First Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work [Hardcover]

Rinker Buck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

From the author of the acclaimed coming-of-age story Flight of Passage comes a rollicking memoir of a special time of his-and everyone else's-life. Rinker Buck's First Job is an enchanting and engaging book that not only captures the experience of being a "22year-old with the maxed out brain," but also lyrically evokes a special time and place-the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts in the early 1970s. First Job is, on its most basic level, the story of Buck's years as a cub reporter at The Berkshire Eagle, a great country newspaper in its glory years, when it won a Pulitzer Prize and served as the launching pad for many journalists' careers. But on a deeper level, it is a story that serves as a paradigm for everyone's first job, replete with mentors who guided Buck through that raw and anxious time; lovers and friends who exposed him to new levels of intimacy, vulnerability, and self-awareness; and adventures that could only have happened to a young man who didn't know any better. Everyone had a first job, and with rare storytelling power and emotions laid bare, Buck brings back just how it felt.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A raw and revealing look into talented, life-affirming people not afraid to break the rules." -- Buffalo News, October 13, 2002

"A remarkable book. It's a historically useful and wonderfully entertaining take on a small but important chapter in American journalism." -- Berkshire Eagle, October 10, 2002

"An uproarious and rollicking memoir." -- Albany Times-Union, November 11, 2002

"Buck's most meaningful contribution to memoir writing is his almost exquisite description of his long friendship with...Roger Linscott." -- Boston Globe, January 12, 2003.

"You don't have to be a journalist to love "First Job." -- Connecticut Post, November 3, 2002

"a charming and funny tale of unfettered and randy youth, of sexual adventure, small-town bars, and the great outdoors." -- Columbia Journalism Review, November 2002

"engaging, lyrical and brimming with a rich and rowdy cast of...Buck is at the same time self-deprecating and funny." -- Suburban Chicago News, January 31, 2003

About the Author

Rinker Buck is a writer and editor f or The Hartford Courant and is the author of Fligh t of Passage and If We Had Wings: The Enduring Dre am of Flight. After graduating from Bowdoin Colleg e in 1973, he began his career in journalism at Th e Berkshire Eagle, and in the years since he has w ritten for numerous publications, including New Yo rk, Life, and Vanity Fair magazines. He lives with his wife and two daughters in northwestern Connec ticut.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1 edition (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891620738
• ISBN-13: 978-1891620737
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,913,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud fun!, August 5, 2003

By 

E. Apgar (Morristown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work (Hardcover)

Rinker Buck has captured all the excitement, innocence, pluck, and wide-eyed enthusiasm in "First Job." I can't imagine anyone coming of age in the early 1970s who couldn't relate to his story. His ability in describing the lushness of the Berkshires is on a level with James Michener. Without the self-congratulatory sexual conquests, this could have been a near-perfect read. How much sexier the story could have been with just a hint of the romantic entanglements. Seems like an awful lot of explaining to do to the women in his family! That said, I'd still recommend this as a truly fun read. Way to go, Rinky!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh what fun!, September 5, 2002

By 

Girl Pilot (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work (Hardcover)

What a trip down Rinker Buck's memory lane. I belly-laughed my way through seemingly unbelievable stories, then was shocked at the photo of The Duke and the Beauty. Can all this really be true? What a blast! What a job! And what a tribute to a truly special time and place, that those magical days and lucky people were recognized and captured so beautifully, by a very young man, no less. Bravo, Mr. Buck. Thank you for the best read I've had in a long time!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!, September 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: First Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work (Hardcover)

I read First Job because I was such a great fan of Flight of Passage. This book is just as much fun, I laughed out loud at some parts, and it evokes that time in life when you were stumbling along pretending to be an adult and everything was new, exciting and fun. Poignant descriptions of relationships with mentors, love affairs and screw-ups at work. I couldn't put it down.