A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.
Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.
Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won't call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.
Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.
my thoughts:
I kindled this book the other day after watching an episode of Gilmore Girls on the telly. For some reason, I was curious to find out if Graham could write a good book. Plus, some bloggers had reviewed the book the last year and they raved about it - so, I figured that I would be in for a good read. Well, color me disappointed.
Someday, Someday, Maybe turned out to be a bad read. I found myself regretting kindling it at all. Instead of "funny and charming", I got predictable and dull. The book is about a woman named Franny Banks and her foray into the acting world in NYC. Franny graduated from college and moved to the Big Apple with her BFF in the hopes of making it big on screen or on Broadway. She gave herself a three year deadline to reach her goal and at the beginning of the book, Franny only has six more months left on her deadline. If she doesn't become a working actor, she plans on moving back home and marrying her college sweetheart (he's in law school). Filled with pages from Franny's brown Filofax and answering machine messages, the book shows the ins and outs of auditions, showcases, acting classes, agent meetings, and dating in NYC. Sounds pretty interesting, right? Well, it wasn't. Franny is a HUGE whinger who is extremely insecure about everything (her looks, her acting, her love life, etc.) and that does not make for an interesting protagonist. Instead it makes for a super ANNOYING character that you will not cheer for. I get that Graham wanted to write Franny as naive, insecure (a flawed character), but she just didn't succeed in making her likable. The story just didn't work for me and Franny was the reason why.
I'm surprised that I didn't DNF this book. I guess I had hoped that somewhere along the way, the story would pick up and I would wind up liking Franny. Oh well, the book is done and I will be deleting it from my kindle library. And, now I know that Lauren Graham's writing is not for me - my curiosity has been sated.
8 comments:
I had *exactly* the same reaction to this book (I was equally surprised that I did not DNF it). I read somewhere that it's all lined up to be a tv series: I wasn't surprised. It sort of read like the first draft of a screenplay.
I love Lauren Graham and had been considering getting this book. I won't rush to get to it now!
Lee-Anne, so glad that I wasn't the only one who felt this way :) I can definitely see it being a tv show - doubt I will watch it thought.
Lindsey, don't rush. And borrow it if you decide to read it.
I had wondered about Graham's ability to write and was surprised that so many people loved her book so much. There are too many good books in the world for me to even give this one a try since I so often agree with your opinions.
Lisa, I was surprised that I didn't like it considering how many people love her book. Oh well, it just wasn't for me. And, just so you know, I tend to agree with your opinions as well :)
Oh well, win some lose some. For an actor, dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials must be the lowest possible form of work.
You wrote a good review of it anyway.
I am glad that I was not the only one that did not like this book....I was so bored with it!
Tom, exactly! And, thanks :)
jmisgro, me too!
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