Pounding the Pavement: A Novel

by Jennifer van der Kwast

Sarah Pelletier is unemployed and in a very bad mood. Her film company has tanked—right before Christmas, no less—leaving her with one lousy swivel chair and a lifetime supply of paper clips. Her headhunter is a fool who can’t pronounce her name; her irritatingly gorgeous roommate’s idea of a fun time is to drag her to pink-slip parties; and, to top it all off, her last twelve bucks are trapped in a Metro Card. Something has got to give.

So begins one smart twentysomething’s quest for the right job in New York City. After extricating herself from a morass of self-pity strewn with candy bar wrappers and wine bottles, Sarah turns to the all-important task of padding her résumé—while artfully dodging her parents’ attempts to bribe her into law school. Of course, padding your résumé puts you in jeopardy of being construed as over-qualified. In which case you might try unpadding your résumé, which then puts you in danger of being labeled inexperienced. Which leaves you with the option of stalking your ex-boss in the hope that she’ll drag you along in her ascent to greatness in another company. Unless she stabs you in the back first. Meanwhile, when a temp job saddles her with a massive crush on a Brooklyn-dwelling dreamboat named Jake, Sarah’s already full plate is crowded with lust, jealousy, and mild obsession, just when she’s trying to be professional.

This hilarious first novel from a confident new voice in women’s fiction offers a pitch-perfect take on the dignity-whittling survival game of job hunting—starring a lovably neurotic heroine whose problems ring refreshingly true.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I picked up POUNDING THE PAVEMENT, I was really just looking for a fun chick lit read. I wasn't expecting anything big --- just a relatable story about a girl who can't find a man or a job. I mean, who can't relate to that, right?

And while this novel definitely wasn't bad, there just wasn't anything extraordinary about it either. When I think about chick lit stereotypes, I think of everything I found in this book -- a self- entitled main character who seems overly picky in her choices of work (even though she claims to be desperate for a job), characters who think that the perfect man is seemingly the only path to happiness, then of course you have your prototype big city, full of perfect publish jobs and adorable coffee shops where rich yuppies go to write articles for their perfect magazine jobs. Check, check, check, it's all here.

So, Sarah is unemployed and is desperate for any job she can find -- or, actually, just for a cushy job in publishing that will allow her to discover the next great American novel. Her roommate , a self-absorbed fashionista with a perfect closet full of expensive clothes, drags Sarah to pink-slip parties which do nothing to help her self-esteem or her job search.

When Sarah lands a temp office job, she meets a gorgeous guy named Jake.

Then, she gets fired a lot, whines a lot, and continues to search so-not-desperately for jobs.

There was nothing wrong here, but it just felt like I'd read this novel before, you know? It's fine for a lazy afternoon, but you may want to save your time for something a big -- fresher, perhaps? I mean, there are only so many minutes in a day. You can't read them all.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The thing about the "5-star rating system" is that you have to rate every book in the context of ALL the books you read. In that light, this book is a one, at best. But if you evaluate it solely for what it was (beach-read quickie book), it was pretty good. I read it quickly and found the characters interesting and mostly likeable, and I appreciated the New York-ness of it as well as the "coming of age" plot. I hate to say that I disappointed with the ending, but all I really wanted was for the book to wrap itself up neat and tidy. It was too "fluffy" to try to pull off an open-ended close.

[Frieda Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a waste of what could have been a decent story. The ending is horrendous. You may as well just read the dust jacket because the story doesn’t ever reach a decent conclusion.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unemployed young woman lives in Manhattan. Hasn't money. Okay, sure. Fun story, didn't really have an end.

[Tina Suraj · Rating 1 out of 5]

Being unemployed, I really thought I could commiserate with the main character...boy, was I wrong. I had a hard time getting through it. The main character is whiny, self-loathing, self destructive and highly pretentious. I loathe people/characters that have self righteous and arrogant attitude towards life...which is in essence the main character. Adding insult to injury to a reader, the book is held together by a threadlike plot, with awful characterizations and an even random and disappointing ending.This is not saying the author is terrible writer (she is not) but the book as a whole needed an infinite amount of work.

[Ninadiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would put it just under 4 stars because I really enjoyed this novel about a woman who gets laid off. The heroine has an all too attractive roommate who she envies and at times hides from because of money issues and her untidy ways. To tackle her job problem she often plays with her resume in order to land a permanent, but often temporary, job. The romance, while likeable, was not constructed well. It just started too quickly and you really didn't get the feeling that the guy was very interested. But over all I did like the zany trek she takes during this story. Would try another by this author.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always thought that there are significant parallels between dating and job searching and that a great book could be written on the topic. This is not that book. It's a missed opportunity. The author can't seem to decide which to focus on - the romance or the job search and does neither justice. The protaganist ends up with a man to easily and quickly - and her job efforts are not productive.



My quest for better written chick lit continues.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you need to turn your brain off for a few hours, this book might do the trick. I've never lived in NYC, but I doubt the experience is ANYTHING like this book portrays it... not that reality is exactly a chic lit forte this books pushes my ability to suspend reality a little too far (to the point where it's not a "fun read" anymore). Serves me right...

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, which I just randomly picked from the shelf of the local library. The story of a young woman trying to find her perfect job in NYC was funny, relevant and sweet. I loved all of the pop culture references and her smart observances of the working world. I'm not sure if this author has any other books, but if she does, I'll definitely give them a try.

[bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute, quick read. I could certainly relate to some of what the main character was feeling with job interviews and job "opportunities" (like being offered an assistant position - "Is this a job that interests you?"- when she's looking for something totally different). The ending was sort of anti-climatic for me though.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I happened to be job hunting when I read this book, so it hit slightly close to home. However, my job hunting experience did not include finding a gorgeous boyfriend, lying on resumes, or working on movie sets...

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am trying to find a genre of books to read when i'm desiring some brainless entertainment & I can't play bubblebreaker. This book was not it. I try to like these contemporary trash fiction, but really I just am bored & irritated. Maybe I should try out Janet Evanovich like Molly J. suggests.

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very light read about an unemployed woman with low self esteem who struggles to find a job and deal with a new relationship. At times this book reminded me of Bridget Jones' Diary, but I found Sarah to be much more annoying than Bridget, particularly for how she treats her boyfriend.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good chick book.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out pretty good, but then it got boring. The ending was nice. All-in-all, it was just okay.

[Minrose · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book wasn't what I expected. I wanted a serious job search story, this wasn't the book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's a great writer and this is a fun read but the plot is a little lack luster.

[Victoria Macaskill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 2005 but even more relatable in 2010 with a down economy. A great vacation read that reminds me about that it's not always greener on the other side.

[David Nadolny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm embarrased that I read this. Typical chick lit. It was well written, just not my genre, but my wife left it out and I didn't have anything to read handy the last couple nights.

[Sue Krawitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this humorous take on job searching. It had humor and drama.

[Savannah Ponder · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easy read and the stream of conciseness creates a good pace for the story. Good book to just past time. Not the best plot or story, but not the worst I've read either.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

chick lit

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick beach read. A few hours of candy for your brain!