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Office Girl
No one dies in Office Girl. Nobody talks about the international political situation. There is no mention of any economic collapse. Nothing takes place during a World War.
Instead, this novel is about young people doing interesting things in the final moments of the last century. Odile is a lovely twenty-three-year-old art-school dropout, a minor vandal, and a hopeless dreamer. Jack is a twenty-five-year-old shirker who's most happy capturing the endless noises of the city on his out-of-date tape recorder. Together they decide to start their own art movement in defiance of a contemporary culture made dull by both the tedious and the obvious. Set in February 1999—just before the end of one world and the beginning of another—Office Girl is the story of two people caught between the uncertainty of their futures and the all-too-brief moments of modern life.
Joe Meno's latest novel also features black-and-white illustrations by renowned artist Cody Hudson and photographs by visionary photographer Todd Baxter.
Instead, this novel is about young people doing interesting things in the final moments of the last century. Odile is a lovely twenty-three-year-old art-school dropout, a minor vandal, and a hopeless dreamer. Jack is a twenty-five-year-old shirker who's most happy capturing the endless noises of the city on his out-of-date tape recorder. Together they decide to start their own art movement in defiance of a contemporary culture made dull by both the tedious and the obvious. Set in February 1999—just before the end of one world and the beginning of another—Office Girl is the story of two people caught between the uncertainty of their futures and the all-too-brief moments of modern life.
Joe Meno's latest novel also features black-and-white illustrations by renowned artist Cody Hudson and photographs by visionary photographer Todd Baxter.
293 pages, Hardcover
First published July 3, 2012
About the author
Joe Meno
78 books478 followersJoe Meno is a fiction writer and playwright who lives in Chicago. A winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, the Great Lakes Book Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Society of Midland Author's Fiction Prize, and a finalist for the Story Prize, he is the author of seven novels and two short story collections. He is also the editor of Chicago Noir: The Classics. A long-time contributor to the seminal culture magazine, Punk Planet, his other non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times and Chicago magazine. He is a professor in the Department of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 407 reviews
September 12, 2012
A soft patchwork quilt of hipster clichés, sewn together by a manic pixie dream girl whose tiny white hands will also commit derivative art terrorism, cut trendy uneven bangs, and write Big Ideas in a colored Moleskine notebook. It's like an American Apparel ad had sex with a Target commercial and conceived a novel.
February 10, 2017
I am not the right audience for this book.
It's about an early twenties artist lady who makes bad romantic decision after bad romantic decision, then meets Jack, an early twenties artist fellow and they decide to be artistic together in their own way.
This summer, my boyfriend dragged me to a super-hipster concert at a hipster-favored bar. It was his birthday, it was a free show, and he'd been looking forward to it for a while so I was a good sport. I stood there and did my best to pretend I was enjoying it. I mean, I hated it but I wanted him to have a good time so I wasn't going to tell him I hated it. Afterward, a friend asked me about the venue and my response was, "There was just so much ironic crochet." That's all I could think of while I was reading this book: ironic crochet.
Odile, the main character with the impish name, is like the most extreme form of human being parodied by Parks and Rec's April Ludgate: On the outside, at least, she hates everything except the things that she loves ironically. I just don't get people like that at all. I mean, I am all for being unique and liking what you like and marching to the beat of whichever drum you want, but seriously: what is the point of being so bitter while you're doing it?
When Odile goes to an art show opening:
If you like stuff like photos of topless Storm Troopers, you might like this book. I could barely make it through. I shoulda known by the hip, ironic san serif font.
It's about an early twenties artist lady who makes bad romantic decision after bad romantic decision, then meets Jack, an early twenties artist fellow and they decide to be artistic together in their own way.
This summer, my boyfriend dragged me to a super-hipster concert at a hipster-favored bar. It was his birthday, it was a free show, and he'd been looking forward to it for a while so I was a good sport. I stood there and did my best to pretend I was enjoying it. I mean, I hated it but I wanted him to have a good time so I wasn't going to tell him I hated it. Afterward, a friend asked me about the venue and my response was, "There was just so much ironic crochet." That's all I could think of while I was reading this book: ironic crochet.
Odile, the main character with the impish name, is like the most extreme form of human being parodied by Parks and Rec's April Ludgate: On the outside, at least, she hates everything except the things that she loves ironically. I just don't get people like that at all. I mean, I am all for being unique and liking what you like and marching to the beat of whichever drum you want, but seriously: what is the point of being so bitter while you're doing it?
When Odile goes to an art show opening:
It’s her friend Liz’s opening, and all of the art looks like it’s been done by deranged teenage boys, like it’s part of some gigantic game of Dungeons and Dragons, or else it’s been inspired by anime or video games; it’s full of weird purple tentacles and vaginas with teeth, and all of it is lacking any kind of originality, none of it does anything for her, and so she drinks.That's how I felt reading this book. I wanted to drink, even on the bus at 7 AM. Alternatively, I debated writing a review about how this book is just bout the color of various objects. Twice on the first page Meno referred to Odile's "gray skirt." The first chapter alone refers to her green bicycle, green scarf, pink mittens, pink underwear. What is that?
If you like stuff like photos of topless Storm Troopers, you might like this book. I could barely make it through. I shoulda known by the hip, ironic san serif font.
April 29, 2013
I hate-finished this book. Have you ever disliked a book and finished it only because you wanted to have a clear and precise explanation of what was wrong with the book? I also finished it because I hoped the ending would salvage the rest of the book.
Summary: It's 1999 and two 20-something slackers make art and love in Chicago. That's it. The plot is so thin it could start a high-fashion modelling career.
The good: The writing can be pretty darn good. The illustrations and photos are unobtrusive but don't add much to the text.
The bad: The office girl of the title is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who is there to save the male author, I mean, protagonist. It's not like he's a paper-thin expy of the author. The author loves giving female characters pretentious French names (Odile, Isobel, Elise). It's a bit exhausting and sad. Someone must have told the author that Odile was a MPDG because he writes the first few chapters from her p.o.v., but the rest of the novel is from Jack's perspective and about Jack. She never feels like a real character (despite having a family back in Minnesota and a roommate) and it's annoying. She also doesn't take any sort of responsibility for her actions. She acts like everything just happens to her and you get a feel that a lot of her dialogue was probably cribbed from some of the author's ex-girlfriends.
Also, in a very 1990s way, nothing happens. They're slackers and they're so unmotivated that it drives me nuts. Seriously, they have no motivation except these half-thought out hazy ambitions. "I dunno" and "okay" feature a lot in the dialogue.
Bottom line: I can't believe he teaches fiction writing. Wait, beautiful prose and almost no plot. Yeah, but I still feel sorry for his students.
Summary: It's 1999 and two 20-something slackers make art and love in Chicago. That's it. The plot is so thin it could start a high-fashion modelling career.
The good: The writing can be pretty darn good. The illustrations and photos are unobtrusive but don't add much to the text.
The bad: The office girl of the title is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who is there to save the male author, I mean, protagonist. It's not like he's a paper-thin expy of the author. The author loves giving female characters pretentious French names (Odile, Isobel, Elise). It's a bit exhausting and sad. Someone must have told the author that Odile was a MPDG because he writes the first few chapters from her p.o.v., but the rest of the novel is from Jack's perspective and about Jack. She never feels like a real character (despite having a family back in Minnesota and a roommate) and it's annoying. She also doesn't take any sort of responsibility for her actions. She acts like everything just happens to her and you get a feel that a lot of her dialogue was probably cribbed from some of the author's ex-girlfriends.
Also, in a very 1990s way, nothing happens. They're slackers and they're so unmotivated that it drives me nuts. Seriously, they have no motivation except these half-thought out hazy ambitions. "I dunno" and "okay" feature a lot in the dialogue.
Bottom line: I can't believe he teaches fiction writing. Wait, beautiful prose and almost no plot. Yeah, but I still feel sorry for his students.
