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Break in Case of Emergency
‘Extremely funny – a satirical masterpiece that is tender and existentially-minded as well. I loved it!’ Elizabeth McKenzie, author of THE PORTABLE VEBLEN
An irreverent and deeply moving comedy set in New York about friendship, fertility, and fighting for one’s sanity in a toxic workplace.
Jen has reached her early thirties and has all but abandoned a once-promising painting career when, spurred by the economic crisis, she takes a poorly defined job at a feminist nonprofit. The foundation’s aim is to empower women, but staffers spend all their time devising acronyms for imaginary programs, ruthlessly undermining one another, and stroking the ego of their boss, the larger-than-life celebrity philanthropist Leora Infinitas.
Jen’s complicity in this passive-aggressive hellscape only intensifies her feelings of inferiority compared to her two best friends – one a wealthy attorney with a picture-perfect family, the other a passionately committed artist – and so does Jen’s apparent inability to have a baby, a source of existential panic that begins to affect her marriage and her already precarious status at the office.
Jessica Winter’s ferociously intelligent debut novel is a wry satire that explores the difficulty of navigating friendships as they shift to accommodate marriage and family, and the unspoken tensions that can strain even the strongest bonds.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 12, 2016
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4276 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Winter
3 books66 followersJESSICA WINTER is features editor at Slate and the former culture editor of Time. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Bookforum, The Believer, and many other publications. She lives in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews
July 11, 2016
I got this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. I really really didn't like this novel. I thought the writing was poorly done and the characters were shallow, unlikable, and just plan stupid. There really wasn't one single thing I found interesting or engaging about this book…
Mostly this book was just boring. The writing doesn't flow well and the reader is jerked around from subject to subject in a way that is discontinuous at best; downright confusing at worst. We found ourselves immersed in the shallow culture of a foundation focused on the empowerment of women (I know there’s some irony here) only to suddenly be immersed into Jen’s struggle with fertility. Amidst all of this are scenes following the art culture which Jen is tenuously a part of as well; it was just not woven together well and was very jerky.
The majority of this book is incredibly insulting to women as a whole; I mean are the majority of women really this shallow? Even Jen, the main character, comes across as selfishly obsessed with having a baby. She does not consider other options such as adoption or spending her time helping out other needy children. She just drugs herself to the gills with fertility drugs and decides her whole reason for existence is to have a baby; how is any of this empowering? I think her husband is incredibly understanding about her obsession. However when he calls her on the fact she lets people walk all over her she basically calls him a lazy good for nothing who doesn’t earn enough money.
There is no plotline to speak of. The main character works for a foundation that is supposed to empower women (which is basically a farce and is funded via the foundation CEO's divorce settlement) and is constantly letting people take advantage of her. After a lifetime of doing this all it takes is her husband yelling at her once to make her change her ways which I found completely unbelievable. The whole book wraps up in a way that is very fairy tale happy and very abrupt...and completely unbelievable and contrived.
Some of this could have been forgiven if the book was cute or witty, however the dialogue is weak and jerky and awkward. The main character seems to be in a haze that is either drug-induced or just poorly written I couldn’t decide which.
I will say that I am most likely not the intended audience for this book. I am an engineer who works in a highly technical field and with very few women. I generally go out of my way to avoid the type of people in this book. There really isn’t a lot in here I can relate to...it all seems incredibly inane. I also don't read a ton of this type of literature but I have read much much better contemporary fiction than this. I found this book to be offensive and just very poorly written. This book is in my top five of disappointing books for this year.
Overall I really really disliked this book. I could probably go on for quite a bit longer about the things I didn’t like about this book. I am trying to think of an audience to recommend to but I am struggling with that. I wouldn’t recommend. If you can pick up the book somewhere and read the first few chapters that will give you a good feel for whether or not this would be something you’d like. I kept waiting for the book to get more engaging or witty after the first few chapters and it just didn’t for me.
Mostly this book was just boring. The writing doesn't flow well and the reader is jerked around from subject to subject in a way that is discontinuous at best; downright confusing at worst. We found ourselves immersed in the shallow culture of a foundation focused on the empowerment of women (I know there’s some irony here) only to suddenly be immersed into Jen’s struggle with fertility. Amidst all of this are scenes following the art culture which Jen is tenuously a part of as well; it was just not woven together well and was very jerky.
The majority of this book is incredibly insulting to women as a whole; I mean are the majority of women really this shallow? Even Jen, the main character, comes across as selfishly obsessed with having a baby. She does not consider other options such as adoption or spending her time helping out other needy children. She just drugs herself to the gills with fertility drugs and decides her whole reason for existence is to have a baby; how is any of this empowering? I think her husband is incredibly understanding about her obsession. However when he calls her on the fact she lets people walk all over her she basically calls him a lazy good for nothing who doesn’t earn enough money.
There is no plotline to speak of. The main character works for a foundation that is supposed to empower women (which is basically a farce and is funded via the foundation CEO's divorce settlement) and is constantly letting people take advantage of her. After a lifetime of doing this all it takes is her husband yelling at her once to make her change her ways which I found completely unbelievable. The whole book wraps up in a way that is very fairy tale happy and very abrupt...and completely unbelievable and contrived.
Some of this could have been forgiven if the book was cute or witty, however the dialogue is weak and jerky and awkward. The main character seems to be in a haze that is either drug-induced or just poorly written I couldn’t decide which.
I will say that I am most likely not the intended audience for this book. I am an engineer who works in a highly technical field and with very few women. I generally go out of my way to avoid the type of people in this book. There really isn’t a lot in here I can relate to...it all seems incredibly inane. I also don't read a ton of this type of literature but I have read much much better contemporary fiction than this. I found this book to be offensive and just very poorly written. This book is in my top five of disappointing books for this year.
Overall I really really disliked this book. I could probably go on for quite a bit longer about the things I didn’t like about this book. I am trying to think of an audience to recommend to but I am struggling with that. I wouldn’t recommend. If you can pick up the book somewhere and read the first few chapters that will give you a good feel for whether or not this would be something you’d like. I kept waiting for the book to get more engaging or witty after the first few chapters and it just didn’t for me.
