Citizen Girl

When I first read Citizen Girl several years ago, I had to immediately run out and buy it for my friend who was without a doubt working for a real-life Doris Weintruck, right down to the obsession with coloured stationery.

Kraus and McLaughlin present an often entertaining satire of a young feminist trying to make it in the equally cut-throat worlds of non-profit and corporate America. Although some of the scenarios do deliberately border on the ridiculous, we can all recognise something in them that makes them hilarious (yet also strangely chilling). As a character, Girl can be rather black and white, and therefore irritating, but learning about the shades of grey is all part of her adventures.

Other than making graduation an even scarier event, I really liked this book. I sort of wish Girl had another name, Girl just seems far too . . . simple for her. The poor girl, having to shlop through New York making her way through life. Yes, typical chick-lit, but the authors do a very good job of weaving social conciousness into the mix. Also I like the idea of being a feminist in the way Girl portays one, no men-are-evil-I-am-relationship-stunted-and-will-whine-about-it-but-won't-change sort of laments and stuff I'm used to seeing from so-called feminists. : Plus Girl has a real life and real troubles, nothing you can't relate too (well, maybe the whole mother in a commune thing . . .). I really liked it. :)

Maybe you haven't been on the wrong side of the Want Ads, degree(s) in hand but no experience and really no clue what you want to do in life. So you take a job that looks good, you think will make you feel good, and if anything makes ends meet. That's basically what Citizen Girl is about. I don't understand the low scoring on this book. I have always felt that this book was about me. Well, not entirely as I'm not in New York and don't have access to nearly as many crazy things as our heroine, but I've been in several jobs in which my boss has just given me some bizarre directive and my single thought was "WTF?" and then had to complete my task.

I think it's a great book.

A sharp, funny novel with crisp dialogue about Girl, a young college graduate struggling to land the job of her dreams in New York City, while not totally surrendering her ideals and retaining a semblance of a social life. The authors have yet to engage me the way they did with their two "Nanny Diaries" books, but this is quite a fine effort. I'm not quite sure what point they're trying to make by calling the main character "Girl" throughout the book. Sure, it highlights the facelessness of corporate life, but it works against our heroine's struggle for personal identity throughout the book. Still a good read with a nice ending.

I've read other reviews that were unforgiving about the way that this particular novel was written, and while some have their points, others seem to miss the charm and wit of the book. Yes, there are issues, but have we ever truly seen a perfect book? This book has some good qualities in it, but it also shows us that we need to really examine our society and our way of life.

The character names were commonly used to critique the book because they were completely generic, but the point of having names like Guy, Girl, Buster, etc. is to put the reader into a position of role-playing. The reader takes on the guise of the character and starts imagining this world on his or her own. It is quite an innovative technique. It also makes you not show more only empathize with the characters, but it makes you question their choices easier. Their moral downfalls become yours.

The writing was choppy, and that was heavily disappointing. Toward the end, almost everything seemed to be disjointed. I don't know if that was from lack of skill or if it was the writers trying to have the reader feel that the world was unraveling around them. I think it was probably the former.

It is definitely a chick-lit novel that brings up some very tough issues, including feminism, sex trafficking/slavery, and glass ceilings. It also shows that anyone can basically become a hypocrite and sacrifice their own moral ideals just to make money and keep their job. That is a telling thing about our society, so I think that the writers putting that in a novel like this is a very gutsy thing for them to do. I'm glad that they show that the main character learns from her misdeeds, but I worry that maybe her character learned too late. You would think that someone who considers herself to be of such learned and charitable stock would be able to realize before the last chapter that what she's doing is so far away from being the good little feminist that she makes herself out to be. I guess that she's supposed to be as clueless about her hypocrisy as those people that she so willingly judges.

The book could have been better written. I wish that it were better written, honestly. Maybe if the writers had better understood what they were aiming for or how to approach the topic, it would have been better. Since it isn't, I can just say that it is a fairly good book. And considering that it is just chick lit, I'm letting some of its issues slide and cutting the writers some slack for their mistakes. show less

Synopsis: Meet Girl. Girl is a 20-something college grad working for a non-profit women’s organization. Sounds pretty cool, except her boss, Doris, is condescending and evil. Doris has reduced Girl to nothing more than an administrative assistant. When Girl stands up for herself against Doris’ poor treatment, Doris fires Girl. Girl is flummoxed by her dismissal and the state of the job market into which she has been thrust.

Then Girl meets Guy at a networking event. Proclaiming to need someone with a feminist background for the rebranding of his company, Girl thinks Guy holds the keys to unlocking her dream job. Girl gets the job and couldn’t be more thrilled, even though she’s not entirely certain what her job entails. Just when show more things seem to be turning around for Girl, she discovers that Guy can be just like Doris, if not worse, and her dream job may forever remain just that: a dream.

Review: I am actually surprised by the sheer volume of negative reviews this book received. I’ve found, unfortunately, when authors have a huge success with a novel, in this case The Nanny Diaries, that people continue to compare later works to that smash hit novel, expecting those later works to be literary clones of the smash hit. When, of course, that is not the case, then people bash perfectly good books just for not being that initial book they loved. I think that may be what happened with Citizen Girl.

I enjoyed this novel. I could definitely related to Girl and her situation. I have worked for both a Doris and a Guy and that really helped me connect to Girl as a character. Girl reminded me of myself at her age. Looking backwards at that time, now 10 years older, Girl helped me gain insight and perspective on that era of my life. I also admired Girl’s ethics, morals, and spunk. She wasn’t willing to violate her definition of herself just to retain a job. I found that admirable. I enjoyed the secondary characters, as well, especially Girl’s brother Jack.

I found the book to be well written. I very much enjoy the authors’ writing style. It was inviting and helped me dive directly into the novel. I liked the plot and thought it moved along with a good pace. There was tension in the plot, which propelled me, as the reader, forward.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend it. show less

Synopsis: Working in a world where a college degree qualifies her to make photocopies and colorcoordinate file folders, twentyfouryearold Girl is struggling to keep up with the essential trinity of food, shelter, and student loans. So when she finally lands the job of her dreams she ignores her misgivings and concentrates on getting the job done...whatever that may be.

My review: I really loved Emma McLauglin's other novel The Nanny Diaries but this book was weird. The story was confusing and so were the characters. It was all too ambiguous for me. I did not find it funny in the least.