Customer Reviews

Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Exceptionally well written, funny, shrewd and touching book. Shukert has a keen eye for detail and sharp wit. This is like "Eat, Pray, Love" for the generation that doesn't read books, but does go to see movies. If ever there was a laugh-out-loud version of "Rochelle, Rochelle" - the young girl's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk - this might be it. OK, maybe Shukert never makes it to Minsk, but she does give Europe a good whirl. I'm looking forward to the film version of this, and in the meantime reading her first book: Have You No Shame?: And Other Regrettable Stories

Rachel Shukert is very, very funny. I laughed out loud several times while I was reading this book. The writing is clever with a little bit of edge. But just as an FYI, the book mostly takes place in Amsterdam, with short stops in other cities. If you've been to the Netherlands, you may find this book even more amusing than the average reader.

Shukert takes us through her days as a young college graduate struggling to make it in the theatre world in New York City and with a traveling performance group that stops off in Zurich and Vienna. Following that, she settles in Amsterdam with some friends, and this is where the bulk of the book is set. She has a real knack for pointing things out that will make you say "Oh yeah, I remember that". One example is her mention of the ubiquitous Dutch chocolate sprinkles used for breakfast toast. But the best thing about her writing (besides the humor) is her very well-developed self-awareness. She seems fully cognizant that her trials and tribulations are largely of her own making. She accepts this, she doesn't apologize for it. In other hands, this book might not come off as so endearing.

Bottom line is that this book is funny as can be. I don't want to sound like the MPAA, but beware if you not are not a fan of 4-letter words and adult sexual situations.

1 book I read'Everything Is Going To Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour by Rachel Shukert

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.

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Purchased: Review copy from Publisher

What I Loved: Rachel held nothing back! When I say that, I am telling you to be prepared for the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly. She didn't try to sugar coat her decisions and/or the people you meet. She was funny and entertaining through out the whole book.

What I Liked: I really enjoyed the "extra" parts of the book. From the how to create a Rachel costume to "How to tell if you are getting sold into trafficking". The book was also full of humor at just the right times, so you never felt to overwhelmed by her journey.

Complaints: Really only one, though this just has to do with a lack of warning: This book is very raunchy at times and while billed as a travel-log it really only goes a couple of places. I don't think either of these distract from how good the book is but it should be noted.

Why I gave it a 4: I thought it was a funny, intimate view into one woman's journey into finding the next chapter in her life. It really drove home the fact that not all of us have uncomplicated journeys and sometimes you just have to be brave and/or stupid enough to take the chance to figure it out!

Who I would recommend it too: People who read Diablo Cody's Candy Girl, would be a great target audience. I also think this would appeal to anyone who likes to read non-standard biographies! It was a good read!

Author's website: [...]

There are many forms of self-indulgence. A memoir is one and stand-up comedy is another. And, like self-indulgence generally, both can be either interesting and compelling or dull and predictable. Luckily for Rachel Shukert, she has a knack for comedy and performance; it may be that her voice as a performer helped make her voice as a memoirist so entertaining. The premise of EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE GREAT is not original, but Shukert's style and unabashed honesty make it a fun read nonetheless.

Shukert's Grand Tour begins when, after a break-up with her boyfriend and finishing her acting degree, she lands a role in a play directed by a famous theater tyrant. She will not be paid, will have no lines, will have to wear a "poop hat" and be referred to as a male --- but she will get a trip to Europe and thinks it sounds like a great idea. After a grueling run in New York, the play heads overseas to Vienna and then Amsterdam. In Vienna, Shukert begins an affair with a man old enough to be her father and who may be the direct descendant of Nazis.

