Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.
This week, all of the picks were chosen after I finished my re-read of Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, a member of the eighties lit-brat-pack.
From Rockaway by Jill Eisenstadt
Summary: Four working-class kids in Rockaway, New York, reunite for a summer after one has spent a year away on scholarship at a ‘rich’ New England school.
I’m thinking: Yes – an eighties, East Coast version of BH90210.
Slaves of New York by Tama Janowitz
Summary: A mixed bunch in NYC, all aspiring towards fame and hoping for love and acceptance. Instead they find high rents, faithless partners, and dead-end careers.
I’m thinking: No (it’s a style thing).
Carnival Desires by Mark Lindquist
Summary: Hollywood in the eighties and a group of friends in their twenties navigate all the usual stuff.
I’m thinking: Maybe – like the friends thing but dialogue a little unnatural.
I can’t imagine an East Coast let alone a working class version of BH90210, which I saw an awful lot of back in the day (I could blame my kids but actually I loved it).
I read Slaves of New York (the clue as to why is in the title) but it left little or no impression on me. From Rockaway sounds promising although I don’t know what BH90210. Is it a soap?
I’ve not read anything by any of these authors, but From Rockaway appeals – probably because of the BH90210 comparison 😀