February 10, 2017
This was a solid read but I wouldn't call it a favorite. It's well written and there were definitely some laugh out loud moments - especially in the context of today's working world. There is a strong mix of workplace comedy/satire and family/friend complex relationships. Jessica Winter did an amazing job of portraying an unhealthy work place as well as the difficulty of infertility. I really appreciate the way she portrayed friendship and marriage in this novel. It felt very real to me. It was certainly a well-written novel but, at times, it felt a bit too show-offy in terms of language. That gave it a bit of a less realistic feeling at moments. I wish the characters, especially the supporting characters, had more dimension. In the end, I felt as if the novel tried to be too many things at one time - a workplace satire, an intense exploration of marraige and friendship, the struggle of being an artist, and more. Although I liked it, I do think it's going to be a novel that isn't going to stick in my mind for the long term.
January 27, 2016
This is part workplace comedy, both infuriating and laugh-out-loud funny, and part a sincere portrait of the love and pain of friendship and marriage. The parody of the ridiculous, clueless running of a nonprofit is brought back to earth by the wonderfully irreverent, funny and real Jen and her relationships with her husband and best friends. This book made me laugh and it made me angry, all while keeping me truly invested in the characters. Break in Case of Emergency is at times both silly and snarky, but always with plenty of substance and heart to give it depth.
August 9, 2016
A 30-something Jen is adrift after losing her job at the start of the financial crisis. She takes a job at a 'female empowering' nonprofit and it's this job and her colleagues that provide the laughs and satire and snark. Jen's feelings of isolation are compounded be her fertility complications, the success of her best friends, her self-medication and the nightmare that is her new job. But at its heart this is a book about feminism, women's choices, money and power. It's unapologetic and quietly fierce as hell. The writing pace is fast and punchy and clever and the cover definitely makes it look lighter than it is: make no mistake, this is literary as fuck. Jen is messy, contradictory and infuriating at times and I absolutely loved her.
May 31, 2016
Absolutely loved this funny, heartwarming, at times heartbreaking story of Jen. A talented artist who struggles to believe in herself. Taking a job for a non for profit organization she finds herself being juggled and used by her superiors. All the while Jen and her husband Jim are trying to begin a family. Jessica Winter weaves Jen's story with beautiful and intricate dialogue.
February 7, 2019
1. Take a promising premise.
2. Drown it in bloated, self-congratulatory writing.
3. Punch said writing in the face several times with a thesaurus.
Result: this book.
2. Drown it in bloated, self-congratulatory writing.
3. Punch said writing in the face several times with a thesaurus.
Result: this book.
August 25, 2016
I loved this book.
As workplace satire, I think it did a great job of capturing the deadening feel of a deeply dysfunctional workplace. I've spent my career working in Silicon Valley, and I found the parallels between my experience of the dysfunctional version of the macho, male-dominated culture here and Winter's portrayal of the female-dominated non-profit world totally delightful (in a darkly comic way).
I empathized with Jen much more than I expected to. As a portrayal of a woman caught between the insecurities of her own background, the paralyzing and degrading ennui of a terrible workplace, trying to figure out how to navigate a social scene where everyone is much more privileged and successful than she is, and the general stress of trying to find her own identity and deal with financial insecurity, I thought it was done with sensitivity and skill.
I also enjoyed the stylistic elements of the narrative, where it is occasionally disjointed or interspersed with IM or email exchanges. I felt like these touches were used lightly and always to good effect, to reflect the harried and detached life of our protagonist.
I'm a little surprised by the lukewarm response to this book here. I don't read a ton of contemporary literary fiction, but I found this to be a really enjoyable mix of satire and characters who are drawn both with sharpness, but also with empathy and warmth. The prose is crisp and economical and enjoyable to read. I've read and enjoyed Jessica Winter's journalistic work at Slate, but still I wasn't really sure what to expect from a novel - so Break in Case of Emergency was a very pleasant surprise.
As workplace satire, I think it did a great job of capturing the deadening feel of a deeply dysfunctional workplace. I've spent my career working in Silicon Valley, and I found the parallels between my experience of the dysfunctional version of the macho, male-dominated culture here and Winter's portrayal of the female-dominated non-profit world totally delightful (in a darkly comic way).
I empathized with Jen much more than I expected to. As a portrayal of a woman caught between the insecurities of her own background, the paralyzing and degrading ennui of a terrible workplace, trying to figure out how to navigate a social scene where everyone is much more privileged and successful than she is, and the general stress of trying to find her own identity and deal with financial insecurity, I thought it was done with sensitivity and skill.
I also enjoyed the stylistic elements of the narrative, where it is occasionally disjointed or interspersed with IM or email exchanges. I felt like these touches were used lightly and always to good effect, to reflect the harried and detached life of our protagonist.
I'm a little surprised by the lukewarm response to this book here. I don't read a ton of contemporary literary fiction, but I found this to be a really enjoyable mix of satire and characters who are drawn both with sharpness, but also with empathy and warmth. The prose is crisp and economical and enjoyable to read. I've read and enjoyed Jessica Winter's journalistic work at Slate, but still I wasn't really sure what to expect from a novel - so Break in Case of Emergency was a very pleasant surprise.
August 29, 2016
If "Break in Case of Emergency" had only tried to be an absurdist comedy about work/celebrity philanthropy/pop feminism, I would've probably really liked it. The main character, Jen, starts a new job working at a celebrity's startup foundation for women, called LIFt. Instead of really working to help women, the foundation focuses mainly on the shallow and trendy ideas of feminism and empowerment common to women's fashion magazines, much to Jen's chagrin. Winter perfectly captures the endless emails, pointless meetings, and wasted research efforts pretty much anyone who's worked in an office can relate to. She also reflects intelligently on the problematic way celebrities and the media in general can latch onto feminist issues and distort them into stylish nothingness.
