Rachel ShukertRecensioni
Autore di Everything Is Going To Be Great
Recensioni
Starstruck di Rachel Shukert
Actually, come to think of it, even more embarrassing is explaining all of this to your mother — I had the pleasure of doing this as I sat on my parent’s couch reading and feeding my niece. Thankfully my niece is only three months old and cannot read because she is not old enough to know about these things. Neither are my sisters — I would like to inquire about chastity belts forged with the strongest irons in the world so if anyone has information about this, please put me in touch with the right people.
Rachel Shukert’s memoir, Everything Is Going To Be Great: An Underfunded & Overexposed European Grand Tour is one of the most hilarious memoirs, actually books, I have ever read. I can’t say that my European escapades were ever worthy of writing a book about them, but I can relate to ending up in the hospital in a foreign country because one has consumed too much alcohol. I still haven’t figured out if I was in a hospital or if I made that whole thing up and actually spent the night in an alley. Regardless of my hazy memory, Rachel recreates her adventures with witty, self-deprecating humor — my favorite kind.
Graduating college and moving on to the “next big thing” in your life is a scary process. Finding a job, becoming an adult; these are things we think about but once we are forced into these situations — we try to delay this as long as possible — we often make some bad decisions. Rachel takes us on her journey post-college as she finds a non-paying acting gig and touring Europe with the play in a non-speaking role. She offers up anecdotes from her college years, pre-college years, all the while her mother calls and writes to kvetch — if there was a kvetching award, her mother would probably win.
The stories in Everything Is Going To Be Great are hilarious and memorable. Beyond this, Shukert lets us know that making mistakes is okay and that we can still survive if we make them — our lives don’t have to be perfect in order to work out.
This is Shukert’s second memoir — she isn’t even 30 (get on it slackers) — and is quickly becoming one of my favorite memoirists. She has written pieces for McSweeney’s and The Daily Beast and I caught her contribution to the WSJ site about [b:Eat, Pray, Love|19501|Eat, Pray, Love|Elizabeth Gilbert|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1269870432s/19501.jpg|3352398].
Have any of you read this? If not, I highly suggest you do. She’s like the female version of David Sedaris if you added in Judaism and more sex.
the writing was great, complex and full of flavor of the era. I didn't connect with any of the characters though.
the writing was great, complex and full of flavor of the era. I didn't connect with any of the characters though.
the writing was great, complex and full of flavor of the era. I didn't connect with any of the characters though.
I read up to page 170, out of 309, then decided I'd had enough. I don't know how much of this book is actually true, as there are several conversations that sound contrived, and it's hard to believe that someone makes so many horrible decisions, yet is still alive. Shukert seems to think that being stupid and gross is the same as having a personality. She can write, and some of the stuff is amusing, but I couldn't go on after she writes about being sexually assaulted by two acquaintances, whom she gets away from, and not only doesn't call the police, but simply tells her roommate that she's had a rough night. I just can't relate to the way her brain works.
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mstrust | 17 altre recensioni | Jul 20, 2015 |
mstrust | 17 altre recensioni | Jul 20, 2015 | The characters were so easy to relate to because of their complicated problems caused by an inability to articulate simple feelings. With so many characters, it's often that their personas get lost within the story, but this wasn't the case for this book. Every identity was so individual and so strongly defined that I never had to check to see which character it was.
This book was beautifully crafted and most definitely the creme de la creme. I'll have to make a special spot on my shelf for this- maybe even add a mini crown to show this book's superiority. Or would Margo Sterling dismiss that as gaudy? I'm fairly sure even Gabby Preston would. Oh well. This book is good enough for me to risk the disfavor of two of Hollywood's biggest starlets.
See the full review here: http://tinyurl.com/mefm4gf
Fans of The Luxe series, The Bright Young Things series, and Cinders and Sapphires will enjoy this novel.
I'm not the right reader for this book. Call me a prude if you want, but I somehow (thankfully) avoided the stage of life that Rachel Shukert describes in her memoir. I don't understand the appeal of drinking until you end up in the hospital, or waking up with a man you met for the first time the night before. So when I ran into both things within the first few pages of this memoir, I knew this wasn't going to be a book that I connected with.