July 26, 2012
Oh no. I hate myself for saying this, but Office Girl is maybe too precious. I mean it's sweet and angsty and hipstertastic and I did like it... but lots of people will hate it, which makes me sad, because Joe Meno is so terrif.
I mean, look. It's manic-pixie dreamgirl to the core. Sad boy whose life is going nowhere meets quirky girl who refuses to believe her life is going nowhere and they do a lot of "art terrorism" and ride their bikes and have sex and watch French movies and fuck with each other's emotions. They go to an "imaginary buildings" party where everyone has to dress as a building. They bike through the snow, back and forth and back and forth. She tags things with a silver paint pen, he carries a tiny tape recorder and records the ambient city, sounds like a balloon floating away or snow falling or whatever. They are both lost and confused and searching, and they find each other and feed off each other's mania for a little while and then it ends and is sad.
As with most MPDG plotlines, the boy is nowhere near a match for the girl. I got pretty tired of him following along behind her like a puppy and basically going "What? We're really doing this? Why? How? Wait for me!" He is mostly paralyzed by inaction, indecision, and self-loathing, which gets a little tiring. And she is kind of a bitch much of the time, and pretty self-absorbed. Basically they are both early-twenties art-school dropouts, which, I don't know, is territory ripe for plumbing, but is also always right on the line between scintillating and twee.
So, in conclusion, there's lots of beauty and ache, but the preciousness kind of looms up too large sometimes and makes it feel clichéd.
Liked but didn't love. Hurry up and write something else, Joe!
I mean, look. It's manic-pixie dreamgirl to the core. Sad boy whose life is going nowhere meets quirky girl who refuses to believe her life is going nowhere and they do a lot of "art terrorism" and ride their bikes and have sex and watch French movies and fuck with each other's emotions. They go to an "imaginary buildings" party where everyone has to dress as a building. They bike through the snow, back and forth and back and forth. She tags things with a silver paint pen, he carries a tiny tape recorder and records the ambient city, sounds like a balloon floating away or snow falling or whatever. They are both lost and confused and searching, and they find each other and feed off each other's mania for a little while and then it ends and is sad.
As with most MPDG plotlines, the boy is nowhere near a match for the girl. I got pretty tired of him following along behind her like a puppy and basically going "What? We're really doing this? Why? How? Wait for me!" He is mostly paralyzed by inaction, indecision, and self-loathing, which gets a little tiring. And she is kind of a bitch much of the time, and pretty self-absorbed. Basically they are both early-twenties art-school dropouts, which, I don't know, is territory ripe for plumbing, but is also always right on the line between scintillating and twee.
So, in conclusion, there's lots of beauty and ache, but the preciousness kind of looms up too large sometimes and makes it feel clichéd.
Liked but didn't love. Hurry up and write something else, Joe!
July 17, 2012
Erica was getting a haircut in Lincoln Square, so I did the requisite Gene's Sausage Shop shopping and then wandered into the Book Cellar. Right at the front they had a stack of Joe Meno's latest, Office Girl, with a "Autographed Copy" sticker on them. Well, I thought, even if it sucks, at least I'll have a signed copy, so I bought it and sat down with a cup of coffee. When Erica called to say she was done with her haircut, I was a third of the way through the book. We went home and I read the rest in one long session on the couch. Well, wait, that's not strictly true, because as I approached the end of the book I kept taking breaks because I knew that once I finished I wasn't going to be reading the book anymore and I wanted to put off that moment. Do you know what I mean?
The book is set in Chicago in the winter of 1999 and follows a young man and a young woman, who we meet separately and then together as they begin to go out. Both are former art school students (graduate and drop-out, respectively) now working terrible office jobs.
I moved to Chicago in 1999, so that winter was my first winter here, but the book didn't resonate with me necessarily because that was my life or anything--I was 30 by the time I moved here, with a computer science degree and a pretty good job. It's just a really good book, about like people and a bit about art, and about just making decisions and stuff.
The book is set in Chicago in the winter of 1999 and follows a young man and a young woman, who we meet separately and then together as they begin to go out. Both are former art school students (graduate and drop-out, respectively) now working terrible office jobs.
I moved to Chicago in 1999, so that winter was my first winter here, but the book didn't resonate with me necessarily because that was my life or anything--I was 30 by the time I moved here, with a computer science degree and a pretty good job. It's just a really good book, about like people and a bit about art, and about just making decisions and stuff.
June 28, 2012
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
Regular readers know that I am a longtime fan of Chicago contemporary lit legend Joe Meno, one of only a handful of local authors here right now to have broken through into national-scale reputation, media attention and resulting sales; and there have been projects of his in the past that I've really loved, and ones I found only so-so, and ones I thought…er, not so so-so, so I'm never exactly sure what I'm going to get when I dive into a new one. But this latest, from our friends at the great Akashic Books and being released just this week, is a different thing altogether from anything else in this shapeshifter's career -- deliberately small and intimate, and easy to dismiss at first as the meaningless musings of hipster douchebags, by the end it manages to be rather wistful, heartbreaking and melancholy, a sneakily tight manuscript that gets better and better the farther you read. Essentially the full beginning-to-end tale of one of those torrid three-week romantic relationships that litter so many of our pasts, and set among good-looking twentysomething art-school dropouts because, hey, why not, Meno's point here is to look at one of these people who sometimes just randomly blows into our lives for a bit, changes it profoundly, then just as randomly leaves again for the entire rest of your life; and by following it in its full messy glory, Meno's bigger point is to remind us of why these experiences are so important, why we remember them so nostalgically and positively for nearly the rest of our lives. Set during the Great Chicago Blizzard of 1999, the entire book has a muted and closed-in tone that serves its Before Sunrise feel well; and although Meno occasionally leans on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl tropes a bit too much (she has doe eyes and a thrift-store coat! She bicycles in the snow! She does impromptu absurdist performance art on the el!), by humanizing her in a sophisticated and complex way he largely avoids the biggest sins of that cliche, making this a quickly paced charmer that I suspect will eventually be one of the most popular titles of his career. A novel just begging to get adapted into the quirky movie debut of the next big national indie-film darling, it comes strongly recommended to existing fans of Garden State and (500) Days of Summer; and don't forget that I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Meno here in Chicago for nearly an hour almost exclusively just about this book for the CCLaP Podcast, so I hope you'll get a chance to check that out as well when it's available next week.
Out of 10: 9.4
Regular readers know that I am a longtime fan of Chicago contemporary lit legend Joe Meno, one of only a handful of local authors here right now to have broken through into national-scale reputation, media attention and resulting sales; and there have been projects of his in the past that I've really loved, and ones I found only so-so, and ones I thought…er, not so so-so, so I'm never exactly sure what I'm going to get when I dive into a new one. But this latest, from our friends at the great Akashic Books and being released just this week, is a different thing altogether from anything else in this shapeshifter's career -- deliberately small and intimate, and easy to dismiss at first as the meaningless musings of hipster douchebags, by the end it manages to be rather wistful, heartbreaking and melancholy, a sneakily tight manuscript that gets better and better the farther you read. Essentially the full beginning-to-end tale of one of those torrid three-week romantic relationships that litter so many of our pasts, and set among good-looking twentysomething art-school dropouts because, hey, why not, Meno's point here is to look at one of these people who sometimes just randomly blows into our lives for a bit, changes it profoundly, then just as randomly leaves again for the entire rest of your life; and by following it in its full messy glory, Meno's bigger point is to remind us of why these experiences are so important, why we remember them so nostalgically and positively for nearly the rest of our lives. Set during the Great Chicago Blizzard of 1999, the entire book has a muted and closed-in tone that serves its Before Sunrise feel well; and although Meno occasionally leans on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl tropes a bit too much (she has doe eyes and a thrift-store coat! She bicycles in the snow! She does impromptu absurdist performance art on the el!), by humanizing her in a sophisticated and complex way he largely avoids the biggest sins of that cliche, making this a quickly paced charmer that I suspect will eventually be one of the most popular titles of his career. A novel just begging to get adapted into the quirky movie debut of the next big national indie-film darling, it comes strongly recommended to existing fans of Garden State and (500) Days of Summer; and don't forget that I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Meno here in Chicago for nearly an hour almost exclusively just about this book for the CCLaP Podcast, so I hope you'll get a chance to check that out as well when it's available next week.