Unfortunately, this novel involves a lot more than Jen's work life. It takes on fertility issues, the struggle to be an artist, marriage, and the challenge of friendship into your 30s, when everyone starts taking score as far as money and child-rearing goes. All of these different elements start to confuse the snappy, satirical chapters of the novel. Also, Jen and the other characters don't really hold up when placed into more realistic settings and situations. Everything feels stilted and as I continued I began to feel more and more like I was just reading a collection of notes that intimated the beginning of a novel, not the finish of one. Also, Winter's writing gets overloaded with references, adjectives, and clauses, making it an effort to hold your focus through a paragraph and ascertain what's really happening.
I think Winter has some great ideas and a good sense of the moment, but I don't think it all comes together in "Break in Case of Emergency."
Unfortunately, this novel involves a lot more than Jen's work life. It takes on fertility issues, the struggle to be an artist, marriage, and the challenge of friendship into your 30s, when everyone starts taking score as far as money and child-rearing goes. All of these different elements start to confuse the snappy, satirical chapters of the novel. Also, Jen and the other characters don't really hold up when placed into more realistic settings and situations. Everything feels stilted and as I continued I began to feel more and more like I was just reading a collection of notes that intimated the beginning of a novel, not the finish of one. Also, Winter's writing gets overloaded with references, adjectives, and clauses, making it an effort to hold your focus through a paragraph and ascertain what's really happening.
I think Winter has some great ideas and a good sense of the moment, but I don't think it all comes together in "Break in Case of Emergency."
April 28, 2018
Break in Case of Emergency has probably been on my TBR for like ever. Since dinosaurs roamed the earth guys. So when I saw the chance to finally read it (thank you library!) I just had to grab it. However, I feel kind of underwhelmed after finishing it.
In this book, you will meet Jen. She is in her 30's and dealing with a bunch of problems: reproduction, friendship, status, and or course work. She lives in Brooklyn and whenever she makes a purchase she writes it down in her notebook with same pen, every time. However that's not all. Nope, she's married and takes Animexa, which is sort of like Adderall (I think?).
This book sort of kind of reminded me of Bridget Jones.. and I hated her. I was just praying that this book would be way freaking better.
Jen has stupid and ordinary complaints about her job, friends, and family/baby. I kind of kept flip-flopping if I liked or hated Jen throughout the book. When she whined or cried over something that meant so little to me.. I was completely annoyed and frustrated with her. Then when this continued I kind of wanted to burn the library book and just pay the overdue fine.
Overall, Jen was basically Bridget. I hate them both. Even though this book was written a heck of a lot better than Bridget Jones book - I just couldn't like the main character. Also, it was so boring to read most of the time. Heck, I wanted to work instead of read.
In this book, you will meet Jen. She is in her 30's and dealing with a bunch of problems: reproduction, friendship, status, and or course work. She lives in Brooklyn and whenever she makes a purchase she writes it down in her notebook with same pen, every time. However that's not all. Nope, she's married and takes Animexa, which is sort of like Adderall (I think?).
This book sort of kind of reminded me of Bridget Jones.. and I hated her. I was just praying that this book would be way freaking better.
Jen has stupid and ordinary complaints about her job, friends, and family/baby. I kind of kept flip-flopping if I liked or hated Jen throughout the book. When she whined or cried over something that meant so little to me.. I was completely annoyed and frustrated with her. Then when this continued I kind of wanted to burn the library book and just pay the overdue fine.
Overall, Jen was basically Bridget. I hate them both. Even though this book was written a heck of a lot better than Bridget Jones book - I just couldn't like the main character. Also, it was so boring to read most of the time. Heck, I wanted to work instead of read.
August 11, 2016
It's probably partially that I started reading this book after reading a really dumb memoir, but I was initially just struck by how smart and snappy Winter's writing is. Every once in a while it felt like she was trying to show off the use of some word, but by and large I was just so incredibly entertained by her relentless skewering of the non-profit world that I didn't much care. This woman has clearly been to one too many meetings whose goal was unclear and whose results were nonexistent. Winter also writes eloquently about friendship (especially about the post-college world when differences in class may emerge sharply, depending on the jobs people have taken and the familial resources to which they have access) and couple-hood and the trials of infertility, all without being maudlin or overly sentimental. All in all, it's one of the best novels I've read in a while.
July 17, 2016
I wanted to like this book. It skewers my industry where there's a lot to skewer. I also like the author from Slate podcasts. Sadly, it seemed too "first novel:" too many words that are creative with a know-it-all feel. (Really, *espy* when *see* would have worked just as well?) Some characters, like the boss, are entertaining but they're too one dimensional to not be eventually annoying. Disappointing.
July 8, 2021
I know I just called "Ursula, Under" an unwieldy book, but I'm going to use the term to describe "Break In Case Of Emergency" as well, only in a different sense. UU was unwieldy in that I think the story and underlying ideas were rich, but the writing style fell flat for me. In BICOE, I think the writer has a TON of raw talent, but it came off slightly unpolished. According to the back cover, the author previously wrote magazine articles, and that definitely came through in the work. There were lots of very short chapters and I wonder if the longer novel form was a challenge. The prose was often strange (such as using the word "completely" three times in one line) or else full of unnecessarily complicated sentences. I had trouble getting into the flow of the novel.
I found the parts about Jen's workplace to be the best. She works at LIFt, a charitable foundation helmed by a minor celebrity whose endless board directors and executives spend their time coming up with catchy acronyms and ruthlessly tearing each other down. Although there was deft and funny satire at work here, eventually I found myself getting angry on Jen's behalf and rooting for her to stage a dramatic resignation. The itch for her to really tell off the toxic people around her was never properly scratched.
The parts about her friends seemed a bit underdeveloped. I didn't really understand much about Pam or Meg past the surface level: one's an artist, the other's rich, both are just the best friends EVER and how did Jen even deserve to bask in their glow? I found her work BFF, Daisy, to not only be a much better friend to her but also to be the most developed and interesting character. Jen and her husband Jim's struggles to conceive mirrored her stymied career life, and was affecting. Except for the fact that they only referred to the baby as "a hypothetical tiny future boarder." Seeing that term three times in a paragraph is grating.
