Top positive review
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5.0 out of 5 starsMore than just cliches about a broke 20-something.
ByMatthewon February 20, 2015
It would've been so easy to fall into the trap of "I was a broke female writer in Brooklyn working odd jobs to get by. There were *high jinks*!" and leave it at that. Though there certainly are high jinks in this story (I won't spoil them suffice it to say this gets pretty hilarious at times), they're not the central focus of this story.
While this book catalogs one 20-somethings attempt at financial survival in New York City (admittedly a bit of a cliched topic in the post "Girls" era and perhaps even before then), it does so not through a self-centered lens, but through the lens of American capitalist society as a whole. That is to say, Ms. Georgopulos discusses the reasoning behind all her wheelings and dealings -- and then some. She examines how a job can make a person feel worthless (or worth a ton if it's a good job), about the desperation capitalism fills us with, about genuinely needing money as opposed to just desiring it, and about the impacts of privilege.
A lesser writer would've just been like "look at all the wild stuff I did. Isn't that ZANY and JUST ADORKABLE, LIKE ME????" without any deeper commentary or meaning. A bit of a SPOILER but in one chapter, she's working at a McDonald's. The typical 20-something hack would've made working at McDonalds about humorous anecdotes whereas Georgopulos brings up how the teenage manager she hated was probably shouldering too heavy a burden for someone so young — AND she mentions how privileged people exist so far from reality they view working at McDonald's as a punchline and don't understand real people need to work there (or work full-time at two separate McDonald's since they pay so low) in order to live. Then, of course, in other chapters she ties in rape culture and white privilege and other topics. And it NEVER feels forced, heavy-handed, or college freshman-y.
This is definitely a fun read and it's the perfect length for the Kindle Singles format (I read this in an afternoon). If you've been reading Ms. Georgopulos since her Thought Catalog days, pick this up. It's like her best articles on steroids and she's improved so much since then. If you haven't been reading her, pick this up anyway and start. She has this great, unique blend of genuineness, seriousness, and humor that most writers don't possess.
