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jess_mango's review against another edition
2.0
I just didn't connect with Odile or Jack or care what happened to them. Perhaps that means that I am not quite hipster enough...if so...so be it!
jacwol's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
machadofam8's review against another edition
3.0
The pink cover was what grabbed me first; I loved the way pink then figured in so much of the story. Fun characters, great story.
eehancock's review against another edition
4.0
I imagine that my little brother would really enjoy this. it's predictable & hip but also sweet & engaging.
sophieprime's review against another edition
I think this is a case of right-time reading. I'm at a point of discovery and uncovering art in my own life in a way that is juggling adolescence and reality, just like these characters. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Will I read it again? Probably. Did it change my life? No, but it prompted introspection which is so very well needed right now. It was a brief but familiar journey.
sarahjoyce's review against another edition
3.0
Odile and Jack have a lot in common. They're both "artists", work nights selling office music and are completely hopeless in relationships.When Odile asks Jack to join her new art movement their lives change forever. Or at least for February of 1999. Office Girl is the story of art, love and screwing up in a snow covered Chicago.
After reading The Great Perhaps last year I wanted to try another Meno novel. While Office Girl is a completely different beast his treatment of his home city of Chicago is perfect. It is clearly a place he loves, decaying buildings, poor drivers and all. The city really comes to life in a way that made Meno's favorite setting my favorite part of the novel.
As an underemployed art school graduate who use to live (and go to said art school) in Chicago I am the definite target audience for this novel. However, hitting close to home couldn't really help the half dead story. Odile is a stereotypic art school drop out; sleeping with married men, unreliable on the job and mercilessly critical of every other artist she meets. On the other end Jack (who is also an art school graduate) is his own personal lend of obsessively crazy. While I enjoyed their bike trips around the city, and the idea's behind some of their "Art Terrorism" I just couldn't see them as more than caricatures. In the end Jack's audio project (read: obsession) and Odile's edgy attitude weren't enough to get me to make a lasting impression.
Overall I wasn't a fan of Office Girl. It had it's moments, and the art scattered throughout the pages was enjoyable. The lack of realistic characters in a hyper real setting really made it hard for me to care about anything that either Odile or Jack were going through, and the actual story was pretty dry.
If pressed i'd give it a dreaded 3 stars.
After reading The Great Perhaps last year I wanted to try another Meno novel. While Office Girl is a completely different beast his treatment of his home city of Chicago is perfect. It is clearly a place he loves, decaying buildings, poor drivers and all. The city really comes to life in a way that made Meno's favorite setting my favorite part of the novel.
As an underemployed art school graduate who use to live (and go to said art school) in Chicago I am the definite target audience for this novel. However, hitting close to home couldn't really help the half dead story. Odile is a stereotypic art school drop out; sleeping with married men, unreliable on the job and mercilessly critical of every other artist she meets. On the other end Jack (who is also an art school graduate) is his own personal lend of obsessively crazy. While I enjoyed their bike trips around the city, and the idea's behind some of their "Art Terrorism" I just couldn't see them as more than caricatures. In the end Jack's audio project (read: obsession) and Odile's edgy attitude weren't enough to get me to make a lasting impression.
Overall I wasn't a fan of Office Girl. It had it's moments, and the art scattered throughout the pages was enjoyable. The lack of realistic characters in a hyper real setting really made it hard for me to care about anything that either Odile or Jack were going through, and the actual story was pretty dry.
If pressed i'd give it a dreaded 3 stars.
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
3.0
A good read, but I think I have such high expectations that almost nothing can live up to them when it comes to this author.
There was a lot of hipstery stuff in here, which I had to get past a little. Although I think we've all been a little unfair to the noble hipster. Sure, there are some annoying parts. But for the most part, I can honestly say I haven't had a lot of bad run-ins with hipsters. Okay, yes, there was one concert where I wanted badly to break several pairs of fashion frames and the only thing holding me back was that they are fashion frames and wouldn't impair the wearer's vision. Other than that, though, I have to say that I find some hipster traits to be just fine.
*Riding Fixed-Gear Bicycles
Fine. One less person on the road. Plus, it beats out another group of attention-seekers, jagoffs who get huge subs in their crappy cars and rattle everything around them with the damn hip-hops music.