If you did go through this stage, perhaps you'll enjoy this memoir more than I did. It is funny, but, like I said, I just didn't really connect with what Rachel was going through inflicting on herself.
The book is well-written, and I did end up cheering for Rachel in the end, but the lifestyle described in the pages is a turn-off for me.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy for review.
Well, as long as my life stays sheltered here behind my apartment door, buried under a duvet and covered in Cheeto dust, I may as well live vicariously through Shukert's.
And oh, the adventures she has! She travels with a theatre troupe through Zurich and Vienna, ends up in Amsterdam living with two gay roommates (and somehow not having to pay rent), and meets a whole cast of colorful friends, including two vampires and several potheads. Dental emergencies lead to orgies and near-prostitution, stolen bicycles bring about karmic retribution, and yelling "who wants to go to a comedy show?!" outside the Anne Frank house is revealed to be a bad idea.
You can read my full review here: http://virtualmargin.blogspot.com/2011/09/everything-is-going-to-be-great-45100....
Rating: Between 2.5 stars and 3.
This book and I had a love/hate relationship. I started this book and found myself loving it and then I hit a chunk where I wanted to fling at the wall and abandon it and then I got to a place where I didn't loathe it and then I found myself really enjoying it again.
I think that the subtitle is a little misleading. I had such high expectations for this being a travelogue lover. This was more a series of hilarious sexcapades in 2 countries rather than a "European Grand Tour." I was so excited about this book because I felt like Rachel and I were kindred spirits and that I'd connect with her plight--being a college grad, not knowing what you want in life, wanting to see the world and just generally being broke and wanting to find yourself. She was all that but I just didn't find myself connecting with her until maybe the end.
Let me tell you some GREAT things about this book: Rachel is hilarious and the girl can write! I was seriously laughing out loud and dying with some of her descriptions of people and things. I'm impressed by her ability to make something otherwise not that exciting or amusing become something that makes me snort iced tea out of my nose. I also appreciate how honest she is about herself. I connected with that. At first, I found myself rolling my eyes at her and not caring about her because I just thought she was selfish and never learning and growing, but I found myself gaining alot of respect for her and genuinely finding her to be likable. I also thought she was clever in adding all these hilarious "extras" like when you are reading a travel guide and it might have a little boxed off section for things like "how to order food or what to do at the airport." Instead, her "extras" were things like "Assembling Your Rachel Shukert costume" (with a full on diagram about the "tuck method if you are a male" or "Are You About To Be Sex Trafficked?". Really clever and hilarious sections.
Things I Didn't Like/Feel The Need to Warn You About: If you are the least bit offended by explicit sexual details or lots of vulgar language, skip this one! I wouldn't consider myself a prude but sometimes felt shocked or embarrassed by the details. This book can be raunchy, vulgar and she loves to describe and talk about male anatomy in great detail--chocolate ones, big ones, little ones, uncircumsized ones--penises all over the globe! Also, I didn't find myself DYING to pick this up. I was trying to finish it during Readathon because I needed the motivation to do it. I got tired of her sexcapades after a while but I will say that in the end she does redeem herself a little bit.
The final thought: In the end I was pretty disappointed with this book as whole. I'd recommend going into it without the expectation that it will be the travelogue of a college grad. Read it if you wished David Sedaris and Chelsea Handler had smart assed, hilariously hip child. Don't pick this book up if you will be offended by sex and foul language
Subtitled An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour, Shukert recounts her many adventures traveling around Europe, first as the member of an acting troupe with a sketchy agenda, and then on her own, courtesy of an unstamped passport which allowed her to travel unfettered throughout Europe.
Shukert is a very funny, albeit somewhat vulgar, writer. I read this on the city bus traveling around Manhattan and found myself keeping the book as closed as possible so as not to offend any Upper East Side matrons who may be trying to sneak a peek at what I was reading.
She writes very freely of her many sexual exploits, which often coincided with her drinking to excess. One really crazy night had her doing her best to avoid participating in a three-way with some very scary, excitable Italian men she did not know well. It was a scene a young, Jewish Lucy Riccardo might find herself in, all that was missing was Ethel, and Shukert had me laughing like crazy as she described extricating herself from this potentially dangerous situation.
