Please Stand By

by Carolyn Bennett

The fight to save a publicly funded television station from privatization is led by a crusader willing to lose everything. Meet Suzanne Foley--single, 38, heavy-drinking, and Ativan-reliant--a freelance writer with the Alberta Broadcasting System looking to sabotage a smarmy new flack tasked with making the station's membership pledge campaign more "dynamic and entertaining." Her colleagues, none of them as smart or as desperate, either reject her schemes outright or reluctantly go along, but branding won't replace integrity, not on Suzanne's watch. Problem is, she's becoming unhinged, experiencing flashbacks to her troubled youth, which is nothing that sex with a far younger man and trips to the pharmacy and bar can't fix--until that fix almost does her in.

162 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2019

Reviews

[Chinook · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this book, but once I did I found it a very moving look at a character coping poorly with childhood trauma amidst a comic look at public broadcasting.

[CarolG · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. There were a few humorous moments but mostly I found Suzanne's self-destructive behaviour to be cringeworthy. At less than 200 pages it's a short book but it took me a long time to read. I don't think this book would be for everyone but it's well-written and evoked a range of emotions.

[Joshua Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please Stand By is both hilarious and harrowing, a story of a young woman dealing with both the demons of her past and finding a way to move on. Set in a vividly depicted. frosty Edmonton, it gives a look behind the scenes at an antiquated public television station trying to modernize in the new media world. The protagonist, Suzanne tries to 'modernize' her old methods of coping: alcohol, drugs and a bit of impersonal sex into something more positive and forward thinking. The scenes in the lame public television station, and its burnt out employees are some of the funniest I have read in a book in a long time.

The book is an honest and brave inside look at addiction and depression, at the level of Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano", but is as entertaining as Paula Hawkins' thriller "Girl On the Train", but in a comic vein - and it's every bit as funny as Carrie Fisher's rollicking but also harrowing memoir "Wishful Drinking". It's a very quick and breezy read, you can finish it in one plane trip... and it might make you think twice about availing yourself of the free drinks in first class. Carolyn Bennett is a fresh new voice, and I greatly look forward to her next book.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suzanne Foley is a broken woman. Things that happened to her in her childhood still haunt her. This has led her to become an alcoholic to drown out those troubling memories.
She works in Edmonton for the Alberta Broadcasting System as a writer who particularly works hard to write script for pledge week to try to keep the channel on the air.
This novel looks at the difficulties of keeping good programming on a station without big stars or commercial support. It also looks at the difficulty of any job when new management takes over and wants to change everything.
Friendships, relationships and long-held grief is fractured and split open.

[Unah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly loved reading this book and could not put it down. I felt the pain in the central character, Suzanne's story,the comedic relief at her work place and the feeling of the isolation that alcoholism gives. Carolyn Bennett does a humorous job describing the behind scenes look at public television and it's fundraising antics in Edmonton, Alberta. This was the perfect read for a sunday afternoon....."What's for dinner?" "Leave me alone , I'm reading".
A must read from a new Canadian Writer.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts off slowly, with another pathetic damaged creature acting as protagonist and driving me crazy. There is also a backstory to the main character that is hinted at in clues, but remains too confusing and obscure to be ultimately effective. However, the writing style is superb and once we get to the scene at the open house, the book starts racing ahead with intense, dark, witty style. Frustrating, but eventually rewarding.

[Heather Babcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please Stand By is a well-written novel that artfully blends comedy and drama.

Suzanne, the protagonist, is edgy, sarcastic and kinda messed up - and I totally loved her!

Bennett handles Suzanne's traumatic flashbacks with sensitivity and finesse. As someone who struggles with PTSD, I could really relate to what Suzanne was going through.

Highly recommend.

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never thought I'd read a book focused on ABS (Alberta Broadcasting System).... and a hilarious one at that. I'm sure anyone who lives in Canada and values provincial public channels will appreciate the offbeat wackiness.

[Barbara Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific read - unpredictable, funny, authentic, badass. Highly recommended!

[Carolyn Writer/Comic]

Not what I think, but what writer Sonia Saikaley thinks -- her review in the The Mirimachi Reader:

https://miramichireader.ca/2020/11/pl...