Out of 10: 9.4
October 8, 2019
"You are not doing so good at being happy.
Stop believing pop culture will save you.
Unimportant things are the most important.
Anything that lasts longer than ten seconds is a lie.
We are looking out for you.
Alphonse F."
Odile is a 23-year-old art school dropout who works dead end office jobs while dreaming of starting an art movement. She also makes a lot of bad decisions in her relationships because she cares too much about whether people like her.
Jack is a 25-year-old uncertain of his future, especially now that his wife of barely a year is leaving him to attend school in Germany.
The two meet while working night shift at Muzac Situations, a company that sells music compilations to professional offices. The two fall in love and begin their own art movement under the name Alphonse F., leaving graffiti around the city and spontaneously performing movie scenes or dressing up like ghosts on the bus.
This movement pushes both Odile and Jack to decide on a future, even if it means going separate ways.
This was a super fast and quirky read. I've loved all of Joe Meno's novels but reading this in my thirties now that I'm a little older and therefore more jaded, this felt a little too quirky and angst ridden for me. I loved the photographs and sketches throughout. I could definitely see this as an indie film --- the book had that vibe and the atmospheric details really brought the scenes to life.
Office Girl is a book for readers who appreciate quirky and meandering contemporary fiction.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
Stop believing pop culture will save you.
Unimportant things are the most important.
Anything that lasts longer than ten seconds is a lie.
We are looking out for you.
Alphonse F."
Odile is a 23-year-old art school dropout who works dead end office jobs while dreaming of starting an art movement. She also makes a lot of bad decisions in her relationships because she cares too much about whether people like her.
Jack is a 25-year-old uncertain of his future, especially now that his wife of barely a year is leaving him to attend school in Germany.
The two meet while working night shift at Muzac Situations, a company that sells music compilations to professional offices. The two fall in love and begin their own art movement under the name Alphonse F., leaving graffiti around the city and spontaneously performing movie scenes or dressing up like ghosts on the bus.
This movement pushes both Odile and Jack to decide on a future, even if it means going separate ways.
This was a super fast and quirky read. I've loved all of Joe Meno's novels but reading this in my thirties now that I'm a little older and therefore more jaded, this felt a little too quirky and angst ridden for me. I loved the photographs and sketches throughout. I could definitely see this as an indie film --- the book had that vibe and the atmospheric details really brought the scenes to life.
Office Girl is a book for readers who appreciate quirky and meandering contemporary fiction.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
December 7, 2012
You could probably criticize this author for writing shallow characters, or for just inventing the messed-up, Manic Pixie Dream Girl he really wants to date, or call the whole story facile or something, but it was the book version of a movie like Say Anything, where you really enjoy it if you don't think about the whole thing too much.
I loved the idea of Odile the twee art terrorist, and I thought her impulses were right-on, as far as railing against the status quo was concerned. That is all.
I loved the idea of Odile the twee art terrorist, and I thought her impulses were right-on, as far as railing against the status quo was concerned. That is all.
February 11, 2013
Allow me to sum up my feelings for this book through song.
July 20, 2012
"What do you do with the rest of your life when you realize you don't like anything?" This is one of the questions raised by Odile, one of the main characters of Joe Meno's newest book, Office Girl. Odile is a 20-something art school dropout working in a series of boring office jobs and dreaming of creating something special, of making people take notice. She finds herself falling into inappropriate relationship after inappropriate relationship, all because she's afraid of not being liked. When she meets Jack, an amateur sound artist whose marriage has ended and who doesn't know what to do with his life, the two forge an immediate connection while trying not to fall into their regular behavior patterns.
Odile and Jack start an art revolution, which combines performance art (spontaneously breaking into a scene from a movie while on the subway), graffiti, and creating an imaginary persona, Alphonse F., to whom they attribute their "art." All the while, the two find themselves falling in love, experiencing all of the joy, comfort, insecurity, and doubts that young love brings, with the hopes and fears that come with opening yourself up to another person. And with love often comes self-discovery and the ability to make changes in your life, even if they may not be the right ones.
Joe Meno is at his best when he's capturing the angst, insecurity, and eccentricities of 20-somethings or even high school students, as he did in his terrific Hairstyles of the Damned. The book honestly feels like an aggregation of every quirky independent movie about a couple ever made. You can totally see this book as a movie, and in fact, I think these characters might even be more vivid on the screen than they were on the page. This was a tremendously quick read, and was light and enjoyable.
Odile and Jack start an art revolution, which combines performance art (spontaneously breaking into a scene from a movie while on the subway), graffiti, and creating an imaginary persona, Alphonse F., to whom they attribute their "art." All the while, the two find themselves falling in love, experiencing all of the joy, comfort, insecurity, and doubts that young love brings, with the hopes and fears that come with opening yourself up to another person. And with love often comes self-discovery and the ability to make changes in your life, even if they may not be the right ones.
Joe Meno is at his best when he's capturing the angst, insecurity, and eccentricities of 20-somethings or even high school students, as he did in his terrific Hairstyles of the Damned. The book honestly feels like an aggregation of every quirky independent movie about a couple ever made. You can totally see this book as a movie, and in fact, I think these characters might even be more vivid on the screen than they were on the page. This was a tremendously quick read, and was light and enjoyable.
September 8, 2012
had some problems with this book. but maybe the problems were what kept it from being perfect and therefore imperfect. but i doubt it.
let's just celebrate the wonderful things.
i started jotting down quotes from the book onto post-it notes and sticking them into the book where they were found:
"i want something that makes me look in wonder"
"i like to make things that are weird or small. i like things that don't make a whole lot of sense to anyone but me."
and then i came across this:
"...being in favor of unimportant things. insignificant stuff. things that get ignored. things nobody else cares about. like post-it notes." and i wrote that on a post-it note and stuck it in the book.
it's ironic that this book and its characters want so much to be original but the story is ordinary. like there are only so many stories or ways that stories can turn out. and i read somewhere in a review that this book was destined to be an urban outfitter favorite. which goes against everything anyone inside the book would ever want.
this book made me feel feelings, reminding me that my life doesn't have to be sapped away by corporations. i used to be full of energy and new ideas, but over time -- who cares? the answer, i guess is that you have to.
i think if i were to want to improve this book i would get rid of two words: "and" and "really". but i can't do that so i have to accept the flaws as part of the perfection. or something.
let's just celebrate the wonderful things.
i started jotting down quotes from the book onto post-it notes and sticking them into the book where they were found:
"i want something that makes me look in wonder"
"i like to make things that are weird or small. i like things that don't make a whole lot of sense to anyone but me."
and then i came across this:
"...being in favor of unimportant things. insignificant stuff. things that get ignored. things nobody else cares about. like post-it notes." and i wrote that on a post-it note and stuck it in the book.
it's ironic that this book and its characters want so much to be original but the story is ordinary. like there are only so many stories or ways that stories can turn out. and i read somewhere in a review that this book was destined to be an urban outfitter favorite. which goes against everything anyone inside the book would ever want.
this book made me feel feelings, reminding me that my life doesn't have to be sapped away by corporations. i used to be full of energy and new ideas, but over time -- who cares? the answer, i guess is that you have to.
i think if i were to want to improve this book i would get rid of two words: "and" and "really". but i can't do that so i have to accept the flaws as part of the perfection. or something.
Want to read
July 10, 2012I've been following Akashic Press on Twitter, finally I know one book they publish. I miss the 90s. I hate how no one is angsty anymore. No one has time for angst. Because we have to be super achievers now. Do well in high school to go to a good uni, then to a go get internships, then to an awesome job and in between be a obsessive foodie/amateur photog/fashionista. Ugh. Failfailfail
August 29, 2012
Just noticed the "hide entire review because of spoilers" option. Here's a spoiler: This book pretty much sucks, and so I wouldn't read it again.
