Claire. She's comic, honest, totally down to earth, not afraid to follow her dreams, but afraid of what this might mean. She's not beyond backing down when she realises that she's wrong, she's as close to perfection as a fictional character can possibly be.
Not Working is skilfully written, it's beautiful and it's so so honest. I love it.
http://randomthingsthroughmyletterbox...
September 7, 2016
My verdict: Bridget Jones-lite, although Claire has a live-in boyfriend. It's been referred to as a "literary version" of that book, which is true in the sense that this one's not as ... slapstick, I suppose. We have Claire, laid off at the start of the story, taking stock of where she wants to go from there (she was in advertising); Luke, her bf, is a trainee brain surgeon, so no worries about paying the bills. She has friends she sees, but not as tightly as single Bridget does. A visit to Luke's parents doesn't go well, which isn't fully her fault as they seem not to fully approve of her. Claire makes a comment early on that causes a rift with her own family (healed by the end), buy we do get to see their lives as well (she's an only child). If that sounds like plot re-hashing, it's as close as that gets as there is no actual plot, since the story is told in vignettes often too short to be an actual chapter. I liked that structure myself, though other reviewers definitely did not.
I'm of two minds about Claire, when she's solid she can be interesting, but when she's whiny I want to shake her to her senses. Luke is just too nice most of the time, although later in the book even he has enough of her bouts of instability. I will say that at one point she makes a comment at a party that was probably better left unsaid, triggering an "episode" for Luke to have to deal with; however, the comment itself I found a valid point where letting it go would've been passive-aggressive.
Anyway ... would I recommend it? Yes, with lower expectations as I found Bridget Jones am easier book to become invested in. I wasn't so much rooting for Claire, as chuckling at the self-deprecatory observations, she has a good sense of humor. Audio narration was a good fit, especially the voice of her grandmother, who's rather an old bat.
I'm of two minds about Claire, when she's solid she can be interesting, but when she's whiny I want to shake her to her senses. Luke is just too nice most of the time, although later in the book even he has enough of her bouts of instability. I will say that at one point she makes a comment at a party that was probably better left unsaid, triggering an "episode" for Luke to have to deal with; however, the comment itself I found a valid point where letting it go would've been passive-aggressive.
Anyway ... would I recommend it? Yes, with lower expectations as I found Bridget Jones am easier book to become invested in. I wasn't so much rooting for Claire, as chuckling at the self-deprecatory observations, she has a good sense of humor. Audio narration was a good fit, especially the voice of her grandmother, who's rather an old bat.
July 10, 2017
Well written but story never really develops, if you're expecting an account that can help to understand and appreciate the very real challenges and difficulties of being out of work, look elsewhere. The lavish lifestyle Claire is still able to enjoy whilst not working is inauthentic and littered with first world problems. Accept my expectations were of something very different coming in, but its essentially the Facebook timeline of someone who is able to lead a very privileged life, who only very briefly becomes anything close to relate-able to anyone not in similarly comfortable circumstances.
September 6, 2020
I got this book to considering overrated reviews that like ' how funny , enjoyable and addictive ' this book is... but I'm in total disappointment and disagreement. Super boring and shallow. You can never get into book properly as the captions are so irrelevantly jumping from one to another moment...etc etc.. so I don't recommend.
April 25, 2019
Parts of it are rather funny but the story fizzled out after the first third and never quite recovered.
April 27, 2016
I was intrigued to read Not Working because it was described as "in the tradition of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary", which I really enjoyed. There are certainly similarities between Bridget and Claire, the protagonist of Not Working.
Claire is a wine-guzzling, terribly dopey and egotistical late twenties/early thirties Londoner who quits her "creative communications"-job to "find herself". Not Working doesn't focus so much on Claire's love life (she has an incredibly supportive boyfriend of 7 years) but on her relationship with her parents, her grandmother and some "friends"/acquaintances and, obviously, on her search to find something meaningful in her life.
It's not a traditional narrative. The writing consists of vignettes and some slightly longer episodes. There are brief, and sometimes quite random, observations on all sorts of things. A lot of it was humorous and made me smile. It took a little bit to get used to the style, but I actually ended up enjoying it. It was very good for dipping in and out of and so I finished it quite quickly. I found the ending too abrupt, though, a definite "That's it?!"-moment. There was nothing earth-shattering or very philosophical in here, but as light entertainment chic-lit style, it was pretty good.
I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Claire is a wine-guzzling, terribly dopey and egotistical late twenties/early thirties Londoner who quits her "creative communications"-job to "find herself". Not Working doesn't focus so much on Claire's love life (she has an incredibly supportive boyfriend of 7 years) but on her relationship with her parents, her grandmother and some "friends"/acquaintances and, obviously, on her search to find something meaningful in her life.