The best part about this novel is the dialogue. Jessica Winter writes really great dialogue and also recreates hilarious and spot on conversations through work emails. Once I got used to the prose style, the book flowed a bit better, but I still think it was a little too clever for the sake of being clever. Overall not a bad book but not my favorite. I think there is great potential for a second novel, though.
I found the parts about Jen's workplace to be the best. She works at LIFt, a charitable foundation helmed by a minor celebrity whose endless board directors and executives spend their time coming up with catchy acronyms and ruthlessly tearing each other down. Although there was deft and funny satire at work here, eventually I found myself getting angry on Jen's behalf and rooting for her to stage a dramatic resignation. The itch for her to really tell off the toxic people around her was never properly scratched.
The parts about her friends seemed a bit underdeveloped. I didn't really understand much about Pam or Meg past the surface level: one's an artist, the other's rich, both are just the best friends EVER and how did Jen even deserve to bask in their glow? I found her work BFF, Daisy, to not only be a much better friend to her but also to be the most developed and interesting character. Jen and her husband Jim's struggles to conceive mirrored her stymied career life, and was affecting. Except for the fact that they only referred to the baby as "a hypothetical tiny future boarder." Seeing that term three times in a paragraph is grating.
The best part about this novel is the dialogue. Jessica Winter writes really great dialogue and also recreates hilarious and spot on conversations through work emails. Once I got used to the prose style, the book flowed a bit better, but I still think it was a little too clever for the sake of being clever. Overall not a bad book but not my favorite. I think there is great potential for a second novel, though.
August 2, 2016
Let me be clear: this is a book about first world problems--specifically first world problems that affect one woman in her thirties as she comes to terms with feeling left behind due to her age, employment status, and reproductive capabilities in terms with what she sees (imagines?) in the lives of her friends and peers. Her life is not all that terrible, and this book could be seen as short-sighted in a world where we know very real problems exist.
Except that the main character is not a whiner, and she is a human with innate fears & insecurities that read as very authentic. And Jessica Winter's prose is spot on, making you really feel how genuine & nuanced these moments of self-doubt can be. This quote in particular really got me for how easily it could be something I would grapple with:
"Then she rolled up the New Yorker, stuffed it into her tote, fished out her phone, and tapped out a 'Congratulations from Jen and Jim on the fourth floor!' And stared at the screen, contemplating whether or not to add more exclamation points, whether they would enhance or belittle the enthusiasm conveyed in her joyous reply-all.
She decided on four explanation points, then deleted one of them, then sent."
So I loved this book and I really understood this book, and if this review is merely a preemptive strike against what I can imagine the major criticism that would be leveled against it, then so be it. Four & a half stars, and highly recommended.
Except that the main character is not a whiner, and she is a human with innate fears & insecurities that read as very authentic. And Jessica Winter's prose is spot on, making you really feel how genuine & nuanced these moments of self-doubt can be. This quote in particular really got me for how easily it could be something I would grapple with:
"Then she rolled up the New Yorker, stuffed it into her tote, fished out her phone, and tapped out a 'Congratulations from Jen and Jim on the fourth floor!' And stared at the screen, contemplating whether or not to add more exclamation points, whether they would enhance or belittle the enthusiasm conveyed in her joyous reply-all.
She decided on four explanation points, then deleted one of them, then sent."
So I loved this book and I really understood this book, and if this review is merely a preemptive strike against what I can imagine the major criticism that would be leveled against it, then so be it. Four & a half stars, and highly recommended.
August 11, 2016
I didn't think I would like it for quite a while. It took a very long time to get going, and some of the dialogue sounded painful. But then we got to the part were she has a traumatizing event occur to her and her bosses, while acting understanding about her personal situation, also cannot understand why she takes more than a day off. This unfortunately struck a painful chord. While I didn't have nearly the same debilitating trauma that Jen did, I did face some low times made worse by who I worked for.
The long and short of it is that I identified with the person Jen was. I'm not sure I liked her, because I sure as hell don't like me. And Jen could've been me, with a few tweaks here and there. For what it's worth, I thought the book itself was good enough once we got into the meat of who Jen was, and what her friendships, and her marriage with Jim meant to her. Or maybe I can only find Jen sympathetic because she could have been me, with a few tweaks here and there, artistic ability being one of them.
The long and short of it is that I identified with the person Jen was. I'm not sure I liked her, because I sure as hell don't like me. And Jen could've been me, with a few tweaks here and there. For what it's worth, I thought the book itself was good enough once we got into the meat of who Jen was, and what her friendships, and her marriage with Jim meant to her. Or maybe I can only find Jen sympathetic because she could have been me, with a few tweaks here and there, artistic ability being one of them.
August 19, 2016
The premise of the book sounded promising but I found that while reading it, I was forcing myself to get through it. The characters and the setting seemed kind of "The Devil Wears Prada-esque" with someone in their mid 20s-30s, tackling a job with difficult coworkers, but I just couldn't empathize with any of them. I felt like there wasn't a real plot line and it was very difficult to follow at times because it didn't progress in a traditional fashion. Even the main character, I found incredibly frustrating. Overall, I can see why people would enjoy this text but it simply wasn't for me.
Disclaimer: I was sent this book for review by the publisher. I would usually have a blog post about it but due to the fact that I did not enjoy the book, I will post a small paragraph here instead of a full review.
Disclaimer: I was sent this book for review by the publisher. I would usually have a blog post about it but due to the fact that I did not enjoy the book, I will post a small paragraph here instead of a full review.
August 21, 2017
I'm not really sure why I couldn't warm to this story like I wanted. Maybe the feeling of mixed genres - sort of chick lit without the bubbly feel good bits, sort of satire but with its sharpness buried in emotional drama - or maybe the unsympathetic main character.
