How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson

From the Publisher

Carley Wells is not fond of reading, so her parents commission a book to be written for her that she's sure to love. However, Carley loves Hunter Cay, who drowns himself in booze, Vicodin, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Publishers Weekly

Egan's debut, an odd blend of young adult melodrama and unsuccessful metafiction, winds itself into knots of empty story lines. Recognizing that their dullard daughter, Carley, needs an academic boost, Gretchen and Francis Wells hire author Bree McEnroy to write a book to Carley's specifications. Though Carley's love for reality television and Bree's fondness for self-conscious literary tropes should, in theory, unite to make a delightful story-within-a-story, it is often neglected or underwritten. Meanwhile, the cardboard secondary cast floats around Bree and Carley: there's Hunter, Carley's crush, whose alcoholic rakishness, we are assured, masks a poet's interior; Carley's social-climbing mother and philandering father; and Justin, Bree's college chum, who has become, on dubious merit, a literary star. Carley and Hunter's friendship is jeopardized by both his addictions and her unrequited adoration, and Bree and Justin reconcile. Plagued by thin, when not wildly inconsistent, characterization from the start, the narrative's tendency to flit from character to character without revealing anything memorable or insightful further blurs the point. Unfortunately, there isn't enough heart to redeem the dopiness. (May)

Booklist

Brimming with literary allusions, commentary on the rich and famous, and the necessary ingredients for a successful novel, Gibson's ingenious debut succeeds on many levels.

Andrea Tarr - Library Journal

Carley Wells, nearly 16, has reportedly never met a book she likes. Aghast, her nouveaux riches parents decide that their daughter needs a "passion," and so to ensure that she does not remain intellectually impoverished, they commission a previously underappreciated writer to live at their estate and write a book to Carley's specifications. As she finds herself drawn into the story being assembled, Carley's life is dramatically altered. Complications persist in the form of Hunter, Carley's F. Scott Fitzgerald-obsessed best friend bent on self-destruction, and Bree, the hired novelist now separated from her previous existence. From the opening sentence of this strongly sardonic satire, Gibson's debut, it is clear that nothing is sacred. Whether examining trendy charity functions or the muted morals of the so-very-rich, her acerbic, acidic book is right on the money. The major surprise is that the novel also has a heart, and Carley leaps off the page as the most real character. Gibson's inventive language also enlivens this overly long novel; especially winning is the construction of the novel-within-the-novel. Readers fond of Claire Messaud and Marisha Pessl might want to try Gibson's bold outing. [See Prepub Alert, LJ1/09.]

Kirkus Reviews

Debut novelist Gibson attempts to combine a snarky lampoon of super and nouveau riche cultural striving with a heartfelt coming-of-age story. She throws in a metafictional critique of metafiction for good measure. In the Long Island, N.Y., town of Fox Glen, the wealthy, generally doltish residents vie to show how highbrow they are. So it's not much of a stretch when a sweetly boorish bra-manufacturing magnate and his cartoonishly cold wife hire a writer to create a book for their daughter Carley's sweet-sixteen party. The book will be a cultural coup. Besides, Carley's teachers have complained about her lack of intellect, and Carley's parents hope that involving her in the writing will prove motivating. Overweight Carley hates books and has few friends except Hunter-a big exception since he's the most popular boy in the high school. A handsome if sickly lothario who drinks to serious excess when he isn't reading or working on his application essay for Princeton, Hunter considers Carley his best friend and depends on her for all his platonic emotional needs. Her feelings are less platonic, and she repeatedly forgives him for behaving badly under the influence. Bree, the starving author of a novel, is hired to write Carley's book, thanks to Justin, a famous writer living in Fox Glen seclusion since a fan attacked him. Justin knew Bree in college, treated her badly and has been secretly atoning every since. As Justin and Bree skirt around their relationship, they genuinely try to help Carley, but Carley cannot face that Hunter's addiction to alcohol and drugs is becoming worse. The drunken scenes, the acting outs and the apologies repeat themselves in various forms until the reader losestrack. Hunter's downward spiral is offset by various witticisms surrounding Carley's SAT vocabulary malapropisms; the excessively obnoxious behavior of various parents and rich friends; and Bree, Justin and Hunter's literary debates. Ambitious but unconvincing mix of uplift, tragedy and cartoonish satire. Agent: Susan Golomb/Susan Golomb Agency

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