Citizen Girl

customer reviews

Another biting satire from Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Nanny Diaries.
Working in a world where a college degree qualifies her to make photocopies and color-coordinate file folders, twenty-four-year-old Girl is struggling to keep up with the essential trinity of food, shelter, and student loans. So when she finally lands the job of her dreams she ignores her misgivings and concentrates on getting the job done...whatever that may be.
Sharply observed and devastatingly funny, Citizen Girl captures with biting accuracy what it means to be young and female in the new economy. A personal glimpse into an impersonal world, Citizen Girl is edgy and heartfelt, an entertaining read that is startlingly relevant.

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Book details:

Atria Books |
320 pages |
ISBN 9781416511991 |
November 2004

$10.93 List Price

Available for immediate download

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Author Photo (jpg): Nicola Kraus
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Praise

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“McLaughlin and Kraus deftly satirize postfeminist, postmodern, twenty-first-century America, using management jargon and hipster slang with equal precision. More remarkable is the subtlety with which Girl's story moves from the... ”

– Booklist

“Young professional readers will relate to the degrading challenge of scraping for entry-level work in a lousy economy and the tyranny of clueless, selfish bosses. And McLaughlin and Kraus should be lauded for creating an old-school... ”

– The Washington Post

“Citizen Girl takes shots at every single instance of one woman's confrontation with male society during the course of a few months. It does this while being wickedly funny and well written but not dogmatic or finger wagging. ”

– The New Republic

“From the authors of The Nanny Diaries comes the hilarious story of a recent college grad looking for the perfect job. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus strike paydirt with their girl-meets-big-city formula. ”

– marie claire

“[A] sharp, funny satire.... The authors use a light touch that still hightlights key issues for women in today's workplace (do you have to look hot to get ahead?) ”

– US weekly

“Ms. McLaughlin and Ms. Kraus have created a readable, lively book...an entertaining read that puts in perspective just how crazy all workplaces are. Whether they're for profit or nonprofit, no one seems to know what they're doing.... ”

– The New York Sun

“[A] hyperventilating satire....witty and biting... ”

– Publisher's Weekly

“[Citizen Girl] is a pointed social satire about wry young women with integrity dropped into a swirl of Manhattan money and ambition. ”

– Alex Williams, The New York Times

“A satire about staying true to one's values while also staying employed, [Citizen Girl] is meatier and more engaging than Diaries--think The Beauty Myth meets Sex and the City.... McLaughlin and Kraus keep us amused. ”

– Austin American-Statesman

“The best-selling authors of The Nanny Diaries return with another mordant satire--this time they skewer self-important personalities of the twenty-first-century workplace. ”

– Teen Vogue

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Read an Excerpt

Chapter One: Doris Mindfuck

The ladies' room door squeaks open and I stop breathing, jerking my feet up on the toilet seat lid in an effort to work through my lunch hour in solitude. Rubber soles scuff along the honeycomb tiles as I bend to inch the remains of my lunch out of view, but my pen betrays me, rolling brazenly out of my lap and onto the warped floor.

"Who's in here?" my boss, Doris, shouts over the din of sweatshop sewing machines whirring up the air shaft. I consider not responding -- maybe she'll think the pipes are now leaking not only asbestos but pens. "Hello-o?" She knocks once on the last stall door...