August 5, 2021
Hace unas semanas encontré este libro en el Parque Rivadavia por 200 pesos y dije vamos a ver. Años atrás cuando salió, habia leído comentarios sobre esta novela "indie" que decían se sostenía en un espacio cercano a la nueva ola francesa. A menos que la nueva ola francesa sea una masa sólida de agua podrida que te arrastra en arena gris, no sé de que se estaba hablando.
Hay muchas maneras de disfrazar la misoginia y los sectores que se precian de no practicarla o de ser gente culta o gente que no pertenece a la clase trabajadora lumpeniada o barrial o en el caso de estados unidos, sencillamente rednecks, cree que no tiene ningún hábio relacionado a la violencia. Para los secores (sobre) escolarizados violencia es que te digan cosas feas en twitter o comerte una vaca. Todo lo demás son decisiones tomadas porque "la vida es muy difícil y no puedo conmigo"
No hay mucho para decir sobre este panfleto a favor de las "manics pixies dream girls" y los tarados sin remedio. Porque de eso se trata. De una college girl que circula entre tipos putrefacos y decadentes, siendo usada por tal o cual para el mal llamado sexo casual y después saliendo a hacer pelotudeces por la calle. Eso es todo.
Seguro otros dijeron más cosas. Yo solo puedo decir que este tipo de ¿obras? en donde hombres patéticos, escritores desde ya, descargan un odio a aquello por lo cual no son registrados, las mujeres, es algo imposible de leer.
Dicho en otras palabras: si esto lo hubiera escrito un repositor de supermercado, decenas de miles estarían llorando por su violencia. Pero sabemos que los repositores de supemercados no publican libros, no?
La casa está en orden.
Hay muchas maneras de disfrazar la misoginia y los sectores que se precian de no practicarla o de ser gente culta o gente que no pertenece a la clase trabajadora lumpeniada o barrial o en el caso de estados unidos, sencillamente rednecks, cree que no tiene ningún hábio relacionado a la violencia. Para los secores (sobre) escolarizados violencia es que te digan cosas feas en twitter o comerte una vaca. Todo lo demás son decisiones tomadas porque "la vida es muy difícil y no puedo conmigo"
No hay mucho para decir sobre este panfleto a favor de las "manics pixies dream girls" y los tarados sin remedio. Porque de eso se trata. De una college girl que circula entre tipos putrefacos y decadentes, siendo usada por tal o cual para el mal llamado sexo casual y después saliendo a hacer pelotudeces por la calle. Eso es todo.
Seguro otros dijeron más cosas. Yo solo puedo decir que este tipo de ¿obras? en donde hombres patéticos, escritores desde ya, descargan un odio a aquello por lo cual no son registrados, las mujeres, es algo imposible de leer.
Dicho en otras palabras: si esto lo hubiera escrito un repositor de supermercado, decenas de miles estarían llorando por su violencia. Pero sabemos que los repositores de supemercados no publican libros, no?
La casa está en orden.
May 12, 2023
It was just as bad as i thought it would be. At least theres that.
August 19, 2013
"...sometimes his friend Birdie asks him to make copies of her cut-and-paste zine, which is called YOU AND YOUR VERY INTERESTING BEARD, and there are always pencil drawings of many different hairy beards talking to one another, having these very philosophical discussions about art and literature, like Lenin's beard talking to Walt Whitman's beard..."
I adored this book. I really did. I knew from the moment I saw the cover and read the synopsis and flipped through it quickly that it was exactly my kind of book, and I'm so happy I found it on the Waterstones buy one get one free table.
Office Girl tells the story of two people, 23 year old art school dropout Odile, and 25 year old master of the cassette recorder Jack, both living in Chicago in 1999. Both have complicated lives, and both experience a constant feeling that they need to make their mark on the world, and are meant for big things. Yet they both work the same, dull, dead-end call centre job. All they have that is extraordinary is each other and their own avant-garde art movement.
This book will clearly not be for everyone. I've said before that even before reading this book, it reminded me of the movies of Wes Anderson and those other kind of quirky American independent films. I really feel I was bang on the money with that assertion. I love the few but poignant references scattered throughout this book, ranging from jazz music and the film Breathless to the Velvet Underground & Nico and Twin Peaks. I loved that they rode bicycles everywhere and were pretty messed up, and liked unusual things, and took risks, and were pure in their love for each other (however brief). I also loved the fact that it was set during the winter time. It made me long for snow and thick parka jackets and snow boots and cold flushed cheeks and darkness.
And of course I must give a mention to the layout of the book. It isn't printed in your traditional Times New Roman font, but in something else - I'm not sure what it is but I love it so if anyone reads this book and knows, please tell me! There are also drawings and photographs scattered about that tie in with various events and moments within the book, and they are beautiful and effortless. They really enhanced my enjoyment and engagement with this book.
If you like any of the things I have mentioned above, then I implore you to pick up this book. Also, I finished it in less than a day. If that's not enough to make you want to pick this up, then I don't know what is. I adored it, and I hope you do too. ALPHONSE F. WAS HERE.
I adored this book. I really did. I knew from the moment I saw the cover and read the synopsis and flipped through it quickly that it was exactly my kind of book, and I'm so happy I found it on the Waterstones buy one get one free table.
Office Girl tells the story of two people, 23 year old art school dropout Odile, and 25 year old master of the cassette recorder Jack, both living in Chicago in 1999. Both have complicated lives, and both experience a constant feeling that they need to make their mark on the world, and are meant for big things. Yet they both work the same, dull, dead-end call centre job. All they have that is extraordinary is each other and their own avant-garde art movement.
This book will clearly not be for everyone. I've said before that even before reading this book, it reminded me of the movies of Wes Anderson and those other kind of quirky American independent films. I really feel I was bang on the money with that assertion. I love the few but poignant references scattered throughout this book, ranging from jazz music and the film Breathless to the Velvet Underground & Nico and Twin Peaks. I loved that they rode bicycles everywhere and were pretty messed up, and liked unusual things, and took risks, and were pure in their love for each other (however brief). I also loved the fact that it was set during the winter time. It made me long for snow and thick parka jackets and snow boots and cold flushed cheeks and darkness.
And of course I must give a mention to the layout of the book. It isn't printed in your traditional Times New Roman font, but in something else - I'm not sure what it is but I love it so if anyone reads this book and knows, please tell me! There are also drawings and photographs scattered about that tie in with various events and moments within the book, and they are beautiful and effortless. They really enhanced my enjoyment and engagement with this book.
If you like any of the things I have mentioned above, then I implore you to pick up this book. Also, I finished it in less than a day. If that's not enough to make you want to pick this up, then I don't know what is. I adored it, and I hope you do too. ALPHONSE F. WAS HERE.
July 17, 2012
This book is ripe with conversations people have when they don't know what they're doing with their lives and are too afraid to figure it out. One of Joe Meno's earlier books is a favorite of mine (-The Boy Detective Fails). Office Girl was nothing but a disappointment for me. Imagine reading nearly 300 pages much like this excerpt:
"What are your plans for the future, Jack?"
"My what?"
"Plans. For the future."
"I don't know. I really don't have any."
"What are your plans for the future, Jack?"
"My what?"
"Plans. For the future."
"I don't know. I really don't have any."
May 12, 2016
Completely unlikeable, self-deprecating characters who embody the stupid weird hipster whimsicalness that seems both too accurate and too make-believe at the same time. But I related a lot to the winter biking + the fact that Odile was from Minneapolis. And I'm a sucker for literature about experiencing the City in creative and meaningful ways re: Jack's tape recordings of random sounds throughout Chicago (think floating pink balloons, stalled buses, crying babies, puddles etc). So whatever.
July 7, 2012
Taut and laid-back, Meno captures a sense of humanity that is so familiar its refreshing.
Read
June 22, 2018TW: molestation/sexual assault/harassment, slurs (retarded, gay as an insult).