I loved her mother, whose favorite pastime was to send Rachel "large manila envelopes containing scraps of information that she feels need to be brought to my attention: notices culled from the local newspaper reporting that my high school boyfriend has once again been imprisoned for car theft; excerpts from the latest sermon torn from the synagogue bulletin; photocopied magazine articles detailing gruesome diseases from which she believes I might be at risk."
On one card, her mom wrote- "Remember- having multiple sexual partners significantly increases your immediate risk of developing cancer of the cervix. Please consider." Hilarious!
Shukert includes in the text helpful tips for living abroad, including what to do "When Someone Mistakes You For a Prostitute", "Are You About to Be Sex-trafficked?" and "Snappy Comebacks To Loaded Questions" such as
1. Why are Americans so fat?
2. Are Americans religious because they are stupid, or just ignorant? and
3. Why do Americans cruelly refuse to provide public health care for all?
There is lots of heart in this memoir, and I liked Shukert's adventures in Amsterdam, living with her friends, Jeroen and Mattis. She gives the reader a good flavor for what it is like living in a foreign city: the loneliness, the difficulty in getting a job, the joy of riding a bike as a means of transportation.
Everything Will Be Great will appeal to mostly a younger crowd, and for those lucky enough to have traveled to Europe, they will chuckle with recognition.
Rachel, just graduated NYU and joins an experimental dance troupe tours around Europe to find herself. She has a great ear for voices, and I wished this book just went on and on and on!!!
2 words that describe the book―Sex Memoir (NOT so much a travel memoir as you might think)
3 setting where the book took place or characters I met
* Setting: Primarily Vienna and Amsterdam, Modern Day
* Rachel Shukert is a Jewish girl from Omaha who moves to New York City to make it as an actress. She is broke and barely getting by when she finally gets her “big break”—working for a temperamental director in an off-Broadway play that eventually has a European run in Vienna. After the play closes, Rachel decides to stay with friends in Amsterdam. After all, why not be broke and miserable in Europe instead New York?
* During Rachel’s adventures, we get to meet a colorful cast of characters, including: Berthold (“an Austrian photographer old enough to be my father”); Mattijs and Jeroen (a gay couple who allow Rachel to live in their tiny apartment in Amsterdam); Marco, Ivan and Enzo (Italians—one of whom is an amateur dentist and two of whom are sex-crazed possible sex traffickers); Pete (Rachel’s lover and possible boyfriend except for the little business of him having a girlfriend and possibly being a psycho); and Ben (potential husband material).
4 things I liked or disliked about the book
* This book is f#*@ing hilarious! BUT if you blanched when you saw the F word (even typed with nonsense characters), this book isn’t for you. It is raunchy, dirty, irreverent, bawdy and wonderfully scatological. In other words, not for everyone. But if this kind of stuff doesn’t bother you, you’ll be spitting drinks out your nose from laughing and saying “OH NO SHE DIDN’T” as you read along.
* At first glance, the book might seem like it is a travel memoir. Let me tell you, it is not. Sure, Rachel provides valuable information for travelers, including such gems as “The Swiss: Europe’s Perverts,” “Are You About to Be Sex-Trafficked?,” “Where The F*#K Am I? A Guide to Dutch Street Names,” as well as practical information on finding a dentist in Amsterdam with no health insurance or money. But, for the most part, this is a personal memoir that gets down and dirty about the realities of a single woman who isn’t afraid to take chances on casual sex.
* I enjoyed how Rachel wrote about whatever struck her fancy—from imagining imaginary Amsterdam-set sitcoms to examining the peculiar relationships between Phil Collins and the Dutch. From the very start of the book, which includes a helpful guide about How To Use This Book (as a trivet, as substitute coasters, as Kleenex, as toilet paper, as sanitary napkins) and a guide for Assembling A Rachel Shukert Costume, you know you’re not reading a conventional memoir that plays by the rules. The book is part comedic essay, part travel narrative, and part sex memoir—all rolled around in nice helping of curse words and irreverence.