There was a lot of promise in the idea of Jen taking a 'non-job' with an organisation creating a raft of female empowerment projects, and some of the opening scenes were sharply funny, but overall it just didn't work for me.
I received a free copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
There was a lot of promise in the idea of Jen taking a 'non-job' with an organisation creating a raft of female empowerment projects, and some of the opening scenes were sharply funny, but overall it just didn't work for me.
I received a free copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
August 11, 2016
I want to hug this book. It was so real and honest. The author captured female friendships as they morph and change as we succeed and fail through life. I didn't like it when I began reading, I didn't even like it when I was halfway through, but for some inexplicable reason I love it now that I've finished.
April 1, 2018
The age-old problem of trying to ‘have it all’ bedevils our thirty-something heroine as she juggles the roles of wife, employee and best friend, while confronting the issue of a fertility ticking-time bomb. This biting satire will strike many a chord with anyone who has ever worked in an all-female workplace, with bitchy bosses and undermining colleagues.
Reviewed for Whichbook.net
Reviewed for Whichbook.net
September 6, 2016
This book sounded interesting from what I had read about it beforehand, but honestly it ended up being something of a disappointment. I think the main reason for this is that it's trying to deal with too many heavy subjects at once. Feminism, motherhood, money, the struggles of being an artist, dealing with friendships after college, etc.. However, in trying to get through so much Winter is unable to give each subject the attention it deserves. There were a lot of interesting ideas here, but we only seem to get a shallow of glimpse of the story she could have told.
Take for example the topic of motherhood. Our protagonist, Jen, is struggling to conceive while her close friends are effortlessly building their own families. She also works at a feminist charitable foundation, which claims to want to empower and inspire any and all women. This could have been a very interesting storyline, Jen learning that motherhood is not essential to femininity, and vice versa. This is even mentioned by Jen at the end: "I know we're not on board with the word 'feminism' as an institution - but the general idea is that women don't have to conform to prescribed roles. I mean, being empathetic and nurturing and emotionally open are great things, but I don't think a woman should beat herself up if those aren't her super-strongest qualities. Not every woman has to be a mother, you know?" This outburst of Jen's is great and I really loved the sentiment, but honestly it was too little too late. By this point Jen has gotten pregnant, she has what she wanted and what she's been told to want by this very attitude that she's criticising. This wouldn't be an issue if there were other women in the story that actually didn't want kids, but there aren't any of those. There are characters who haven't mentioned kids of course, but no one ever talks about not wanting any. The book may preach this progressive attitude, but it doesn't actually show it very well.
Another issue with the book is the tone. It can't quite seem to decide whether or not it wants to be a lighthearted comedy or a more serious drama. Jen's severe insecurities, the heavy themes of feminism and motherhood, the emotional scenes between Jen and her husband - all of these make for interesting drama. However, the book is overall quite light and comedic. There was a particularly funny rant about cheese that I just loved, but it was sandwiched between some very serious moments that really just ruined it for me. I'm not trying to be harsh - both the dramatic and comedic elements of the novel are, taken individually, well done. However, I feel that Winter wasn't able to mesh the two elements together as well as she could have. This could simply be due to a lack of experience however, as this is her debut novel.
One last thing that bothered me about this book is the ending. Pretty much everything about the ending bothered me. It just seemed too... easy. Jen got pregnant, she made up with her friends, she left her job, she started working as a full-time artist. Everyone was so happy and it just seemed too sickly sweet to be in any way realistic. Jen has many, many flaws that constantly popped up throughout the story. She's insecure, self conscious, and something of a pushover. At the end, instead of growing up and realising her faults, she has a fight with her husband and it's him who forces her to confront these issues. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely agree with him. Jen was really pissing me off by the end. The problem is that I really don't like that, in a book that seems to want to explore women and women's issues, it's the man who essentially solves the conflict. It seems somewhat counterproductive.
Anyway, I know I've been a bit harsh, but it wasn't that bad of a book. There were some genuinely funny moments and some good characters. I just feel that it could have been a lot better than it was.
Take for example the topic of motherhood. Our protagonist, Jen, is struggling to conceive while her close friends are effortlessly building their own families. She also works at a feminist charitable foundation, which claims to want to empower and inspire any and all women. This could have been a very interesting storyline, Jen learning that motherhood is not essential to femininity, and vice versa. This is even mentioned by Jen at the end: "I know we're not on board with the word 'feminism' as an institution - but the general idea is that women don't have to conform to prescribed roles. I mean, being empathetic and nurturing and emotionally open are great things, but I don't think a woman should beat herself up if those aren't her super-strongest qualities. Not every woman has to be a mother, you know?" This outburst of Jen's is great and I really loved the sentiment, but honestly it was too little too late. By this point Jen has gotten pregnant, she has what she wanted and what she's been told to want by this very attitude that she's criticising. This wouldn't be an issue if there were other women in the story that actually didn't want kids, but there aren't any of those. There are characters who haven't mentioned kids of course, but no one ever talks about not wanting any. The book may preach this progressive attitude, but it doesn't actually show it very well.
Another issue with the book is the tone. It can't quite seem to decide whether or not it wants to be a lighthearted comedy or a more serious drama. Jen's severe insecurities, the heavy themes of feminism and motherhood, the emotional scenes between Jen and her husband - all of these make for interesting drama. However, the book is overall quite light and comedic. There was a particularly funny rant about cheese that I just loved, but it was sandwiched between some very serious moments that really just ruined it for me. I'm not trying to be harsh - both the dramatic and comedic elements of the novel are, taken individually, well done. However, I feel that Winter wasn't able to mesh the two elements together as well as she could have. This could simply be due to a lack of experience however, as this is her debut novel.