I want to not be so mean and snarky in writing this, but I just don't think that it's possible. This book, while reading it, represented everything I hate about contemporary literature. From the very first page, when Odile is described including her underwear, I just knew. Odile is very much a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, although the book starts from her perspective. I really wanted to empathize with her, but she never once felt like a real person to me. I don't know if the backstory about her molestation was supposed to act as a stand-in for Meno actually writing A PERSON, but that failed to move me as well. Rather, I felt more rage at the author for throwing that in so suddenly and for not any kind of purpose. I mean, the purpose was to make us feel for Odile, but I can only see it as a very conscious decision from the author. There wasn't any kind of exploration on the sexualization of young girls, of women being seen as a commodity, or anything at all. It just happened and then it was over and that's why Odile is like this.
Outside of that, Odile was a very frustrating character to read. From the small snippets we get of what her family is like, she has good, loving parents, a lot of brothers (some of whom are fucked up, but that happens), and...yea, that's it. But she rages against the thought of going home, she rages against the shitty men she involves herself with and takes it out by vandalizing advertisements with boobs and penises.
This outlet of hers bothered me for a few reasons. First, most of her problems are her own making. She is very privileged. She doesn't have a lot of money and is living with weird, shitty roommates, but that's usually what happens when you move out on your own the first time. Secondly, the vandalism. It's really immature and also with the heightened EVERYTHING today, I just immediately think that if someone not white was doing this, they would get in significantly more trouble (or caught, as she never is). Third, why boobs and penises? If she's super into weird, outrageous art, why the immature body parts? For someone who rages against the unoriginality of EVERYONE, drawing boobs and dicks and hairy testicles isn't exactly an example of out of the box thinking.
And her opinions on art! She just hates everything that's popular. That's it. If it's popular, she hates it. Except, of course, The Velvet Underground. Like, I'm sorry, but what kind of world are you living in? Because if something exists, chances are more than just ONE PERSON is going to like it. And, this book is set in 1999. BUT. It makes me think of how disregarded Beyonce is considered by people who are like, "She doesn't write her own music!1!" Get Out and Black Panther did very well in theaters and are very popular, which is good! Because for some stories to be told, they don't have the luxury to be unpopular or underground. (This was actually an argument I wanted to use in one of my classes spring semester but didn't get the chance, so here it is!). If art is popular, it doesn't automatically mean that it is stupid or unoriginal.
I want to bring up privilege and race because this book is hella weird about it. Or, maybe not weird, but it certainly doesn't age as well as others. What I'm really saying is that white is the default here. Like, very much, so much so that when background characters are described as black, it sticks out uncomfortably. That discomfort isn't because they are there, of course, but because white is the default. And it feels like such an afterthought. I'm not going to explain this very well, but one of the posters she vandalizes, in the beginning, is for a rap artist. Compared to her first act of vandalism (that we as the reader witness) it goes into just a little more detail about her drawing 'saggy breasts,' and a 'hairy vagina' and something else I don't even remember. I only remember thinking, why is there just a liiiitle more description of what she's doing to this poster? The way the poster is described is just with this subtle air of condescension that is very uncomfortable, but especially so when the novel assumes white is the default. The book itself is set in 1999, but it was published in 2012 so "the time" isn't really a great or even generous reading of this...aspect.
Man, I haven't even gotten to Jack!
Jack is the typical white male who feels a lot of existential pain about his own life and ordinariness. Through meeting Odile, he learns, finally, to do something on his own (I think, I really just skimmed the last chunk of the book). He records the sounds of things on tapes that he keeps in neatly labeled and organized shoeboxes, so he's quirky. He's going through a divorce. He sure as hell cannot take a hint that a woman is NOT INTERESTED. When he's at a party, he gets drunk and always, ALWAYS, uses a soup/punch ladle to put his testicles in and show everyone. He does not understand why this is not okay. He uses vacuum cleaners when he masturbates (and has since he first started masturbating). He's working on a screenplay. Of all the things I disliked about Jack, I think his working on a screenplay is what I hate the most because OF COURSE HE IS.
Odile immediately tells Jack about how she's sleeping with a married man, gave someone a handjob because they asked (nothing about consent or coercion is even hinted at; it's just, very shallowly referred to as Odile needs everyone to like her). Jack still wants to be with Odile even though she says it won't happen. It does happen, but he's frustrated by how long it takes. And then he's frustrated when she breaks it off again. And I think they still end up together, but again, I skimmed the last chunk. By the time Jack calls Odile out on her pretentious art snobbery, it's too little, too late for the narrative to begin critically examining Jack and Odile's bullshit.
Both Jack and Odile are shallow, one-dimensional characters. Their dialogue is agonizing to read. It's just very basic and feels so meaningless. That's a lot like how reading the whole book felt. Every bit of the dialogue is awkward because nothing is left out. Rather than feeling realistic or hilariously awkward, it just drags to the point of "why had this not been cut in the revision process?" Not only that, but so much of the dialogue is peppered with the word 'retarded'. At one point, Odile tells Jack, "you're so gay." I understand the book is set in 1999, but it was written in 2012. The language doesn't add any kind of authenticity to the time period. It only serves to make me hate both characters as insensitive, counter-culture wannabes.
The short version is, I really despised a lot about this book. That said, I enjoyed how it worked my brain into pinning down exactly what I didn't like, and why. I'm a bit of a masochist that way. I do not, however, recommend reading it, unless you enjoy the same kind of exercise.
I want to not be so mean and snarky in writing this, but I just don't think that it's possible. This book, while reading it, represented everything I hate about contemporary literature. From the very first page, when Odile is described including her underwear, I just knew. Odile is very much a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, although the book starts from her perspective. I really wanted to empathize with her, but she never once felt like a real person to me. I don't know if the backstory about her molestation was supposed to act as a stand-in for Meno actually writing A PERSON, but that failed to move me as well. Rather, I felt more rage at the author for throwing that in so suddenly and for not any kind of purpose. I mean, the purpose was to make us feel for Odile, but I can only see it as a very conscious decision from the author. There wasn't any kind of exploration on the sexualization of young girls, of women being seen as a commodity, or anything at all. It just happened and then it was over and that's why Odile is like this.
Outside of that, Odile was a very frustrating character to read. From the small snippets we get of what her family is like, she has good, loving parents, a lot of brothers (some of whom are fucked up, but that happens), and...yea, that's it. But she rages against the thought of going home, she rages against the shitty men she involves herself with and takes it out by vandalizing advertisements with boobs and penises.
This outlet of hers bothered me for a few reasons. First, most of her problems are her own making. She is very privileged. She doesn't have a lot of money and is living with weird, shitty roommates, but that's usually what happens when you move out on your own the first time. Secondly, the vandalism. It's really immature and also with the heightened EVERYTHING today, I just immediately think that if someone not white was doing this, they would get in significantly more trouble (or caught, as she never is). Third, why boobs and penises? If she's super into weird, outrageous art, why the immature body parts? For someone who rages against the unoriginality of EVERYONE, drawing boobs and dicks and hairy testicles isn't exactly an example of out of the box thinking.
And her opinions on art! She just hates everything that's popular. That's it. If it's popular, she hates it. Except, of course, The Velvet Underground. Like, I'm sorry, but what kind of world are you living in? Because if something exists, chances are more than just ONE PERSON is going to like it. And, this book is set in 1999. BUT. It makes me think of how disregarded Beyonce is considered by people who are like, "She doesn't write her own music!1!" Get Out and Black Panther did very well in theaters and are very popular, which is good! Because for some stories to be told, they don't have the luxury to be unpopular or underground. (This was actually an argument I wanted to use in one of my classes spring semester but didn't get the chance, so here it is!). If art is popular, it doesn't automatically mean that it is stupid or unoriginal.