* I really wanted to know who the big-time director was! I disliked that Rachel kept that information from me after being more than open about everything else. (But I suppose if I were more in the know about theater, I could have figured it out. Plus I suppose she has to watch out for potential lawsuits.)
5 stars or less for my rating:
I’m giving the book 4 stars. I thought it was a funny, fast read that had a generous ratio of laughs per page. However, if you’re easily shocked or not comfortable with bawdy, raunchy, irreverence and a generous helping of four-letter words, this book might not be the best choice for you. If, however, you have low standards like me, check it out … it was one of the more original and amusing memoirs I’ve read.
This one's for my female readers. Yes, I did it. I read a chick book. A memoir even. More importantly, I LIKED it. This alone should tell you that this book is better than your average chick lit recipe of: One sad girl, two shakes male genitalia, three cups best girlfriends, sprinkle with clever witticisms, and bake until girl finds herself by finding a nice man. It does contain all of those themes - the author did find herself along with love, and the stories are shockingly hilarious - but it also contains the words fuck, shit, and piss (thankfully not all in the same sentence) liberally scattered throughout. I think those of you who read my musings regularly will agree this is a good thing. Nothing more appalling than a woman hiding behind pleasantries. So if you need some respite from, or like myself simply have no interest in that other memoir (now movie); the one that has something to do with gorging one's self, talking to imaginary friends and mixing sex with warm fuzzies, then read on. Or at least check it out because this book definitely deserves not to be passed up or overshadowed. Carrying on with the review then...
In her twenties, freshly graduated from NYU with a degree in acting, already borderline alcoholic , disillusioned, broke and having a penchant for one night stands; Rachel Shukert (born and raised in Omaha, NE) somehow lands a very minor and nonpaying role in an important theatrical production. Welcoming the opportunity, since those were much to her "I just graduated and the whole world will love me" chagrin quite slim, she eagerly signs on, mostly because the play will be heading to Europe where she imagines she may get the chance to "find herself". Or at least thats what she tells her mother back in Omaha and seems to at least temporarily convince herself of.
In case you were wondering - I had an initial fear myself - this isn't a memoir from a spoiled twentysomething party girl on how haaawwwt it is to be a twentysomething party girl. Not only is Shukert an intelligent and phenomenal writer (her style and structure is right up there with some of my most favorite authors - Nicely done Rachel!), but she doesn't glamorize her story. Nor does she seek pity, try to save the world, anyones' soul, or go on a feminist rant. It's more along the lines of her wanting to entertain us to the point of maybe spitting Diet Coke out our noses by recounting the tales of the crazy shit that happened to her while she was young, naive and fucked in the head. Like we women dishing over margaritas and raspberry martinis about all the things we never want our boyfriends or husbands to find out we did before we were with them. Because, as we know ladies, we were all "almost" virgins before we met our current partner. Right? Exactly.
That being said, I/we can feel comfy enough then to let Rachel do all the talking, er writng. We'll laugh with her and throw out a few "oh wow's" when she tells us about her fling with a photographer in Vienna who was old enough to be her father, and whose grandfather might have been a Nazi. We'll shake our heads at her, and maybe even tear up with her when she reminisces about falling for a married psychopath. We'll nonchalantly grab our hand sanitizer and casually move our chairs slightly away from her when she tells us the way too damn close for comfort almost threesome with two surly Italians while trying to get a crown repaired story. We'll call her a chickenshit when she passes up the opportunity to sleep with a coworker whose dick is pierced Prince Albert style, and we'll be quietly envious of the best friends forever relationship she has with a male gay couple in Amsterdam. Yes this book reads like you really could be sitting at the bar or a BBQ swapping stories.
My mom once told me when I was in my twenties: "One morning around your 26th birthday, you'll wake up and hear this astounding BOOM. You know what that is? It's the sound of your head finally popping out of your ass! Don't be afraid, it happens to us all." So true. We've all made our mistakes, had regrettable encounters and close calls, no matter our IQ, or how many advanced placement courses we took in high school. They're not glamourous, nor do they make us terrible people. They are what they are, they make us who we are, and provided our heads at some point really do pop out our asses, maybe even shoved out by those experiences, they're nothing to be too terribly ashamed of. Thankfully we've got each other, and women like Rachel willing to share, because we'd all go nuts pretending to be virtuous.
