A Career in Books
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A Publishers Weekly Best Books 2022: Comics pick A Career in Books is a graphic novel for everyone who's wanted to "work with books" and had NO idea what it entailed. It's for those who were taken aback by that first paycheck. It's for those who wanted a literary career even in the face of systemic racism, who dealt with the unique challenges of coming from an immigrant family, and whose group chat is their lifeline. Shirin, Nina, and Silvia have just gotten their first jobs in publishing, at a University Press, a traditional publisher, and a trust-fund kid's "indie" publisher, respectively. And it's . . . great? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They know they're paying their dues and the challenges they meet (Shirin's boss just assumes she knows Cantonese, Nina cannot get promoted by sheer force of will, and Silvia has to deal with daily microaggressions) are just part of “a career in books.” When they meet their elderly neighbor, Veronica Vo, and discover she's a Booker Prize winner dubbed the “Tampax Tolstoy” by the press, each woman finds a thread of inspiration from Veronica’s life to carry on her own path. And the result is full of twists and revelations that surprise not only the reader but the women themselves. Charming, wry, and with fantastic black-and-white illustrations, A Career in Books is a modern ode to Rona Jaffe’s The Best of Everything, and perfect for fans of Good Talk, Younger, and The Bold Type, as readers chart the paths of three Asian-American women trying to break through the world of books with hilarious, incisive, and heartbreaking results.
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Love when VV says “I know some writers say they don't read while they're working on a book because they don't want someone else's words in their head. I think that's bullshit. I'm always reading.”
I really, really enjoyed this! Although I couldn't relate to the cultural pieces in this slice of life graphic novel, I certainly understood and related to the career side. Which ended up being a two-fold bonus of a read. On one hand I have more empathy and insight into the Asian-American experience having read this and on the other I felt a certain kinship to their struggles and triumphs and uncertainty pertaining to their careers and life trajectory in general. Told with a lot of humour, down-to-earth, relatable themes and without glamorizing that period of time between Young Adulthood and Adulthood in an unrealistic way (as so many Hollywood films do), and it ends up so much more meaningful in the telling. While I may not have had the characters same experience, there was so much about it that echoed my own, that I more than once felt my heart squeeze in recognition of a thought or feeling they had. I appreciated the gritty, realistic side of the story without loosing its charm and humour which made it an enjoyable (not depressing) read. And such a positive view of female friendship too! Not to mention the love of books and the written word that permeates the whole thing, which I gravitate towards as well. The art is quirky, but well done and perfectly fits the story. I highly recommend this graphic novel! Honestly one of the best I've read in a long time. I laughed out loud, shed a tear and had a hard time putting it down once I started.
