Customer Reviews

Shaking Her Assets

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4 star:		(1)
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Reviewed by Camille-Yvette Welsch for Small Spiral Notebook

As a reader of chicklit and a feminist, I often find myself torn between the fun of a quick, fluffy read and utter annoyance with relentlessly trendy female protagonists who can only succeed with the aid of a man and a limitless Visa. Shaking Her Assets is a pleasant surprise in a world where chicklit tends to follow an all-too familiar formula: Girl loses everything: glamorous New York job, bad boyfriend, self-respect. She then attempts to find the one true job, the one true love, and the self-respect via her new lover. Why can't women succeed and gain self-respect without the new romantic interest? Why does her strength have to be directly related to her happiness in love? Why can't she be happy in her life-and then find love?

In Shaking Her Assets, Rachel finds herself suddenly fired from her high-end writing job, then dumped by her boyfriend of two years, thereby following the formula, at least at the beginning. Miserable, she visits her best friend, Ben-who, refreshingly, is straight but still able to comfort without ulterior motives. They brainstorm the plan that launches Rachel as an applications editor for students seeking admission to MBA programs. Though initially a joke (and it remains one for Ben until Rachel sets him straight), the project blooms into a full-grown business while Rachel works as a temp. As she struggles-and succeeds-in building her business and dealing with her father's cancer, a stocky, cubicle-next-door guy enters her world, becoming first her new best pal and confidante, then, much later, her love interest. Zach takes her life and chronicles it in his online comic book site, turning Rachel into a She-Ra, capable of foibles and triumphs great and small. Epstein and Kaplan break away from the chicklit formula because the majority of the book finds Rachel making her way into the world of business, actively seeking clients with flyers and handouts, making excel spreadsheets of upcoming projects, researching business schools, and creating a client base. Only after she has succeeded does she get together with Zach who is also fighting to establish himself.

The writing is lively and engaging, and often quite funny. Rachel and Zach begin handing out flyers outside a business school and Rachel sights her prey, a dragon lady in a suit:

"And why do you think I'd need advice?" she says, unenthused.

I want to say, Because you're a huge bitch and it would behoove you to show an admissions committee as little of your personality as possible. Instead, I say, "Because if you're not using a company like this, I'm sure that you know your competition will be." I walk away without waiting to see her reaction, but I hope it gives her pause. Actually, I hope it cuts like a machete to the bone and makes her beg for my help. But the pause will be enough for now.

The savvy, independent woman chicklit readers want to identify with is Rachel. She struggles in her relationships with her family, both envying her married sister and feeling blessed by and proud of her sister's family. She imagines a romantic life with her best friend Ben and then dismisses it before ruining both of their lives unlike Julia Roberts character in My Best Friend's Wedding. She handles her father's death, figures out how to run a business, makes quick smart decisions that further her company. She demands to be taken seriously and respected, particularly by her best friend and his fiancée in one memorable restaurant showdown. Ah, the glory of it! Watching her business savvy is in itself a reason to read the book though ultimately, it is her entire coming of age, with her family, friends, romantic partners, and career, that make this story fascinating.

Interestingly, inside the cover page, the Library of Congress offers its variety of cross referencing categories for the book: "unemployed women workers-fiction," "self-employed women-fiction," "women editors-fiction," and "businesswomen-fiction." Like the Library of Congress, I see this particular book of chicklit as more than a beach read. It is testimony to what chicklit could be if authors chose to empower their characters and let their lives be about more than finding Prince Charming.

Believable and engaging, deftly written and clever, this book is a satisfying read for anyone looking for a vicarious taste of what it's really like to be a sassy single twenty-something in NYC.

Shaking Her Assets is about a woman who picks her editing career up off the sidewalk - where her former boss tossed it - and haphazardly launches a start-up company which quickly turns into something she's fighting for, something she's really proud of. Rachel Chambers, a sensitive and loyal heroine compared to the usual career-driven femmes fatales found in chick lit, has a knack for putting people in their best light, optimizing strengths over weaknesses - crafting slamming entry essays to top business schools around the world. But Epstein and Kaplan know that women and men, alike, don't always apply their marketing talents to themselves, and in Rachael's world it's the 'artsy' man behind every crazy scene she gets herself into that illustrates, literally, her real POW!