It's not a traditional narrative. The writing consists of vignettes and some slightly longer episodes. There are brief, and sometimes quite random, observations on all sorts of things. A lot of it was humorous and made me smile. It took a little bit to get used to the style, but I actually ended up enjoying it. It was very good for dipping in and out of and so I finished it quite quickly. I found the ending too abrupt, though, a definite "That's it?!"-moment. There was nothing earth-shattering or very philosophical in here, but as light entertainment chic-lit style, it was pretty good.
I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
May 7, 2025
“Not proud of the fact that when crossing the road, I use fellow humans as a buffer from the oncoming traffic, but there it is: that’s the sort of person I am.”Disliking this is not exactly an unpopular opinion, which is a bit comforting considering I've been hate-reading for most of this week. I'm actually worried I'll ever enjoy another contemporary again. I was hoping to like this one, the cover and the blurb got my hopes up. But I didn't find this even remotely funny and the characters were so unlikable they just about became insufferable.
August 12, 2016
I've not read the book but I've seen the movie for Bridget Jones' Diary. What I recall is that she's somewhat unlikeable to me at first because she's so bumbling and self obsessed, but by the end of the movie, she's gotten herself straightened out somewhat and that's the point of the movie.
This book reminded me of it as Claire has just quit her job because she recognizes that she's unhappy and that she's not sure what her direction in life is. She's going to try and find herself.
The style is rather interesting. Imagine that we are looking through a camera and every time the shutter closes, the scene changes. Sometimes it's a short paragraph of a thought she has, or an observation on the street. Other times it's an extended scene like going to her boyfriend's house for Christmas.
Not only is she unsure of her direction, from the beginning we see that she doesn't even have the ability to make a simple decision. And she becomes obsessed with what the answer should have been.
I can relate to some of that and so was willing to stick it out with her.
But then came a moment about halfway through the book where it was just too much for me. She and her boyfriend Luke are sitting eating breakfast together. They're idly talking about gym and a comment by Luke gets Claire to wondering if there's a difference in mirrors between men's and women's locker room.
Luke was browsing on his laptop and suddenly sees the news that there's been a massive earthquake in Chile. Over 3,000 deaths confirmed and more coming.
Claire comments how terrible that is. And deliberately waits a few seconds then continues to muse out loud about the mirrors.
I had it at that point. That's just vile to me.
This book was shaping up to be a passable 3 stars for me. Looking like it'd be a fun beach read for most people but not exactly up my alley. But not after that.
I abandoned the book but will give it 2 stars instead of 1. Maybe Claire might have gotten her head out of her you known what eventually. I just don't care to waste any more of my reading time to find out.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This book reminded me of it as Claire has just quit her job because she recognizes that she's unhappy and that she's not sure what her direction in life is. She's going to try and find herself.
The style is rather interesting. Imagine that we are looking through a camera and every time the shutter closes, the scene changes. Sometimes it's a short paragraph of a thought she has, or an observation on the street. Other times it's an extended scene like going to her boyfriend's house for Christmas.
Not only is she unsure of her direction, from the beginning we see that she doesn't even have the ability to make a simple decision. And she becomes obsessed with what the answer should have been.
I can relate to some of that and so was willing to stick it out with her.
But then came a moment about halfway through the book where it was just too much for me. She and her boyfriend Luke are sitting eating breakfast together. They're idly talking about gym and a comment by Luke gets Claire to wondering if there's a difference in mirrors between men's and women's locker room.
Luke was browsing on his laptop and suddenly sees the news that there's been a massive earthquake in Chile. Over 3,000 deaths confirmed and more coming.
Claire comments how terrible that is. And deliberately waits a few seconds then continues to muse out loud about the mirrors.
I had it at that point. That's just vile to me.
This book was shaping up to be a passable 3 stars for me. Looking like it'd be a fun beach read for most people but not exactly up my alley. But not after that.
I abandoned the book but will give it 2 stars instead of 1. Maybe Claire might have gotten her head out of her you known what eventually. I just don't care to waste any more of my reading time to find out.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
June 1, 2016
NOTE: This review is of the audio presentation of the book. I am, therefore, reviewing the oral format, not the written one. Save thy pitchforks.
BBC Programme
A young self-absorbed woman voluntarily quits her London job with the purpose of finding herself. She finds herself at loose ends with the loss of her daily work routine supplanted by her new daily routine of sitting at a computer looking for work online. The comedy and asides come from her realizations of a changed life. This is NOT a story about the struggles and self-sacrifice from the book's heroine, as she happens to live with a brain surgeon intern, so money is not an issue. Security is not an issue. It's just a search for a new way of life, preferably one with passion.