Okay, okay, sappy shit out of the way, some of the other merits to this book are the side stories and "how to's" or "how to nots". For example, if you're a man and really want to see Europe Rachel's way, there's an instructional complete with diagram on how to properly tuck your penis to look like a vag. Should you ever find yourself hospitalized while in Europe, there are name tags in five different languages that list important info regarding your allergies and emergency contacts, along with some pointers on how to properly react to socialized medicine. As if that weren't enough, you'll get some comical but not to be taken out of context or too seriously advice on how not to become sex trafficked. Though for us older gals that's probably not too likely, but good to know anyway.
Regardless of your age, I think there are many of you who will get a kick out of this book. Perhaps because whatever some feel ashamed of might not be so bad in comparison, or maybe because some can finally say "thank god, I thought I was the only one!" I won't tell you which category I fall into because I was "almost" a virgin before I met the man I'm with now, and just thought this was a really funny book. Heh, heh, right.....
* Book is written by a wonderfully funny self-deprecating and honest women
* So funny at times you will snort wine out your nose -- true story (Hmm, maybe should put that under not so good stuff)
* The How to Use this Book at the beginning is worth the price of the book alone
* Love her relationships and conversations between Rachel and her parents and between her and her two gay roommates
* Refreshingly honest, definitely the kinda person you want to hang around with
* Oh come on, just go but the book, you know you wanna - you won't be disappointed
* She mentioned eating spaetzle, which reminded me of the yummy spaetzle my neighbor used to make me as a kid -- it was heavenly yummy stuff
* It may not sound like it, but the Are You About to be Sex-Trafficked bit is quite funny
* I will definitely be looking for a copy of her other book "Have you no shame"
* Why are you still reading this -- Go Buy the Book, the author is far more wittier than I am : )
The Not so Good Stuff
* She can be quite vulgar and some of her imagery is a little nasty (not complaining, but just a warning) at times
* Certain chapters just sort of jump and you get a little lost for a moment or two -- or that just could be because I am a mom and the brain doesn't work all that fast these days
* Had Phil Collins lyrics in my head while reading -- not that that is a completely bad thing -- but it lasted all day
Favorite Quotes/Passages (There are so many, I had to cut myself off from putting them all!)
"I am uncomfortable explicitly endorsing this product for bodily insertion, uncertain as I am of the safety of any chemical additives in the paper, dyes, or inks. Should you contact the customer service line at HarperCollins, I am sure they will be able to advise you."
"In the olden days, when wealthy young English gentlemen stormed the immoral European continent in order to shake off the last libidinous and homosexual vestiges of boarding school before settling down to the business of siring heirs and murdering wildlife..."
"It didn't seem fair to force someone to confront their family's Nazi past until you'd been dating for at least six weeks."
"I believe you have me mixed up with a gay man --- Gay men are supposed to bring over ice cream and tell you how thin you look and show you where to get tested for STD's, Lesbians give tough love and tell you what to put in the cat's food to keep it from shedding."
What I Learned
* I really, really enjoy memoir's written by self-deprecating Jewish women!!!!
* I so need to travel to Europe one of these days
* I like Phil Collins songs ; )
Who should/shouldn't read
* Not for the prudish or easily offended
* Good for anyone who has a sense of humor -- if you don't why the heck are you reading my blog anyway
* Fans of Ariel Leve should enjoy as well
* Anyone who likes memoirs by frank and funny Jewish chicks!
4.5 Dewey's
I received this from Harper Perennial in exchange for an honest review -- honestly ; )
This is a memoir, and it's hard not to cheer Rachel on while she tries to find herself in Europe. She makes bad choices, but part of that is because she's in her early twenties on the trip. (And really, kudos to her, because most of what I did in my early twenties should not ever be written down.)
This book is ridiculously funny, but most of the really funny parts would require me typing an entire page or two, which I'm pretty sure is a violation of copyright law.