Shaking Her Assets takes on losing what's closest to you and moving forward. It's smart and funny, and at just the right moments it feels as warm as a big hug. Full of good advice and comic relief, this read is like spending quality time with your best friend.

This book is a great read. Get if for the subway commute, the bus, the beach or for your bedside table. Really smart and funny. I received Shaking Her Assets yesterday afternoon, finished it this morning. DO IT!

I read this book while taking #2 breaks at work and, while not an avid reader of chick lit, this had me hitting the prune juice so I could hurry and find out what happens next to Rachel, the first likable and believable character I've come across in a book like this.

Kudos to the authors for not insulting the intelligence of its intended audience of smart, ambitious, independent NY women-types, and those that want to understand them better - I get the sense the authors know whereof they speak. (This fun, quick story actually provides insight into how such women think and feel, amazingly - another testament to the authors' skill.) All this without a sophomoric reliance on sex and titillation. If you think all chick lit is just snarky conversation and vapid sexpots, read this. Though not lacking in impossibly witty repartee, SHA is more than a beach read - this is a real, engrossing story and a snapshot of what it's like to do something on your own these days.

One nit: it's Michigan Wolverines...Minnesota Golden Gophers. :-)

Buy this. And then read it. It'll restore your faith in chick lit.

What a fantastic and entertaining book!! I read it on a recent flight and could not put it down. It's funny, smart, and Rachel's story is one that every New Yorker can appreciate.

In the space of a month, our main heroine Rachel has lost both her job and her boyfriend of two years. Just when she thinks things can't get much worse, her best friend Ben drops the bomb that he is getting married... to his Park Avenue girlfriend. That in itself isn't so bad, but Rachel has always secretly wondered what would happen if she had ended up as his girlfriend, instead of just his friend. Now it seems she is too late.

Bored with her sudden joblessness, Rachel flits from temp job to temp job, until one night, as a joke, she decides to start a letter-writing business. More specifically, a business where she would help prospective business-school applicants write their entrance essays and letters. After papering Manhattan with leaflets containing her name and phone number advertising her business, she promptly forgets about it... until she gets her first call from someone wanting to hire her. Around the same time, Rachel starts a new temping gig at an environmental information company and makes friends with Zach, the art director. Zach is not her type at all, but they hit it off as great friends, and she ends up regaling him with tales of her disastrous dates and work scenarios. Zach surprises her by turning her stories into fodder for the heroine of a hilarious comic strip on his website.

Just when I was contemplating giving up on co-written books, Shaking Her Assets turned out to be the great single-girl-in-the-city book to change my mind. This book is warm, witty, and genuinely interested me in the main character's life. Epstein and Kaplan's writing blended together well enough where I couldn't tell their writing apart- to me, it was just one very well-written and entertaining book.

Best of all, there are genuinely hilarious examples of the comic strip that is loosely based on Rachel's life occasionally thrown into the book sporadically. The authors don't overdue it by including one in every chapter - although they were funny enough that I wouldn't have minded!

Overall, this was a wonderful read, and I definitely suggest picking yourself up a copy. Be prepared to laugh out loud!

I read nearly this entire book in one night without even realizing how the hours flew by.. I hope the authors write another book with the Rach as their main character.

This was a light-hearted, real-life read that was amazing in its simplicity. I felt like I was there. It was incredible.

The book leaves so much more to be developed in a sequel. It would be a great movie, too. I see it on the big screen.

If you haven't read it, get it quick. This is an undiscovered gem.

I'm not usually a fan of books written in the first person present, but this one caught me right away. It's written intelligently, believably, and the story moves along quickly. I found myself pulling for Rachel, the heroine, within the first chapter, and anyone that's ever been dumped, been out of work, or has experienced the NYC social scene should feel the same.

It's a fun and light read, and is perfect for that trip away from home when you're looking for something to make you feel good. Enjoy!