Verdict: For me, I had difficulty with the basic premise. There aren't any real obstacles or issues or concerns. She won't starve to death. She won't become homeless. She just wants to do what she wants to do. Hmmmm. No problem with that, you only get one life so do what makes you happy, if you have that privilege (which she has). But there's really no there, there. What the protagonist views as 'problems', the rest of us wouldn't give a second thought.
However, I very much enjoyed the narration by Emily Bruni, which was marvelous. She reads, but reacts. The sentences are clearly delivered and I almost came to like Claire Flannery and her half-hearted attempts at confidence building. Almost.
...clusters of supporters lining my route to cheer me on my way
Book Season = Summer (the season of me, myself, and I)
BBC Programme
A young self-absorbed woman voluntarily quits her London job with the purpose of finding herself. She finds herself at loose ends with the loss of her daily work routine supplanted by her new daily routine of sitting at a computer looking for work online. The comedy and asides come from her realizations of a changed life. This is NOT a story about the struggles and self-sacrifice from the book's heroine, as she happens to live with a brain surgeon intern, so money is not an issue. Security is not an issue. It's just a search for a new way of life, preferably one with passion.
Verdict: For me, I had difficulty with the basic premise. There aren't any real obstacles or issues or concerns. She won't starve to death. She won't become homeless. She just wants to do what she wants to do. Hmmmm. No problem with that, you only get one life so do what makes you happy, if you have that privilege (which she has). But there's really no there, there. What the protagonist views as 'problems', the rest of us wouldn't give a second thought.
However, I very much enjoyed the narration by Emily Bruni, which was marvelous. She reads, but reacts. The sentences are clearly delivered and I almost came to like Claire Flannery and her half-hearted attempts at confidence building. Almost.
...clusters of supporters lining my route to cheer me on my way
Book Season = Summer (the season of me, myself, and I)
February 14, 2016
Mehhhhh. :/
This was completely different from what I was expecting really. I was hoping it would be a fantastic insight into the life of someone trying to find their dream career but was instead a rather well off woman being a bit lazy and blaming everyone around her for her failings.
Also, the way this book is told is just bizzare. It's a little like one long train of thought that ducks and dives between topics quicker than you can keep up with.
There were moments that were witty but nothing made me laugh out loud.
I guess I went into this book expecting something different. It's not a bad book per se, it's just a bit random! Plus I found the main character a bit of a tit and hard to sympathise with sooooo I kind of didn't really care about what happened to her. (Sorry.)
This was completely different from what I was expecting really. I was hoping it would be a fantastic insight into the life of someone trying to find their dream career but was instead a rather well off woman being a bit lazy and blaming everyone around her for her failings.
Also, the way this book is told is just bizzare. It's a little like one long train of thought that ducks and dives between topics quicker than you can keep up with.
There were moments that were witty but nothing made me laugh out loud.
I guess I went into this book expecting something different. It's not a bad book per se, it's just a bit random! Plus I found the main character a bit of a tit and hard to sympathise with sooooo I kind of didn't really care about what happened to her. (Sorry.)
January 5, 2016
A novel about a 30-something women who quits her job with the aim of finding work that's actually meaningful, only to drift around in a daze, fighting with her mother and boyfriend. It would be easy to dismiss this novel as lightweight, since it's funny, but I think it's actually a brilliant meditation on what work means, and what it's like to lose your sheen of youthful idealism. And the writing is SO SO SO GOOD. Every sentence surprises, every word is chosen with care, there's no extra BS—but there's also no showing off. You don't notice how expert the prose is at first, because it's just so fun to read.
January 2, 2018
Dejé este libro aparcado a apenas 40 páginas del final porque no podía con él, pero me propuse que lo acabaría en fiestas y lo he conseguido (aunque me ha costado varios intentos).
Es un libro que no me ha gustado y que me ha parecido una pérdida de tiempo, habla sobre un personaje y si no conectas en absoluto con ella es difícil que te guste... y me parece difícil que alguien pueda conectar con ella.
Pero bueno por fin me lo he quitado de encima y por fin dejaré de mirarlo en mi estantería y me hará sentir culpable.
Un libro para olvidar, desde luego.
Es un libro que no me ha gustado y que me ha parecido una pérdida de tiempo, habla sobre un personaje y si no conectas en absoluto con ella es difícil que te guste... y me parece difícil que alguien pueda conectar con ella.