I want to bring up privilege and race because this book is hella weird about it. Or, maybe not weird, but it certainly doesn't age as well as others. What I'm really saying is that white is the default here. Like, very much, so much so that when background characters are described as black, it sticks out uncomfortably. That discomfort isn't because they are there, of course, but because white is the default. And it feels like such an afterthought. I'm not going to explain this very well, but one of the posters she vandalizes, in the beginning, is for a rap artist. Compared to her first act of vandalism (that we as the reader witness) it goes into just a little more detail about her drawing 'saggy breasts,' and a 'hairy vagina' and something else I don't even remember. I only remember thinking, why is there just a liiiitle more description of what she's doing to this poster? The way the poster is described is just with this subtle air of condescension that is very uncomfortable, but especially so when the novel assumes white is the default. The book itself is set in 1999, but it was published in 2012 so "the time" isn't really a great or even generous reading of this...aspect.
Man, I haven't even gotten to Jack!
Jack is the typical white male who feels a lot of existential pain about his own life and ordinariness. Through meeting Odile, he learns, finally, to do something on his own (I think, I really just skimmed the last chunk of the book). He records the sounds of things on tapes that he keeps in neatly labeled and organized shoeboxes, so he's quirky. He's going through a divorce. He sure as hell cannot take a hint that a woman is NOT INTERESTED. When he's at a party, he gets drunk and always, ALWAYS, uses a soup/punch ladle to put his testicles in and show everyone. He does not understand why this is not okay. He uses vacuum cleaners when he masturbates (and has since he first started masturbating). He's working on a screenplay. Of all the things I disliked about Jack, I think his working on a screenplay is what I hate the most because OF COURSE HE IS.
Odile immediately tells Jack about how she's sleeping with a married man, gave someone a handjob because they asked (nothing about consent or coercion is even hinted at; it's just, very shallowly referred to as Odile needs everyone to like her). Jack still wants to be with Odile even though she says it won't happen. It does happen, but he's frustrated by how long it takes. And then he's frustrated when she breaks it off again. And I think they still end up together, but again, I skimmed the last chunk. By the time Jack calls Odile out on her pretentious art snobbery, it's too little, too late for the narrative to begin critically examining Jack and Odile's bullshit.
Both Jack and Odile are shallow, one-dimensional characters. Their dialogue is agonizing to read. It's just very basic and feels so meaningless. That's a lot like how reading the whole book felt. Every bit of the dialogue is awkward because nothing is left out. Rather than feeling realistic or hilariously awkward, it just drags to the point of "why had this not been cut in the revision process?" Not only that, but so much of the dialogue is peppered with the word 'retarded'. At one point, Odile tells Jack, "you're so gay." I understand the book is set in 1999, but it was written in 2012. The language doesn't add any kind of authenticity to the time period. It only serves to make me hate both characters as insensitive, counter-culture wannabes.
The short version is, I really despised a lot about this book. That said, I enjoyed how it worked my brain into pinning down exactly what I didn't like, and why. I'm a bit of a masochist that way. I do not, however, recommend reading it, unless you enjoy the same kind of exercise.
June 30, 2020
This was the most hipsterish thing I've ever read. I couldn't tell if it was parody or so far up its own hipster butt it was inhaling its own intestinal ramen fumes. Seriously. Hell, even one of the characters at the end thinks the entirety of what we've just read is a giant lie and pop culture is actually kinda okay but he can't bring himself to say it out loud. Jeepers. I watched Avengers Endgame for you tonight, Jack. You're welcome. Keep living in denial.
And what was with the casual couple of drops of the word 'retarded'? Is it meant to be edgy? (It's how 20 something's talk, man!) The book's not that old is it? I thought we lived in more enlightened times. They weren't even used in charged, meaningful ways - good or bad, just the kind of casual drop you would get from someone insensitive enough to follow it up with a "I'm reclaiming the word!"
I'm too old for this kind of book, I know that. Meandering 20-somethings adrift in their own cloud of navel gazing might have interested me 20 years ago but give me some characters with agency. All the characters have here are tired ideas about counter culture and groovy bangs.
And what was with the casual couple of drops of the word 'retarded'? Is it meant to be edgy? (It's how 20 something's talk, man!) The book's not that old is it? I thought we lived in more enlightened times. They weren't even used in charged, meaningful ways - good or bad, just the kind of casual drop you would get from someone insensitive enough to follow it up with a "I'm reclaiming the word!"
I'm too old for this kind of book, I know that. Meandering 20-somethings adrift in their own cloud of navel gazing might have interested me 20 years ago but give me some characters with agency. All the characters have here are tired ideas about counter culture and groovy bangs.
July 20, 2012
After disappointments, setbacks and heartaches, Chicago hipsters Odile and Jack embark on a friendship and romance that ends as quick as it begins. Set in the winter of 1999, Joe Meno's Office Girl explores what it means to grow up, find your place, keep your originality and make something of worth (even if others don't see or understand it).
As a fan of Joe Meno, and considering Hairstyles of the Damned to be one of my favorite books of all time, I was excited to read Office Girl and everything it had to offer. Unfortunately, I found this book to be bland, boring, and, frankly, pretentious and too hipster-ish for my tastes.
One of the reviews on the back of the book exclaimed that this novel captures the essence of the first twenty five years of life, or something to that effect. As a twenty five year old myself, I can say that I have never experienced anything like the lives and relationships of Odile and Jack. I'm not even sure what I think this novel captures as both main characters are so incredibly messed up and are really two pretty crappy human beings.
I'm sorry, but it becomes extremely hard for me to empathize with a character when one of your first encounters with him is being a complete creeper to his soon-to-be ex-wife and kicking their cat because he can't figure out a more adult way to cope. On top of that, Odile is a pretentious, self-absorbed, scared little girl with self-esteem and commitment issues of the worst kind. She's twee and far too "manic pixie dream girl" for me to really get behind her. Especially when Jack actually does start shaping up and getting his act together, and she just gets upset because he doesn't want to help her vandalize the car of an art professor who didn't like her work. I want characters I can root for or see myself in, not characters that are constantly making me roll my eyes and grate on my nerves.
The real standout of this novel is the formatting. I loved the addition of sketches, photographs, walls full of text without punctuation and colored pages. It made the book itself, and not really the story, a work of art in its own right.
In the end, I felt that this was a sub-par work by an author who seriously, in my mind, has the potential to write a great American novel one day. As I said earlier, Hairstyles of the Damned is such a fantastic book, and I constantly recommend it to everyone who will listen. Office Girl isn't even on the same level, and that pains me to say. Not even close. I might would rank it a step above The Boy Detective Fails, but only by a bit. For serious Joe Meno fans, I think you have to read it just to keep current on his body of work. Otherwise, I think this is a novel that would be easy to skip. Three stars.
As a fan of Joe Meno, and considering Hairstyles of the Damned to be one of my favorite books of all time, I was excited to read Office Girl and everything it had to offer. Unfortunately, I found this book to be bland, boring, and, frankly, pretentious and too hipster-ish for my tastes.
One of the reviews on the back of the book exclaimed that this novel captures the essence of the first twenty five years of life, or something to that effect. As a twenty five year old myself, I can say that I have never experienced anything like the lives and relationships of Odile and Jack. I'm not even sure what I think this novel captures as both main characters are so incredibly messed up and are really two pretty crappy human beings.
I'm sorry, but it becomes extremely hard for me to empathize with a character when one of your first encounters with him is being a complete creeper to his soon-to-be ex-wife and kicking their cat because he can't figure out a more adult way to cope. On top of that, Odile is a pretentious, self-absorbed, scared little girl with self-esteem and commitment issues of the worst kind. She's twee and far too "manic pixie dream girl" for me to really get behind her. Especially when Jack actually does start shaping up and getting his act together, and she just gets upset because he doesn't want to help her vandalize the car of an art professor who didn't like her work. I want characters I can root for or see myself in, not characters that are constantly making me roll my eyes and grate on my nerves.
The real standout of this novel is the formatting. I loved the addition of sketches, photographs, walls full of text without punctuation and colored pages. It made the book itself, and not really the story, a work of art in its own right.
