Ringing for You: A Love Story with Interruptions [Paperback]

Anouchka Grose Forrester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Our intrepid narrator is twentysomething, lives in London, and is armed with a master's in the history of punishment. Knowing the finer points of thumb screws and the rack doesn't quite put somebody on the fast track to success, however. So she takes work as a receptionist at the Academy of Material Science. Reading Remembrance of Things Past could fill some of the dull hours behind the desk, but she wants to write a book of her own.

This sharp young woman doesn't need to search for topics -- her own life is intriguing enough. For starters, there's that elusive new man who doesn't want to appear as a character in her book. He becomes The Man Who Mustn't Be Mentioned -- MWMM, or just MMM. And then there's the office. With piercing insight and sharp-edged wit, she exposes the workplace as only an outsider could, deconstructing its hidden hierarchy, the politics of seating in the cafeteria, and the secret lives that employees lead outside of work.

Anouchka Grose Forrester's vibrant novel is a hilariously subversive challenge to office life, romance, and the form of the novel itself. For anyone who has ever been an overworked, underpaid, or overeducated employee, Ringing for Youis dazzling revenge.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British-based Forrester's larky first novel shimmies through the life of a well-educated, overqualified temp receptionist as she juggles her boring job with her frustrating love life. The unnamed narrator says she "took a Masters degree in the History of Punishment," though she omits this achievement from her r?sum? for fear of scaring off employers. Temping at the tedious Academy of Material Science in London, she uses free time at her 9-to-5 desk job to write a novel about her floundering romantic life, in part to convince herself that she isn't turning into "horrible corporate vegetation." She blames such frequent interruptions as phone calls or package deliveriesAwhich are indicated throughout the text with whimsical textual iconsAfor preventing her from producing a cohesive narrative, and the result is an enjoyable jumble of neurotic journal entries, philosophical meandering and academic asides. Prone to panic attacks and narcoleptic fits, the rebellious and insecure narrator feels petulantly superior to her fellow drones. Explaining her abhorrence for office parties, she sniffs, "I don't want to see these people when they're drunk." Yet she also spends much of the novel obsessing over office hierarchy, as well as pondering the invention and social significance of the telephone, what books are and why people like them, and the meaning of extraordinary love and work versus the merely ordinary. Readers are likely to feel about Forrester's book the way her narrator describes her own reading material: skimming a contemporary American novel featuring a similar receptionist heroine, the spunky protagonist feels "jealous and then... bored" to find another angsty secretary to identify with, finding the manic pretensions a bit tedious, but appreciative of the "funny words and 'interesting' ways of saying things and witty (yet surprisingly 'deep') anecdotes." (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Laugh-out-loud moments abound in this comic first novel about an overeducated young woman who takes a temporary job as a receptionist for a London nonprofit organization. She scribbles away at a novel during the four months she spends sitting idle, between answering the phone and signing for packages. Forrester's use of icons to denote telephone, human, and postal interruptions to the heroine's writing is a clever gimmickAwhich she has the sense to discontinue after the novelty wears off. Dickensian observations of co-workers and their habits of dress, speech, status-seeking, and sex are as dryly wicked as only an "invisible" employee can make them. Office parties have become a literary clich?, but the one in this book is nearly as funny as the real event of the office yearAthe visit of the Queen's husband. The threads of the heroine's romantic life are more confusing and far less successfully woven into the narrative. You'll watch your step around receptionists after reading this. Recommended for larger collections.AJoyce W. Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; Reprint edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671034391
• ISBN-13: 978-0671034399
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,341,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars JaneAustin meets WingDings..., October 12, 1999

By 

Chris Dufault (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ringing For You: A Love Story with Interruptions (Hardcover)

Intrigued by the VOGUE magazine review, comparing this book to Bridget Jones' Diary and Jane Austen, I began this book with pleasant anticipation. I'd suffered through a bad stint working as an over-qualified receptionist at a small-town newspaper and was looking forward to a witty romp through the world of pompous executives, witchy office managers, strange gnomes from accounting, etc. I love Jane Austen, and Bridget Jones' Diary was one of the funniest new novels of the 90's so Ringing For You seemed promising.

What an abject disappointment. The narrator, a receptionist, writes about her life and loves as she sits at her desk at work. This cute plot device wears thin almost immediately due to the constant travel back and forth in time and place along a space-time continuum apparent only to the author as the receptionist recounts her exploits. To compound this problem, the author tries to affect a clever conceit whereby the receptionist is completely confused to the point of brain-death over every aspect of her messed-up life one minute, yet in the next she can smugly quote Proust and wax profoundly on subjects of wonderful complexity. Far from making the receptionist a well-rounded modern woman, the heroine appears schizophrenic!

The worst aspect of this book is that the plot devices above, as well as the cutesy little technique of using WingDing symbols to represent events that occur in the course of the receptionist's day (think Highlights) do not obscure the fact that the writing never opens up to allow you into the characters, the place or even the general vicinity of the book. I never cared about the protagonist nor any of the supporting cast. The entire reading experience was superficial and trite. The height of my emotional experience was vaguely wondering if the receptionist would end up with the MWMM or her boyfriend. I shut the book at its end and have never once wondered what was happening now to any of the people in it.

This book seems to have been hacked together as a way to capitolize on the popularity of Bridget Jones' Diary. Read the real thing and skip this trumped-up attempt to introduce Jane Austen to WingDings. Better yet, go find your old copy of Persuasion and dig in.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bridgette Jones with a Master's Degree, August 28, 2000

By 

Helen (Dover, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ringing For You: A Love Story with Interruptions (Hardcover)

When the heroine of this book claims that you may recognize some of the people in it by thier descriptions, she was right!! There was so much of myself in her I felt like we were sisters from the first page. I thought the book was funny, thoughtful, and yes - a little crazy at times...exactly like we all are. The book jumps around and the funny symbols for phone calls and packages and the MWMM can get a bit tiresome...but overall...the voice is a clever and engaging one. I read this book over the weekend...a perfect way to read it...in a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Enjoy!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Compare this book to Bridget and you miss the point, March 1, 2002

By 

Sallie Hunter (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ringing For You: A Love Story with Interruptions (Hardcover)

While, I don't think Ms. Forrester has written the great British novel here, I think it is an intelligent and, at times, witty book. Yes, it can be irritating with it's cutesy fonts and initials, but she makes some good observations here. One can see her writing style emerging and there is a definite voice. I think we should keep a watch out for future books from this author. Once she masters some character development, she could be a force to reckon with. I found the novel fun even if the ending was a little unsatisfying. I say give it a chance.