One last thing that bothered me about this book is the ending. Pretty much everything about the ending bothered me. It just seemed too... easy. Jen got pregnant, she made up with her friends, she left her job, she started working as a full-time artist. Everyone was so happy and it just seemed too sickly sweet to be in any way realistic. Jen has many, many flaws that constantly popped up throughout the story. She's insecure, self conscious, and something of a pushover. At the end, instead of growing up and realising her faults, she has a fight with her husband and it's him who forces her to confront these issues. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely agree with him. Jen was really pissing me off by the end. The problem is that I really don't like that, in a book that seems to want to explore women and women's issues, it's the man who essentially solves the conflict. It seems somewhat counterproductive.
Anyway, I know I've been a bit harsh, but it wasn't that bad of a book. There were some genuinely funny moments and some good characters. I just feel that it could have been a lot better than it was.
December 19, 2017
Whenever I seek out lighter reading, I'm almost always disappointed. A perfect romantic partner manifests out of nowhere. Stilted dialogue. Stupid characters. A plot peppered with too many handy coincidences, unfolding with clunky joie de vivre.
Pamela Paul, editor of The NY Times Book Review, recommended this book on their podcast, so I knew I was in good hands. This is the light and funny but well-crafted read that I searched for. It's the funniest book I've read in a while in fact, and boy did I need it.
Set during the 2008 financial crisis, this story is one year in the life of Jen. A recently laid-off artist who lives in the part of Brooklyn she and her schoolteacher husband can afford ("Not Ditmas Park"), she thinks her employment luck has finally improved when she lands a job doing communications at a newly launched charity. Jen soon learns to her dismay however that this charity, which has the noble but hazy goal of "empowering women", is just the vanity project of a former actress/wealthy divorcee/would-be philanthropist. And it's peopled with some truly clueless and fairly terrible social climbers who have no idea what they are doing, besides "good."
Jen needs the money and the insurance, as she and her husband are trying to conceive, so she keeps going to work in her poorly defined position with even more poorly defined goals with a boss from Hell and her compatriots who all speak in a self-help bromide riddled word salad:
Other than her awesomely sarcastic cubicle mate Daisy, everyone at the foundation sounds like this. That's true whether it's Jen's passive-aggressive boss pecking at her under the guise of uplifting her, or whether it's another manager telling Jen to replace actual photos of Nigerian female scholarship recipients with those of Cameroonian models dressed in a white, upper-class lady notions of African garb.
If I had any complaints with this book, it's that not only does everyone at the Foundation kind of sound all the same, Jen and her friends also kind of sound all the same (brimming with overly literate and arch humor.) But this novel is clearly a satire, even if it has a warm heart buried at its center. I think Winter is pretty smart, and is probably doing this quite intentionally. Brooklyn hipsters in one corner, Manhattan noblesse oblige in the other. The sameness is intentional, even with the characters we like. Winter has affection for her heroine, even as she freely explores the less likable qualities of her and her friends. The language can be a little overly wordy and flowery in places, but it's a first novel and I only found it mildly distracting at times.
Finally, I think some readers objected to all the mockery of female characters. I think women can be objects of satire just as readily as men, as long as the material is worthy of skewering. And two pretentious male characters (a video game millionaire and a sketchy sports nutrition bar entrepreneur) are introduced during the second half of the book on a hilariously misbegotten trip Jen and her boss Karina take to Belize.
The best description I can give of this book-even though it doesn't truly do it justice-is that it's a literary fiction rendition of The Devil Wears Prada. I liked.
Pamela Paul, editor of The NY Times Book Review, recommended this book on their podcast, so I knew I was in good hands. This is the light and funny but well-crafted read that I searched for. It's the funniest book I've read in a while in fact, and boy did I need it.
Set during the 2008 financial crisis, this story is one year in the life of Jen. A recently laid-off artist who lives in the part of Brooklyn she and her schoolteacher husband can afford ("Not Ditmas Park"), she thinks her employment luck has finally improved when she lands a job doing communications at a newly launched charity. Jen soon learns to her dismay however that this charity, which has the noble but hazy goal of "empowering women", is just the vanity project of a former actress/wealthy divorcee/would-be philanthropist. And it's peopled with some truly clueless and fairly terrible social climbers who have no idea what they are doing, besides "good."
Jen needs the money and the insurance, as she and her husband are trying to conceive, so she keeps going to work in her poorly defined position with even more poorly defined goals with a boss from Hell and her compatriots who all speak in a self-help bromide riddled word salad:
Okay, so motherhood is a fundamental strength that we somehow twist into a fundamental conflict: am I a woman first or a mother first? Well, my answer is yes. What comes first, home or work or the world outside my window? My answer is yes. How does being a mother influence my ethics? My answer is yes. How do I put my children first and put the children of the developing world first, too? My answer is yes.
Other than her awesomely sarcastic cubicle mate Daisy, everyone at the foundation sounds like this. That's true whether it's Jen's passive-aggressive boss pecking at her under the guise of uplifting her, or whether it's another manager telling Jen to replace actual photos of Nigerian female scholarship recipients with those of Cameroonian models dressed in a white, upper-class lady notions of African garb.
If I had any complaints with this book, it's that not only does everyone at the Foundation kind of sound all the same, Jen and her friends also kind of sound all the same (brimming with overly literate and arch humor.) But this novel is clearly a satire, even if it has a warm heart buried at its center. I think Winter is pretty smart, and is probably doing this quite intentionally. Brooklyn hipsters in one corner, Manhattan noblesse oblige in the other. The sameness is intentional, even with the characters we like. Winter has affection for her heroine, even as she freely explores the less likable qualities of her and her friends. The language can be a little overly wordy and flowery in places, but it's a first novel and I only found it mildly distracting at times.
Finally, I think some readers objected to all the mockery of female characters. I think women can be objects of satire just as readily as men, as long as the material is worthy of skewering. And two pretentious male characters (a video game millionaire and a sketchy sports nutrition bar entrepreneur) are introduced during the second half of the book on a hilariously misbegotten trip Jen and her boss Karina take to Belize.
The best description I can give of this book-even though it doesn't truly do it justice-is that it's a literary fiction rendition of The Devil Wears Prada. I liked.
