Pitch Black: A Graphic Memoir

This is a graphic memoir about a man who lives in the unused tunnels and rooms of the NYC subway. I believe such individuals have been given the nickname "moles" or "mole people." This was a super-quick read: the size of a normal children's picture book. In fact, I thought it was a civil rights type of book for children. Needless to say, it wasn't. I didn't really care for it much with the exception of two points:
1. There is a YA novel called Slake's Limbo, which is about a young boy in the foster care system who escapes into the underground world of the subway to escape abuse.
2. The line: Just cause you can't see don't mean aint nothing there.

For a much more sophisticated review, check out this out from the NYT.

Grade: C+

Bitter is the New Black

Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster

The memoir opens describing Jen’s pricey lifestyle: expensive shopping trips, expensive salon visits, and expensive apartment. She works in the finance industry, and she’s paid dearly for her expertise. She comes off as a spoiled bee-otch, but slowly you begin to realize that she does indeed work her butt off for her job; and you have to respect that. She calls it like it is – even when it’s shockingly cruel. She lacks all tact, and she’s all about business. That is, until in the recession that hit after 9/11, she finds herself laid off from her job.

(SPOILER AHEAD.) For almost two years, she pounds the pavement searching all of Chicago for jobs, but there are none. She’s over-qualified and on a job search when a large number of experienced professionals are doing the same. Eventually, she goes on the dole, but it takes her months and months and months to ever realize that she needs to curtail her spending. However, as your sympathy for Jen finally begins to build - she becomes a volunteer, gets closer to her family, starts a blog – she reverts back to spoiled brat. As she and her boyfriend, who has also lost his job, begin to hit rock bottom, she comes up with another spoiled, brilliant idea: Using a wedding as a means to further pay for their lifestyle. As much as I balked at this selfishly concocted idea, I could help but think “Why not?” She and her boyfriend are in a long-term committed relationship, and when the economy is tough you’ve got to do what you can to survive. As her story winds down, things finally start working out: Fletch, the SO, gets a job; they realign their spending habits to their actual financial limits; and Jen’s blog becomes hugely popular.

In the end, this was exactly what it looked like: chic-lit. Jen’s funny, sarcastic, and witty. It’s fun to live in her high-priced luxury world in the beginning; it’s fun to cluck your tongue in disapproval as she continues to spend recklessly when out of a job; and it’s satisfying to see her finally find her way. However, it was REALLY nice to see a book in which the protagonist maintained a committed relationship throughout the entire book.

Grade: B