Oh the pleasure of a book that takes you completely by surprise. You go in with few expectations and come out with much more than you bargained for. Blind Submission is just such a book. I hadn't heard much about it and picked it up because it looked light and fun. It made good on the those counts, but it was also funny and suspenseful, with quirky characters and many plot twists and turns. Plus, it takes place in a literary agency, so there is much juicy goodness about the publishing world. It's been called "The Devil Wears Prada" of the literati. I would agree, but with one exception - it's actually good. And it has a plot. So, a fun, amusing page-turner set in the book world - call me happy. ( )

Angel Montgomery, an insatiable reader, has landed a job in what is arguably the most successful literary agency on the West Coast. She can hardly believe that she is working for the famous Lucy Fiamma Literary Agency or that she answers the phone almost every day with the chance of finding one of her favorite authors on the other end of the line. But, while she is thrilled to discover her natural ability to transform promising manuscripts into potential best sellers, she is shocked that Lucy Fiamma expects her to work around the clock to earn her pitiful salary. Her dream job has quickly become the job from hell. What does she do now?

She sticks it out - because reading has been the only constant in her life for as long as she can remember. She explains: "...reading was only part of the thrill that a book represented. I got a dizzy pleasure from the weight and feel of a new book in my hand, a sensual delight from the smell and crispness of the pages. I loved the smoothness and bright colors of their jackets. For me, a stacked, unread pyramid of books was one of the sexiest architectural designs there was. Because what I loved most about books was their promise, the anticipation of what lay between the covers, waiting to be found." How could anyone who feels that way quit this particular job?

Despite a failing romantic relationship, deteriorating health and lack of anything resembling a personal life, Angel continues to work the agency's blind submission stack in search of the agency's next big thing. She learns how to survive the bizarre list of demands Lucy drops on her the first thing every morning and to tolerate the rest of the office staff. And, in the process, she is turning into a very fine literary assistant.

Crazy as the job already is, everything is kicked up a notch when Angel begins working on an anonymously written manuscript about a West Coast literary agency and the people who work there. Despite the mystery of the blind submission's origin, Angel is impressed enough with it to bring it to Lucy's attention and is soon working with the mysterious writer, via email, to turn the pages into a novel the agency can sell. She recognizes from the start that the manuscript describes an agency eerily similar to hers, but Angel begins to panic when later chapters begin to reveal intimate secrets about her own work life and personal relationships. The details are so personal, she realizes, that the anonymous author has to be someone close to her. But why would someone so close want to disgrace and discredit her?

"Blind Submission" is a satirical look at the "sausage making" part of the publishing world book lovers find fascinating but seldom see for themselves. The book's setting is what initially appealed to me but I also found it to be a satisfying mystery that kept me guessing until near the end of Ginsberg's story. "Blind Submission" successfully crosses several genre lines, in fact, and other readers will undoubtedly enjoy its romance/chick lit aspects most. There seems to be something here for just about every kind of reader.

Rated at: 4.0 ( )

I picked this up because I was in the mood for something light and fluffy, but engrossing. And, to be honest, I didn't have very high hopes for it, so I thought it might be a quick removal from Mt TBR in that I'd give up at the fifty page mark. And I nearly did give up at the fifty page mark, in complete annoyance at some of the clunkiest descriptions of our narrator's looks. The improbably named Angel has "wild mass of curls" which were "a difficult colour - mostly red, but with enough gold" to allow it be be described as "Titian"; a "smooth, almost olive complexion"; and "overlong" legs.

Now, as one who suffers from the duck's disease (bum too close to the ground), what on earth are "overlong" legs? How can one even have "overlong" legs??

But it's okay. She's got flaws. Namely, she has had difficulty finding a handsome intelligent man, until her current boyfriend and wannabe author, Malcolm. And the "overlong" legs. Let's not forget those. My God, she must be psychologically crippled by the trauma of it all. Oh yes, and she's just landed her dream job at the famous Lucy Fiamma's literary agency. Shame that Lucy is a complete sociopath.

Now, this is where I do have some sympathy for the character. (Oh yes, and she's a book nerd, which is guaranteed to make all readers love her. Even me, a little bit.) I have been in a job with a very difficult boss, and it does take a lot out of you. But this woman is beyond completely nuts: demanding; expecting her employees to read her mind; contradictory; playing her employees off against each other. I am yet to read The Devil Wears Prada, but it very much reminded me of the movie adaptation. A bit too much, at times. The Devil Publishes Paperbacks, maybe?

Now, the basic twist of the book is that Angel starts reading manuscripts from an anonymous author that parallel what is happening in Angel's life. That's the blurb on the front and on the back. Yet it takes nearly 100 pages to even start that plotline. And that's the main problem with the book: lots of noise and fluster, but not a lot of actual plot. I was sold this on the basis of the mystery, but it was much more a chick-lit book.

Of course, I don't particularly mind the occasional chick-lit, and I did power through this fairly quickly. It's nicely written (apart from the hideous exposition at the beginning) and is about a lover of books and reading, which is always appealing. Good entertaining chick-lit fare, but really not the mystery book I was led to believe it would be. Which is a shame, if I'd picked it up expecting chick-lit, I may have been a lot more entertained. ( )

This is a book within a book, but somehow it feels like a book within a book within a book…? It is a story about a woman (Angel) who goes to work as a literary agent’s assistant. The office receives an anonymous unsolicited manuscript (a blind submission) that, as more chapters are received, begins to remarkably mimic Angel’s life.

The tension in the story comes from Angel’s stressful new job as she gets to know her quirky new boss and co-workers, her deteriorating relationship with her boyfriend due to the long hours she puts in with her new job, the handsome author of an amazing new book she discovers among the new manuscripts, and, of course, who is the author of the blind submission and how does he/she know so much about Angel’s life?

It sounds like this would be hard to pull off, but this book works amazingly well. It is not hard to keep track of what’s going on. I believe this is a first-novel, and the author handles the various writing “sources” well. It’s also interesting to learn something about how the publishing world works. ( )

A little slow in the beginning. Did not completely draw me in, but created enough mystery that I wanted to keep reading ( )