September 4, 2018
BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: Speaking Out and Speaking Up
http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/201...
A young woman, out of work, takes a job at a “vanity non-profit.”
This story is really interesting — in the many years I worked in non-profits I had not really ever thought of foundations as being vanity plays. Nor, had I ever thought of them being crookedly incompetent. Trying to work seriously in an organization that is being organized to the advantage of all the workers, where everything is a pissing contest and a society for the adulation of the founder is not beyond the imagination however. The frustration of the job would be so irritating; beyond crazy.
Add to that other issues that Jen and her husband are experiencing, an ill-advised trip to the tropics on “foundation business,” and an old friend who has too long infringed upon her goodwill and you have a stressful situation requiring a twist to bring Jen and her husband out of just surviving so they can flourish.
What I didn’t expect in this meek-seeming woman is her artistic ability. For me this book is a tale of art versus money, the sheep-like ability of the wealthy to suck up to contemporary art that is created to take advantage of this ovine quality to stare at the Emperor and admire his new clothes. What’s hard is that Jen has to suffer the fools to make a living, but, is blind to other wrongs. She can be meek, but when she finally speaks up for her art, her world changes. I certainly wishe Jen learned to speak her mind earlier, but needing to earn a living can maker that difficult.
The narration by Xe Sands was great, perfect in tone and delivery, I don’t recall a single jarring note. She really nailed the tired, the defeated, the jaded, and the giggling sycophant personalities.
This is a fine book that made me think about the many ways women are thwarted in their professional lives, and not just by men.
http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/201...
A young woman, out of work, takes a job at a “vanity non-profit.”
This story is really interesting — in the many years I worked in non-profits I had not really ever thought of foundations as being vanity plays. Nor, had I ever thought of them being crookedly incompetent. Trying to work seriously in an organization that is being organized to the advantage of all the workers, where everything is a pissing contest and a society for the adulation of the founder is not beyond the imagination however. The frustration of the job would be so irritating; beyond crazy.
Add to that other issues that Jen and her husband are experiencing, an ill-advised trip to the tropics on “foundation business,” and an old friend who has too long infringed upon her goodwill and you have a stressful situation requiring a twist to bring Jen and her husband out of just surviving so they can flourish.
What I didn’t expect in this meek-seeming woman is her artistic ability. For me this book is a tale of art versus money, the sheep-like ability of the wealthy to suck up to contemporary art that is created to take advantage of this ovine quality to stare at the Emperor and admire his new clothes. What’s hard is that Jen has to suffer the fools to make a living, but, is blind to other wrongs. She can be meek, but when she finally speaks up for her art, her world changes. I certainly wishe Jen learned to speak her mind earlier, but needing to earn a living can maker that difficult.
The narration by Xe Sands was great, perfect in tone and delivery, I don’t recall a single jarring note. She really nailed the tired, the defeated, the jaded, and the giggling sycophant personalities.
This is a fine book that made me think about the many ways women are thwarted in their professional lives, and not just by men.
April 24, 2017
I started out disliking this book - the writing style, the choppy chapters, the nonsensical characters -
even as much that I considered just putting it away (which I rarely do). But it quickly grew on me because every once in a while an idea would jump out from the text and resonate with my own thoughts.
even as much that I considered just putting it away (which I rarely do). But it quickly grew on me because every once in a while an idea would jump out from the text and resonate with my own thoughts.
Read
June 23, 2016This was a story that I sadly DNF'd. While I did feel that the story was well written. I felt that its inner meaning of 'personal relatioship navigation and friendship dynamics' was often lost amid the meaningless surface minutia of the characters everyday existences. Can you say Kardashians?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2016
A funny send up of earnest development nonprofits. As someone who works at a nonprofit there were certainly familiar notes but I think we're still waiting for additional entries to truly exploit the humor and irony of some of this work.
November 22, 2016
A really enjoyable read. Jen is incredibly relatable, and her ridiculous workplace definitely rings true. I loved the dynamics between her and her two best friends, and found the ending very satisfying.
September 17, 2016
Jessica Winter gets me. I am Jen. Jen is me.
This is a delicious, poignant, hilarious novel about young working women. I recommend!
This is a delicious, poignant, hilarious novel about young working women. I recommend!
August 14, 2019
A (very) Brief Plot Overview
The story focuses on a year in the life of Jen, a 30-something New Yorker who takes up a job at a charitable start up led by an eccentric celebrity and her band of nodding, hipster sidekicks that seems to talk the talk but doesn’t actually do anything. During this year, Jen also navigates fertility struggles that impact her relationship with her husband Jim and her two best friends, artist Pam and well off Meg.
What’s great about it?
First of all, every character in this is really well written. Sometimes novels with artistic characters tend to portray the artsy characters in a really stereotypical, 2-dimensional way – flighty, hard to pin down, kind of annoying – but Jessica Winter makes all of her characters human. Even the bitchy, clique-y women that Jen works with have something about them that pushes them past the boundary of just the two faced office annoyance. Every character, even Jen herself, has flaws that make you dislike them a little, which I find refreshing. Gone are the whimsical yet intelligent yet quirky yet aloof yet friendly yet ditsy protagonists of the past. I welcome realistic portrayals of people in literature and I feel like this is something Jessica Winter really nails.
At times, the satirical writing in this book is toe curling and hysterical. When the story focuses on Jen’s workplace, the writing hooks me. It has me grimacing and biting my tongue as if I am Jen herself. You know exactly the type of people who are like colleagues of Jen – they litter Instagram as influencers who talk about finding your purpose in life, charitable giving and selflessness, all whilst trying to flog you a diet tea and a 40% discount for an online clothing retailer. For me, these parts are by far the best parts of the book because they provoked a real reaction in me as the reader. The work sections offer the most interesting dialogue, relatable content and are a really thought provoking social commentary.