*Drinking PBR
I happen to like PBR. I mean, don't bury me with it. Or in it. But as cheap beers go, I'll take it any day. So if we're blaming hipsters for the new omnipresence of PBR, I feel like we're blaming them for slightly improving our beer-swilling lives.
*Fashion
Alright, this one bothers me, and bothers me in two different ways. First, the capris. Not cool. Second, the flannel. I was wearing that stuff, guys. It was so comfy. Now what am I supposed to do? But on the other hand, disliking someone for popularizing something you like is a silly way to go through life.
*Art
Yeah, this was the one that was most present in the book. I'm confused by art. I've been confused by art for a long time. I mean, take that Duchamp urinal thing. I understand his message, or understand what he felt like he was expressing. But I don't think I understand what the art world is getting out of it. In the book, though, one of the characters makes a great point that I think all aspiring artists should consider. To paraphrase: "You're more interested in being an artist than making art."
In some ways, I think the book is a little love letter to unfinished projects. That screenplay or that album or that short film or that quilt or that knitted scarf or that perfect mixtape or that collection of recipes on index cards.
It's a quick read. It kind of reminds me of one of these newer romantic comedies, except not so romantic or comedic, more real. But being able to see Zooey Deschanel starring as the quirky, hip, energetic yet very lost female lead boiled my blood just a tad.
There was a lot of hipstery stuff in here, which I had to get past a little. Although I think we've all been a little unfair to the noble hipster. Sure, there are some annoying parts. But for the most part, I can honestly say I haven't had a lot of bad run-ins with hipsters. Okay, yes, there was one concert where I wanted badly to break several pairs of fashion frames and the only thing holding me back was that they are fashion frames and wouldn't impair the wearer's vision. Other than that, though, I have to say that I find some hipster traits to be just fine.
*Riding Fixed-Gear Bicycles
Fine. One less person on the road. Plus, it beats out another group of attention-seekers, jagoffs who get huge subs in their crappy cars and rattle everything around them with the damn hip-hops music.
*Drinking PBR
I happen to like PBR. I mean, don't bury me with it. Or in it. But as cheap beers go, I'll take it any day. So if we're blaming hipsters for the new omnipresence of PBR, I feel like we're blaming them for slightly improving our beer-swilling lives.
*Fashion
Alright, this one bothers me, and bothers me in two different ways. First, the capris. Not cool. Second, the flannel. I was wearing that stuff, guys. It was so comfy. Now what am I supposed to do? But on the other hand, disliking someone for popularizing something you like is a silly way to go through life.
*Art
Yeah, this was the one that was most present in the book. I'm confused by art. I've been confused by art for a long time. I mean, take that Duchamp urinal thing. I understand his message, or understand what he felt like he was expressing. But I don't think I understand what the art world is getting out of it. In the book, though, one of the characters makes a great point that I think all aspiring artists should consider. To paraphrase: "You're more interested in being an artist than making art."
In some ways, I think the book is a little love letter to unfinished projects. That screenplay or that album or that short film or that quilt or that knitted scarf or that perfect mixtape or that collection of recipes on index cards.
It's a quick read. It kind of reminds me of one of these newer romantic comedies, except not so romantic or comedic, more real. But being able to see Zooey Deschanel starring as the quirky, hip, energetic yet very lost female lead boiled my blood just a tad.
romcm's review against another edition
2.0
Yeah, nah. I think I may have missed the boat here. Set in 1999, but written in 2012 (which is confusing, as I'd forgiven it for its cliches until I saw when it was published) it's a perfect example of the manic-pixie-dream-girl thing. A true example of peak-hipster. It almost kind of said something about the creation of art, but then didn't.
gimchi's review against another edition
3.0
i like joe meno.
i like his run on sentences and the way they make me feel.
that said, not my favorite - i'm still a fan of his short stories and the boy detective fails.
cute, quirky, enjoyable.
i like his run on sentences and the way they make me feel.
that said, not my favorite - i'm still a fan of his short stories and the boy detective fails.
cute, quirky, enjoyable.