In the end, I felt that this was a sub-par work by an author who seriously, in my mind, has the potential to write a great American novel one day. As I said earlier, Hairstyles of the Damned is such a fantastic book, and I constantly recommend it to everyone who will listen. Office Girl isn't even on the same level, and that pains me to say. Not even close. I might would rank it a step above The Boy Detective Fails, but only by a bit. For serious Joe Meno fans, I think you have to read it just to keep current on his body of work. Otherwise, I think this is a novel that would be easy to skip. Three stars.
July 6, 2014
I loved this book. It had so few stars when I added it to my book list that I went and read a bunch of the reader reviews. Man. People hate this book. I'm sorry that people hate hipsters. . . though that's a word so overused at this point that I don't know what it means. I think all young twenty somethings who haven't figured it out yet and therefore are working in retail or customer service or some crap low wage job and dress one step above hobos. They cut their own hair. They make cute outfits out of secondhand things. You know why? Because it's what they can afford and they're making the best of it. Now we assume that they dress that way to be ironic. It was the best I could do when I was that age and I wasn't a snob or judgey or whatever we think hipsters are. I was just trying to figure out what was next and what the trajectory of my life should be and on some nights, at the close of the store, I had to take change out of the "have a penny, take a penny" cup to make it home on the el. I got skinny because I couldn't afford too much food. I did free city things and went to museums on free days and I almost never ever ever drank. . . because I couldn't afford to. It was hard. If you saw me then with today's eyes, you would have said, "dirty hipster," and it would have hurt my feelings.
I think this book is short and simple and lovely and that the characters are brilliant. Odile isn't twee. She might just have serious problems that she thinks make her interesting, but when she's 40 might diagnose as clinical depression. Jack is a good guy trying to be better. And nobody ever tells you this, but for many many many people, your twenties are the worst. You can risk things which is great, but you're often on the edge of total financial collapse, your friendships are pretty impermanent as they move around trying to find their path. You're terribly lonely but not ready to settle down and so how do you cure that loneliness? It's rough.
And I think Joe Meno has captured that perfectly here. Why are we so rough on young people? Why do we hate them when they're off kilter or unusual or lost. You were there, too, once. Try to remember.
I think this book is short and simple and lovely and that the characters are brilliant. Odile isn't twee. She might just have serious problems that she thinks make her interesting, but when she's 40 might diagnose as clinical depression. Jack is a good guy trying to be better. And nobody ever tells you this, but for many many many people, your twenties are the worst. You can risk things which is great, but you're often on the edge of total financial collapse, your friendships are pretty impermanent as they move around trying to find their path. You're terribly lonely but not ready to settle down and so how do you cure that loneliness? It's rough.
And I think Joe Meno has captured that perfectly here. Why are we so rough on young people? Why do we hate them when they're off kilter or unusual or lost. You were there, too, once. Try to remember.
January 22, 2013
Man,I wanted to like this book. I really did. But by the end I was left sort of unsatisfied. I set down the book and thought, "That's it?" However, that's not to say I wasn't interested enough to read it pretty quickly but it left a rather bland taste in my mouth.
The two main characters, Odile and Jack are both described just enough that they're somewhat believable as real people, yet vague enough to allow the reader to impress their own thoughts upon them too. Any post-college twenty-something year old could easily read into either of these characters as fictional extensions of themselves or someone they know. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
The bottom line here though is that Odile is a classic example of a "manic pixie dream girl". She's a hipster and an art school drop out without a clue of what to do with her life, but she's cute and she's quirky, a little crazy and out there, and she's everything good about the world in Jack's opinion. But she's unobtainable, and that's the problem.
Jack is, for lack of a better term, pathetic. His wife left him (and after reading this, you can kind of see why), and he's trying to figure out what the hell he's supposed to be doing in this world too. And then he meets Odile, and despite some of the first words they speak to each other being about how she's not really interested in any sort of anything, Jack falls for her anyway. He follows her around like a bit of a puppy dog from one strange art project to another, and for 4 great days they live out their little fantasy of a relationship. Yet he's still so surprised when Odile decides to move away. Well, duh, kid. What did you expect?
I don't know. Perhaps I just really wanted a happy ending. Or maybe I just wanted them to stop being so angsty and just do something about their feelings instead of sitting in their cubicles with their eyes averted. Either way, the book was alright. Read it on an airplane or the beach. It's that kind of book.
The two main characters, Odile and Jack are both described just enough that they're somewhat believable as real people, yet vague enough to allow the reader to impress their own thoughts upon them too. Any post-college twenty-something year old could easily read into either of these characters as fictional extensions of themselves or someone they know. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
The bottom line here though is that Odile is a classic example of a "manic pixie dream girl". She's a hipster and an art school drop out without a clue of what to do with her life, but she's cute and she's quirky, a little crazy and out there, and she's everything good about the world in Jack's opinion. But she's unobtainable, and that's the problem.
Jack is, for lack of a better term, pathetic. His wife left him (and after reading this, you can kind of see why), and he's trying to figure out what the hell he's supposed to be doing in this world too. And then he meets Odile, and despite some of the first words they speak to each other being about how she's not really interested in any sort of anything, Jack falls for her anyway. He follows her around like a bit of a puppy dog from one strange art project to another, and for 4 great days they live out their little fantasy of a relationship. Yet he's still so surprised when Odile decides to move away. Well, duh, kid. What did you expect?
I don't know. Perhaps I just really wanted a happy ending. Or maybe I just wanted them to stop being so angsty and just do something about their feelings instead of sitting in their cubicles with their eyes averted. Either way, the book was alright. Read it on an airplane or the beach. It's that kind of book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2012
Joe Meno's Office Girl traces the relationship between two would-be hipsters, Odile and Jack. Set in Chicago during the winter of 1999, the novel explores the minor everyday events, epiphanies, and disappointments of these two directionless twenty-somethings.
The first part of the book follows Odile as she grows dissatisfied with the affair she is having with a married man, the menial jobs she drifts to and from, and her own sense of self. Part two shifts to Jack's story--his dissolving marriage, his search for a menial job, and his nearly pointless long-term art project of recording sounds of the city. Part 3 finds both working at the same Muzak sales phone center, and thus begins their whirlwind relationship.
At Odile's suggestion, the two start their own personal art movement, staging small events--performance pieces, one might say--at random times. Their art movement is dedicated to the temporary--their manifesto claims that anything longer than 10 seconds is bogus--and in that, the novel--which tracks just 3 weeks of otherwise unremarkable time--parallels the beliefs of its protagonists.
In between art events, Odile and Jack have a lot of sex and a lot of conversations. Few of the latter go by without one or both of the characters saying, "I dunno" or "It's weird," though every now and then, Jack or Odile hits on something a bit more substantive.
Office Girl was, in the end, all right. The novel is essentially a character and relationship study, but the characters are fairly static throughout the book (though there are hints of development near the end. If I had read this book when I was the age of the main characters, I think I would have loved this novel. As it is, though, I am older and unsatisfied with the lack of substance in both the characters and the story.
The first part of the book follows Odile as she grows dissatisfied with the affair she is having with a married man, the menial jobs she drifts to and from, and her own sense of self. Part two shifts to Jack's story--his dissolving marriage, his search for a menial job, and his nearly pointless long-term art project of recording sounds of the city. Part 3 finds both working at the same Muzak sales phone center, and thus begins their whirlwind relationship.
At Odile's suggestion, the two start their own personal art movement, staging small events--performance pieces, one might say--at random times. Their art movement is dedicated to the temporary--their manifesto claims that anything longer than 10 seconds is bogus--and in that, the novel--which tracks just 3 weeks of otherwise unremarkable time--parallels the beliefs of its protagonists.
In between art events, Odile and Jack have a lot of sex and a lot of conversations. Few of the latter go by without one or both of the characters saying, "I dunno" or "It's weird," though every now and then, Jack or Odile hits on something a bit more substantive.
Office Girl was, in the end, all right. The novel is essentially a character and relationship study, but the characters are fairly static throughout the book (though there are hints of development near the end. If I had read this book when I was the age of the main characters, I think I would have loved this novel. As it is, though, I am older and unsatisfied with the lack of substance in both the characters and the story.