Most of her time in Europe, however, is spent in Amsterdam --- first because the play ends there, and second because she has friends living there who offer her a place to stay. Because her passport was never stamped when she entered, and she has nowhere else to be, she decides to stay. When the play her Dutch friends are hoping to stage doesn't get funding, she takes a job handing out flyers and coupons for an American-style comedy club. But otherwise her time is spent renaming Dutch streets (Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal becomes New Side for Burgers, Y'all), creating imaginary sitcoms, wrestling with the Dutch fascination with Phil Collins, being mistaken for a prostitute, drinking, and embarking on an affair with a man who may or may not be a sociopath.

Again, Shukert's antics are not unfamiliar. She is a twenty-something Jewish Brooklyn hipster (though originally from Omaha, which adds a nice twist to her perspective) who is emotionally and physically adrift in Europe and still financially supported by her parents. And it's not that (at least in this book) she has some sort of epiphany or enlightenment: she muddles her way from relationship to relationship, mishap to mishap. But the thing is, she is super funny. Shukert is crass, sometimes gross, other times grossly inappropriate, but always funny.

As self-indulgent as memoirs can be (especially written by someone who hasn't reached 40 years old and has yet to publicly accomplish much besides writing a memoir), Shukert's audience will be charmed by her tales of danger, drunkenness, sexual escapades, heartbreak and adventure. Readers also have the advantage of knowing she makes it out okay: at the very end, she meets the man who, by the time the book is published, will be her husband. And the necessary insight you keep hoping she finds along the way becomes apparent as she reflects back on the almost two years total she spent in Europe.

Of course there are moments of tender-heartedness and shows of brave emotion, but mostly EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE GREAT is a humorous look at a period in Shukert's life that could've been depressing and dour. Thankfully, she tells a great tale with a flair for drama and the absurd, and is unafraid to write about her strange, sometimes shocking and often complicated experiences with honesty. Sometimes self-indulgence is a bore, but other times it's art!

As an NYU undergrad, I know my fair share of girls who are like Rachel Shukert. Perhaps I liked this book more than someone else might because of this fact, but I don't think that's so. The prose is incredibly honest, clear, and very very very funny. There were many times when reading this where I found myself laughing out loud in various public places. Aside from New York City, I have never been to any of the places in which the book takes place--and the book mostly takes place in Amsterdam. Perhaps people who have spent time there will find it especially funny.

This book is not necessarily for everyone. It does not hold back and, as such, very intimate details of the author's life are often revealed. And sometimes, they're very explicit. I appreciate this sort of honesty, and I also think that many of her tales make for a better (and funnier!) book. But some (more conservative readers, especially) may not. I also very much liked her little "How To" guides, presented periodically throughout the book. I was especially a fan of the one about sitcoms (actually, her entire riff on how adults create imaginary sitcoms may have been my favorite part of the book).

Ultimately, I thought this was a great book, and I would recommend it highly to those who aren't in my aforementioned category of people I wouldn't recommend it to. It's a funny, honest story, with a sweet and happy ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you've ever dreamed of traveling to Europe with no money or any real idea of how you are going to live, this is the book for you. If you have a young daughter who wants to do that, do not read this book, it will scare the hell out of you.

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 has a special talent for describing a moment in the exact way that it occurred, so that you feel you are alongside her in the cafes of Amsterdam, in the basement party of Italian acquaintances, and even in the worst heartbreak of your life. Each page is oozing with humor and wit that you can't help but laugh out loud, or admire her carefully chosen words and references. Her experiences are relatable, her story is accessible - this is one trip definitely worth taking.

Wow. I paid 99 cents plus tax for the Kindle version of this book, and it still feels like I got gypped. The author prattles on and on like a drunk at a party who thinks she's funny while other people avoid eye contact and sidle away. What a waste of words.

Nothing is more embarrassing than reading this book while on a bus with 33 of your coworkers and laughing so hard you snort, only to be asked what you were laughing so hard about and explaining as quietly as possible that you were laughing at a description of the author performing fellatio on an older Austrian gentleman when, to her surprise, she is face to face with an uncircumcised penis.

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 Eat, Pray, Love.

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.