Pero bueno por fin me lo he quitado de encima y por fin dejaré de mirarlo en mi estantería y me hará sentir culpable.
Un libro para olvidar, desde luego.
dnf
July 4, 2018DNF'd at page 105.
This book was kindly gifted to me for review from Pan Macmillan.
This book genuinely doesn't seem to be about anything. And that's sometimes okay, provided I like the characters. But I found the narrator of this book to be pretty insufferable and her problems to be purely of her own doing. No thank you, I am not forcing myself to read books anymore.
This book was kindly gifted to me for review from Pan Macmillan.
This book genuinely doesn't seem to be about anything. And that's sometimes okay, provided I like the characters. But I found the narrator of this book to be pretty insufferable and her problems to be purely of her own doing. No thank you, I am not forcing myself to read books anymore.
May 30, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
Jeg skal helt ærlig innrømme at jeg ikke helt vet hva jeg synes om denne boka. Den er utrolig depressiv, og klarer ikke bestemme meg om det er et kompliment eller ikke? Jeg tror det.
Jeg skal helt ærlig innrømme at jeg ikke helt vet hva jeg synes om denne boka. Den er utrolig depressiv, og klarer ikke bestemme meg om det er et kompliment eller ikke? Jeg tror det.
December 14, 2023
This was a uniquely written book, kind of odd, but overall I liked it. I'm not sure there was really any tying up of storylines by the end, but it was an enjoyable ride.
January 11, 2018
This piece of crap must have been autobiographical. How else could Owens delude herself into believing that any of these "shower thoughts" were worthy of printing? A desperately boring person quits her job to find meaning in her life. The book is structured as a series of short paragraphs headed by key words that Owens must have thought sounded profound. This is a novel of non sequitur bullshit with bolded headers the likes of "Sister" and "Tuna Fish". This is like your least interesting facebook friend's statuses from the last three years bound together in one horrible advance reader copy. I couldn't bring myself to finish it, which is rare for me. I have finally found my lower limit on what I am willing to finish for the sake of the college try. No one should be subjected to this. I'm serious, this is the worst thing I've ever read, including /r/ shittypoetry and livejournal fanfiction. I received this book free as an advance reader copy many months ago and had been putting off reading it, wisely so as it turns out. For a brief moment I had hoped that its final printing could be prevented if I called my congressman or staged a protest, but I see I am too late. I hope to warn others and protect the free time of the world's readers by voicing my absolute distaste. Please don't read this book, you might hurt yourself.
March 15, 2019
I could not finish this book. I stopped somewhere in the middle but I tried to cut through till the end.
My verdict: It's a boring and predictable snapshot-diary of an egoist. The narration is dull as the writer avoided going anywhere under the surface with almost surgical precision in fear of the book might get interesting after all.
An unlikable character can still produce an excellent novel by playing around a bit with the plot. But this isn't the case here. The character never hits rock bottom. She's never threatened to get homeless or even becoming remotely poor as a result of her working hiatus. She just drinks her boredom away page by page spending her 'savings'. The dull, monotonous pace of the story makes the short pieces of text to feel like individual tabs in a browser of superfluous being.
PS: Who the hell feels old in their mid-twenties? Or have savings?
My verdict: It's a boring and predictable snapshot-diary of an egoist. The narration is dull as the writer avoided going anywhere under the surface with almost surgical precision in fear of the book might get interesting after all.
An unlikable character can still produce an excellent novel by playing around a bit with the plot. But this isn't the case here. The character never hits rock bottom. She's never threatened to get homeless or even becoming remotely poor as a result of her working hiatus. She just drinks her boredom away page by page spending her 'savings'. The dull, monotonous pace of the story makes the short pieces of text to feel like individual tabs in a browser of superfluous being.
PS: Who the hell feels old in their mid-twenties? Or have savings?
September 17, 2017
It was like reading a blog... and I feel like the book didn't keep its promise, the "answer" we get at the end is a little bit lame... or maybe it was just the story of a girl who is not perfect at all and it got into my nerves. It also felt too real most of the time with a lack of cleverness and/or magic.
January 20, 2019
No. It’s not.
April 24, 2018
Claire Flannery doesn't like where her career is heading.
Somewhere between late 20s and early 30s, she is stuck in an unfulfilling job, working in marketing and doing the same boring things every day, over and over. Not being able to accept this being her future forever, she calls it quits.
And this is where it all becomes comically difficult, tragically funny, and a hilarious read for the rest of us.
Through diary-formatted chapters, we follow along Claire and her hopes of finding something she's passionate about in life. Luke, her seven-year-long boyfriend is truly supportive.