July 26, 2012
First things first, I really admire Joe Meno. The Boy Detective Fails nearly brought me to tears and though some of his other works may not as hit deeply both on a cerebral and visceral level, I respect the hell out of him. He mines the sort of literary territory that often appeals to me (if not cyclically); family, ageing, first love.
But I fear Office Girl came out about ten years too late for me. Some of it hit home the way I like good fiction too, characters and events I can relate to personally. However, said characters and events exist just barely out of reach, in a cloud, memories too ethereal to be the personal aide the book requires. One of the protagonists, the sexy-cute eccentric art school dropout seems to exist in another time I lived in, but she would have had me stuttering and sweating in college.
I suppose all of this is more telling of the way I read these types of books, the context I bring, the baggage I need to make these sorts of reads worthwhile. It has nothing to do with Meno, it's my fault, see. I've crossed that dreaded threshold where all my 'firsts' in college that I used to love to relive through evocative fiction--first love, first heartbreak, being on my own, etc--are too far away, they cant be so easily recalled. And I need to recall these for this type of novel, it's almost mandatory.
But I fear Office Girl came out about ten years too late for me. Some of it hit home the way I like good fiction too, characters and events I can relate to personally. However, said characters and events exist just barely out of reach, in a cloud, memories too ethereal to be the personal aide the book requires. One of the protagonists, the sexy-cute eccentric art school dropout seems to exist in another time I lived in, but she would have had me stuttering and sweating in college.
I suppose all of this is more telling of the way I read these types of books, the context I bring, the baggage I need to make these sorts of reads worthwhile. It has nothing to do with Meno, it's my fault, see. I've crossed that dreaded threshold where all my 'firsts' in college that I used to love to relive through evocative fiction--first love, first heartbreak, being on my own, etc--are too far away, they cant be so easily recalled. And I need to recall these for this type of novel, it's almost mandatory.
July 22, 2016
Mīlas stāsts par cilvēkiem uz velosipēdiem- sweet simplicity & instant hipster staple. Uzreiz iedomājos šo grāmatu Miera ielas kafejnīcās izliktu skatlogā ar kafijas krūzi un velosipēdu aizmugurē.
Sākums mani aizrāva - man galvā it kā runāja Vudijs Alens, kurš teica- nu tā tagad apskatāmies uz šo meiteni uz velosipēda zaļajā jakā, 23 gadi, nesen pametusi mācības mākslas koledžā, snieg un ir pulksten pieci pēcpusdienā… Un tad īsu epizožu veidā tiek pastāstīti fragmenti no viņas dzīves, kas parāda Odīlu (kā latviski būtu Odile?) kā diezgan vienaldzīgi noskaņotu jaunieti, kas maina darbus, piekrīt gadījuma sakariem tikai tāpēc, lai cilvēkiem viņa patiktu. Plūst pa straumi, bet grib būt īpaša. Visur brauc ar velosipēdu, skatās maz zināmas filmas un ar flomāsteriem apzīmē autobusus. Un tad ir knapi divdesmit piecus vecs jaunēklis, kurš visur staigā ar diktofonu un ieraksta skaņas, piemēram, krītoša sniega skaņu, sarunas autobusa pieturās utt. Tad skaņu kasetes sakārto kastēs, kuras krāj. Un jā, viņu tikko pametusi sieva, kurai laikam ir apnikušas kurpju kastes pilnas ar sniega skaņām un vīra nespēju pabeigt iesāktos projektus.
Kaut kas melanholiski skaists ir tās skumjās, kas apvij apsnigušo Čikāgu deviņdesmito gadu beigās, es visai labi varēju iejusties aprakstītajā vidē.
Sākums mani aizrāva - man galvā it kā runāja Vudijs Alens, kurš teica- nu tā tagad apskatāmies uz šo meiteni uz velosipēda zaļajā jakā, 23 gadi, nesen pametusi mācības mākslas koledžā, snieg un ir pulksten pieci pēcpusdienā… Un tad īsu epizožu veidā tiek pastāstīti fragmenti no viņas dzīves, kas parāda Odīlu (kā latviski būtu Odile?) kā diezgan vienaldzīgi noskaņotu jaunieti, kas maina darbus, piekrīt gadījuma sakariem tikai tāpēc, lai cilvēkiem viņa patiktu. Plūst pa straumi, bet grib būt īpaša. Visur brauc ar velosipēdu, skatās maz zināmas filmas un ar flomāsteriem apzīmē autobusus. Un tad ir knapi divdesmit piecus vecs jaunēklis, kurš visur staigā ar diktofonu un ieraksta skaņas, piemēram, krītoša sniega skaņu, sarunas autobusa pieturās utt. Tad skaņu kasetes sakārto kastēs, kuras krāj. Un jā, viņu tikko pametusi sieva, kurai laikam ir apnikušas kurpju kastes pilnas ar sniega skaņām un vīra nespēju pabeigt iesāktos projektus.
Kaut kas melanholiski skaists ir tās skumjās, kas apvij apsnigušo Čikāgu deviņdesmito gadu beigās, es visai labi varēju iejusties aprakstītajā vidē.
September 1, 2013
At first I thought I was reading about millennial hipsters, riding their bikes around snowy Chicago, defacing public property with paint pens. (I like this book's alternate title: "Young People on Bicycles Doing Troubling Things." It suits the story much better, as only a fraction of the book is from the "office girl's" point of view.) Soon I realized I wasn't reading about millennial hipsters at all. The story takes place in 1999, making them . . . GEN-X hipsters!
The first section of the book (Odile) didn't quite captivate me. Parts felt like creative writing exercises. Long passages of internal monologue, chapters in list-form, quirky line drawings, and a Tao Lin-esque writing style felt contrived rather than original.
It all pulled together once the point of view character switched to Jack. Finally, the contrivances fell away and the story and characters began to emerge. Odile and Jack ride through the snow on bicycles. They've semi-ironically started a new art movement. I was no longer annoyed with them at all. I liked them, I felt for them. I even enjoyed their fake art.
The first section of the book (Odile) didn't quite captivate me. Parts felt like creative writing exercises. Long passages of internal monologue, chapters in list-form, quirky line drawings, and a Tao Lin-esque writing style felt contrived rather than original.
It all pulled together once the point of view character switched to Jack. Finally, the contrivances fell away and the story and characters began to emerge. Odile and Jack ride through the snow on bicycles. They've semi-ironically started a new art movement. I was no longer annoyed with them at all. I liked them, I felt for them. I even enjoyed their fake art.
May 1, 2016
There is no way that this is supposed to be an adult novel. And yet, it is. Seriously. This was a fairly decent YA book. If the main characters were high school seniors then almost everything they do would make sense. And the book itself would be considered YA (which I tend to judge less harshly) and it would have gotten 3-3.5 stars. The new young adults are trying out the world and being all cynical and hoping for their lives to be better than average.
And yet, they are mid-20s. Which is, yes, when one starts to be cynical IN THE WAY OF REALIZING THEY HAVE TO GO TO WORK EVERYDAY. But not the age at which one tries to start Art movements and vandalize shit.
There were cute moments and it certainly is a short, easy read. But the whole thing is just too trite and the characters too immature to actually MEAN anything.
And yet, they are mid-20s. Which is, yes, when one starts to be cynical IN THE WAY OF REALIZING THEY HAVE TO GO TO WORK EVERYDAY. But not the age at which one tries to start Art movements and vandalize shit.
There were cute moments and it certainly is a short, easy read. But the whole thing is just too trite and the characters too immature to actually MEAN anything.
March 2, 2020
I think I’m a decade too late for this book. It was a relatively fun and easy read with a manic-pixie-dream-girl type character and the lovable loser she sucks in her web. I found both to be insufferable at times. If you enjoy highly stylized novel construction this one has it in spades, utilizing vignettes, photography, and doodle sketches in the margins throughout. Again, if I were 24 again...maybe it would have resonated with me more.
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