Love,
Loss and Longing in the Age of Reagan: Diary of a Mad Club Girl
by
Iris Dorbian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
It's
the early 1980s, MTV is in its infancy, the Internet does not exist,
Ronald Reagan is president and yuppies are ruling Wall Street. Edie
is a naïve NYU student desperate to lose her virginity and to
experience adventure that will finally make her worldly, setting her
further apart from her bland suburban roots. But in her quest to mold
herself into an ideal of urban sophistication, the New Jersey-born
co-ed gets more than she bargained for, triggering a chain of events
that will have lasting repercussions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
After
sleeping through the next two days, I found myself wide awake,
playing the grooves out of Flock of Seagull’s “Telecommunication”
on my roommate’s turntable. For some inexplicable reason, I always
felt compelled to play this vinyl disc as nightly ritual in
preparation for my job at the Ritz.
As
droning synthesizers ushered in this song, which sounded like
something George and Jane Jetson would listen to on crack, I’d pull
out from my bureau the short and slightly pleated black skirt I got
at Macy’s at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey.
The store was having a special “New Wave” sale and I, eager, to
fortify my loyalty to the passing trends of my volatile youth, bought
up some stock that consisted of a yellow lame dress that I had
convinced myself looked like it came out of the ‘20s and a really
cool Betsy Johnson sweater skirt that had purple and pink butterflies
strewn all over it. Because Ritz management decreed that all
waitresses wear black, I shoved my legs into black Capezio tights and
threw on a black sweater whose sleeves and collar were trimmed with a
furry boa I adored.
Usually
by the time the tune ended, I was ready to go, dressed head to toe in
full Ritz regalia. This was my cue to turn the needle back to where
it started, scratch it up some more and play the ditty yet again. I
fed off every detail of this clockwork ritual, the way a diabetic
feeds off insulin. It was a necessary prelude to an evening rarely
without consequence. I was steeling myself for the possible insanity
that awaited me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the perfect book to sit back with and escape the reality of today's times. It will take you back in time, to me, a better place and time. The memories this plot brings along with it, brought back just that.... memories. I found myself thinking what it would be like to go back in time and relive those days. Well, maybe not all... Just like the events that lead up to so many for Edie, you too will relive some memories.
*Received for an honest review*
a Rafflecopter giveaway*Received for an honest review*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Iris
Dorbian is a former actress turned business journalist/blogger. Her
articles have appeared in a wide number of outlets that include the
Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Venture Capital Journal, DMNews,
CFO.com, Playbill, Backstage, Theatermania, Live Design, Media
Industry Newsletter and PR News. From 1999 to 2007, Iris was the
editor-in-chief of Stage Directions. She is the author of “Great
Producers: Visionaries of the American Theater," which was
published by Allworth Press in August 2008. Her personal essays have
been published in Blue Lyra Review, B O D Y, Embodied Effigies,
Jewish Literary Journal, Skirt! Diverse Voices Quarterly and
Gothesque Magazine. She has a master’s degree in journalism from
Columbia University.
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