But how easy is it to sitting at home, trying to figure out what to do next in your life, when your significant other is a successful trainee surgeon who pulls long hours at work, and is absent for long parts of the day? How are you to explain to your grandmother why you left a paying job without a hint of what you want to do next ? Can you stand your parents' nagging? And what happens when you bump into your ex-coworkers, and they ask you how life's treating you?
Humor, with the right dose of truth
Not Working has been written with huge doses of caustic humor, consituting it a hilarious read. However, many people fail to understand that this is far from a superficial story. Lisa Owens succeeds in hitting all the right spots in everything regarding an unhappy person with an unfulfilling job, and the process described is surprisingly accurate.
Claire starts out as an incredibly optimistic person, who hopes to discover her passions quickly. As time goes by, we watch her get lost in menial everyday tasks, get bitter towards other people, get anxious about her future, stay home with her pj's on for days. She gets less and less cheerful and she's being told a lot (and in many different ways) that her choice to leave her job was a mistake. And all the while, Claire has yet to find what she is passionate about.
Live in Claire's head for a little while
What is really precious about this story is that you don't just follow it as an observer. You are inside Claire's mind. You think like her, get bitter and angry like her, get desperate or hopeful. You live like her, and, for a little while, you start to understand her.
Not Working is a mid-life crisis that happens too early in life, but it is absolutely realistic. More and more people realize the unhappiness of working long hours in tasks they are absolutely uninterested in, becoming, eventually, very unhappy.
Whether you read it and yell "that's me!This is my life right now!" , or just categorize it as utter fiction and totally unrealistic, Not Working will, at least, be a very pleasant read, which will definitely make you laugh.
Somewhere between late 20s and early 30s, she is stuck in an unfulfilling job, working in marketing and doing the same boring things every day, over and over. Not being able to accept this being her future forever, she calls it quits.
And this is where it all becomes comically difficult, tragically funny, and a hilarious read for the rest of us.
Through diary-formatted chapters, we follow along Claire and her hopes of finding something she's passionate about in life. Luke, her seven-year-long boyfriend is truly supportive.
But how easy is it to sitting at home, trying to figure out what to do next in your life, when your significant other is a successful trainee surgeon who pulls long hours at work, and is absent for long parts of the day? How are you to explain to your grandmother why you left a paying job without a hint of what you want to do next ? Can you stand your parents' nagging? And what happens when you bump into your ex-coworkers, and they ask you how life's treating you?
Humor, with the right dose of truth
Not Working has been written with huge doses of caustic humor, consituting it a hilarious read. However, many people fail to understand that this is far from a superficial story. Lisa Owens succeeds in hitting all the right spots in everything regarding an unhappy person with an unfulfilling job, and the process described is surprisingly accurate.
Claire starts out as an incredibly optimistic person, who hopes to discover her passions quickly. As time goes by, we watch her get lost in menial everyday tasks, get bitter towards other people, get anxious about her future, stay home with her pj's on for days. She gets less and less cheerful and she's being told a lot (and in many different ways) that her choice to leave her job was a mistake. And all the while, Claire has yet to find what she is passionate about.
Live in Claire's head for a little while
What is really precious about this story is that you don't just follow it as an observer. You are inside Claire's mind. You think like her, get bitter and angry like her, get desperate or hopeful. You live like her, and, for a little while, you start to understand her.
Not Working is a mid-life crisis that happens too early in life, but it is absolutely realistic. More and more people realize the unhappiness of working long hours in tasks they are absolutely uninterested in, becoming, eventually, very unhappy.
Whether you read it and yell "that's me!This is my life right now!" , or just categorize it as utter fiction and totally unrealistic, Not Working will, at least, be a very pleasant read, which will definitely make you laugh.
March 7, 2020
I am in a similar time in my life as the main character (27 - lives in London - want to change my career path after studying law for 6 years do something more creative) but still failed to connect with her.
The title of the book could be called "clueless" because that's what the main character is. Claire is anything but inspiring. She's just a woman who has the luxury of doing nothing for a while but who doesn't even have the imagination to create the life she wants. She's not exploring anything because she is probably depressed and an alcoholic. I hoped that she would go to an alcoholic anonymous meeting in the end of the book. Instead she's going on a trip.
The title of the book could be called "clueless" because that's what the main character is. Claire is anything but inspiring. She's just a woman who has the luxury of doing nothing for a while but who doesn't even have the imagination to create the life she wants. She's not exploring anything because she is probably depressed and an alcoholic. I hoped that she would go to an alcoholic anonymous meeting in the end of the book. Instead she's going on a trip.
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