So here's a little snippet that I think will translate well.
Rachel's visiting a psychiatrist, who told her that he thinks she's afraid of success.
"I said, `Here is a list of the things I am afraid of: elephants, flying, terrorists, sexually transmitted diseases, credit card statements, Poles, ballet teachers, and failure, which is generally agreed to be the opposite of success. Unless you're trying to practice some kind of reverse psychology on me, in which case you can go and fuck yourself.'"
Recommended, especially for people who enjoy traveling and who are not easily offended. There's a lot of drinking, drugs and sex in here. Don't say you weren't warned.
I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel Shukert at a book blogger event hosted by Harper Perennial (I just love them!) during the 2010 BookExpo America and the Book Blogger Convention week last May at the Algonquin Hotel. (I know, pretty friggin fancy, aren’t I?) I was hurting desperately due to major shoe trauma and fighting over zealous book people all day, so I rolled into the hotel with my three bags, grabbed a glass of wine, a coke, and cheese plate and sat my big butt down at the first available table before some skinny chick grabbed one of the last available chairs before I could. I hadn’t eaten all day, and all of a sudden this cute skinny chick sits next to me. To be honest, I was wary, but only because I had dealt with pushy, annoying or aggressive people all day for two days straight and I was praying to god she wasn’t going to fall on one of those lists. I just wanted to suck down my food and get a buzz going before dealing with more of the same, you know?
Well, after talking to Rachel for nearly twenty minutes, I can tell you thankfully she fell on the “cool as hell” list. Not only was she hilarious, bubbly, and acted like a normal (i.e. non-pushy book industry. For the record, neither Rachel or I could ever be known as ”normal”) person, but she didn’t even mention she had a book until either one of the publisher mentioned it, or I finally asked her if she had ever written anything. I had mistaken her as a book blogger, mainly because I may have been too tired and semi-drunk (I know, one glass of wine? How pathetic for a former MSU student!) to notice her name tag said author on it, but hey, it was nice not knowing I was sitting next to a cool author whose book I had heard of and one I knew I had wanted to read. We were just chatting about everything, from European travel to cats to a wide variety of things. I may have even mentioned my shoe issues, since I was carrying a huge bag with a shoe box inside it and embarrassed about it, thus, my compulsive need to thrust it into the spotlight. I know … wtf, right? But once you get me going I won’t shut up about anything, as I love to talk and I had just spent nine months sitting on my couch, unemployed and looking for work, and only having one way conversations with a very moody cat named Beatrice. I was just happy to be talking about other things with book people besides books.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that when a cool and funny author who has a second book coming out sits down and talks with a silly unknown book blogger (with no filter at times due to low blood pressure and one glass of wine who moans of foot pain) and doesn’t manage to just drop her card and run away after one minute, you know she’s good people. Normally I don’t focus my book reviews on who an author is because I feel my reviews should be about the book, but Rachel Shukert is so full of life and so much fun (You’ll love her Twitter page) that to get a sense of her from me would be an insight as to what to expect from her memoir. Not only do I think Rachel Shukert is fabulous and fun as a person, but also as a writer. Her travel memoir Everything Is Going To Be Great is the complete opposite of the beloved travel memoir Eat, Pray, Love, yet you could still refer to Rachel’s memoir as the politically incorrect and way-less glamorous yet hilarious, realistic, and flavorful (and by flavorful I mean at times fun-but-still-a-tiny-bit-seedy) tale of a Jewish girl’s adventures in Europe in the more realistic world of being a recent graduate whose broke but still manages to travel by staying with friends way too long. Trust me, there are no glorious Italian meals or beautiful houses in Bali for this triple threat author, actress and playwright, but you will laugh your butt off when you read about her cultural observations about everything from Phil Collins, health care, and um, well … foreskin.
Please read the rest of my review on my blog, listed below. I'm also hosting a giveaway for one copy of the fabulous [Everything Is Going to Be Great] by [[Rachel Shukert]].
Contest ends on Monday, August 30th and is open to US residents only.
Enter to win here:
http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/everything-is-going-to-be-g...
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