A running theme of the book is fertility issues and I felt like this was handled really well. Reading Jen’s internal passages about her feelings surrounding her fertility struggles are parts that really connect you to the character. At times, Jen’s refusal to use ‘proper terminology’ came across a little confusing, but I mostly found these parts to be really well written and really honest. Writing about such personal and emotive topics such as miscarriage and fertility treatments can’t be easy, but I feel like Jessica Winter handled these issues really respectfully and provided a brilliant insight into a difficult situation.
What’s not so great about it?
This book took me a little while to get into, which is unusual for me as I normally hook pretty easily. There’s something about reading that first 50 pages that felt a little like hard work. I grew to like Jen as a character the more I pursued with the book, but at first she seemed like someone who was setting out the world around her as if it were against her. This meant that I knew where the story would end up before it had even really got going. There were no shocks other than how long Jen managed to keep her cool in situations that would have had me erupting like a mint in a bottle of Coca Cola. The interactions at Jen’s workplace were enough to keep me entertained until the end, but other than that there was nothing that set me alight when reading this.
Rate Me:
A solid 3/5. I wouldn’t ring my mum to tell her that she HAD to read this book, but I’d lend her it if she asked for something new to read.
The story focuses on a year in the life of Jen, a 30-something New Yorker who takes up a job at a charitable start up led by an eccentric celebrity and her band of nodding, hipster sidekicks that seems to talk the talk but doesn’t actually do anything. During this year, Jen also navigates fertility struggles that impact her relationship with her husband Jim and her two best friends, artist Pam and well off Meg.
What’s great about it?
First of all, every character in this is really well written. Sometimes novels with artistic characters tend to portray the artsy characters in a really stereotypical, 2-dimensional way – flighty, hard to pin down, kind of annoying – but Jessica Winter makes all of her characters human. Even the bitchy, clique-y women that Jen works with have something about them that pushes them past the boundary of just the two faced office annoyance. Every character, even Jen herself, has flaws that make you dislike them a little, which I find refreshing. Gone are the whimsical yet intelligent yet quirky yet aloof yet friendly yet ditsy protagonists of the past. I welcome realistic portrayals of people in literature and I feel like this is something Jessica Winter really nails.
At times, the satirical writing in this book is toe curling and hysterical. When the story focuses on Jen’s workplace, the writing hooks me. It has me grimacing and biting my tongue as if I am Jen herself. You know exactly the type of people who are like colleagues of Jen – they litter Instagram as influencers who talk about finding your purpose in life, charitable giving and selflessness, all whilst trying to flog you a diet tea and a 40% discount for an online clothing retailer. For me, these parts are by far the best parts of the book because they provoked a real reaction in me as the reader. The work sections offer the most interesting dialogue, relatable content and are a really thought provoking social commentary.
A running theme of the book is fertility issues and I felt like this was handled really well. Reading Jen’s internal passages about her feelings surrounding her fertility struggles are parts that really connect you to the character. At times, Jen’s refusal to use ‘proper terminology’ came across a little confusing, but I mostly found these parts to be really well written and really honest. Writing about such personal and emotive topics such as miscarriage and fertility treatments can’t be easy, but I feel like Jessica Winter handled these issues really respectfully and provided a brilliant insight into a difficult situation.
What’s not so great about it?
This book took me a little while to get into, which is unusual for me as I normally hook pretty easily. There’s something about reading that first 50 pages that felt a little like hard work. I grew to like Jen as a character the more I pursued with the book, but at first she seemed like someone who was setting out the world around her as if it were against her. This meant that I knew where the story would end up before it had even really got going. There were no shocks other than how long Jen managed to keep her cool in situations that would have had me erupting like a mint in a bottle of Coca Cola. The interactions at Jen’s workplace were enough to keep me entertained until the end, but other than that there was nothing that set me alight when reading this.
Rate Me:
A solid 3/5. I wouldn’t ring my mum to tell her that she HAD to read this book, but I’d lend her it if she asked for something new to read.
March 3, 2018
I didn’t anticipate liking this book, or relating to this book, as much as I did. I actually picked it as a sort of light hearted break after having read some heavier books. It begins with a quote by Joan DIdion: “we flatter ourselves by thinking this compulsion to please others an attractive traits: a gift for imaginative empathy, evidence of our willingness to give.” That quote is a good summary of what the book’s central themes were: self-respect and what that means within the context of relationships, working, and one’s mental health.
I really enjoyed the frenetic, neurotic narration of the main character. While much of the main character’s surroundings were satirized and dramatized, I think it was nonetheless a very well done take on the modern workplace and the concessions one makes in order to seem okay in front of everyone else.
I also like that the author didn’t attempt to tie things up in a happy ending, which makes it even more relatable. There is no attempt at trying to portray a moral to the story or redeem any of these characters. We can assume that the main character and her husband sort of ride off into the sunset, but that ride is still as bumpy and marked with horrors as it had been the majority of the book. I’d recommend it those who are okay with your chick lit having a dash of cynicism and realism. I will say I had steered my way from this sort of fiction in recent years, but this gave me some motivation to dive back in.
I really enjoyed the frenetic, neurotic narration of the main character. While much of the main character’s surroundings were satirized and dramatized, I think it was nonetheless a very well done take on the modern workplace and the concessions one makes in order to seem okay in front of everyone else.
I also like that the author didn’t attempt to tie things up in a happy ending, which makes it even more relatable. There is no attempt at trying to portray a moral to the story or redeem any of these characters. We can assume that the main character and her husband sort of ride off into the sunset, but that ride is still as bumpy and marked with horrors as it had been the majority of the book. I’d recommend it those who are okay with your chick lit having a dash of cynicism and realism. I will say I had steered my way from this sort of fiction in recent years, but this gave me some motivation to dive back in.
June 12, 2018
This was a cute book about friendship and relationships and just surviving life. The main character was a little bit frustrating. It seemed like she had a lot of solutions to her issues in front of her and chose not to take them in a lot of places. The other girls weren’t my favorite characters either. They all just seemed disingenuous to me. My favorite was actually Jen’s husband, Jim who was consistently honest through the book. I would have like for the friendship theme to have been stronger.
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