Official Review: Bougie in New York by Lori A. Calbert
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Official Review: Bougie in New York by Lori A. Calbert
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Bougie in New York" by Lori A. Calbert.]
Tina West is a well-educated African American woman who identifies herself as an upper-middle-class person with considerable influence in the entertainment industry. She is highly intelligent, an overachiever, level headed, and fashionable. Bougie in New York by Lori A. Calbert is a humorous account of her life from childhood to her move and life in New York. She chronologically details her upbringing and challenges she encountered, high school and university life, and the big move to the city. Being highly gifted, Tina always had a broader range of career options, and she explored various fields before finally settling as a gossip columnist and novelist.
Her first job after graduating was in an art museum where she did translations and wrote texts for the exhibits. She finally found her way in the financial world as a junior analyst with a Wall Street company and later promoted to senior analyst in the same company. Her subsequent job as head of marketing/strategic/financial analysis at an internet start-up company is what enabled her to save up and finally become a full-time writer. Every job came with its unique set of challenges ranging from racial and gender discrimination to tyrant bosses and even workplace romance. Her love life, which she hilariously and boldly highlights, is both interesting and intriguing, involving some names of celebrity status.
The book starts by stating the reasons that prompted the writing, aiding the reader to understand the concept, and have a picture of what to expect. The tone used is a conversational and friendly one, making the book quite interactive and engaging. It also has instances of sarcasm and funny comparisons, making it a light and relaxing read. The character, scenes, and settings descriptions are exquisite and vivid enough to allow a clear visualization in the reader’s mind.
My favorite aspect of the read is how precise the timelines are; the author begins a chapter by stating the exact time the events took place, for example, in the last year of the eighties, or the first year of the nineties, therefore, setting up the scene of the environment at the time. Additionally, I equally love the fun and unconventional chapter headings. They tell of the overall tone or vibrant energy of the book. I, however, dislike the preying nature Tina tended to display or, in a way advocating for it; for example, negatively highlighting people's weakness and misfortunes while stating they deserve to be miserable. Nevertheless, that is my personal opinion and does not affect the rating of the book.
The book requires another round of editing to capture the grammar and spelling errors I found. The language employed is simple, with instances of casual or colloquial language. However, the read is suited for adult readers since the descriptions of the sexual and intimate scenes are explicit, and there are various instances of profanities and sexual jokes. Bougie in New York holds nothing back in highlighting Tina’s life and those she met and interacted with, including her romance adventures, the discrimination she underwent being a woman in the early nineties job environment, and person of color in the era of segregation and racial tension. The grammatical errors mean I have to give the book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars, even though I enjoyed reading it. I recommend it to anyone looking for a fast and easy read into the craziness of New York and her inhabitants.
******
Bougie in New York
View: on Bookshelves
Tina West is a well-educated African American woman who identifies herself as an upper-middle-class person with considerable influence in the entertainment industry. She is highly intelligent, an overachiever, level headed, and fashionable. Bougie in New York by Lori A. Calbert is a humorous account of her life from childhood to her move and life in New York. She chronologically details her upbringing and challenges she encountered, high school and university life, and the big move to the city. Being highly gifted, Tina always had a broader range of career options, and she explored various fields before finally settling as a gossip columnist and novelist.
Her first job after graduating was in an art museum where she did translations and wrote texts for the exhibits. She finally found her way in the financial world as a junior analyst with a Wall Street company and later promoted to senior analyst in the same company. Her subsequent job as head of marketing/strategic/financial analysis at an internet start-up company is what enabled her to save up and finally become a full-time writer. Every job came with its unique set of challenges ranging from racial and gender discrimination to tyrant bosses and even workplace romance. Her love life, which she hilariously and boldly highlights, is both interesting and intriguing, involving some names of celebrity status.
The book starts by stating the reasons that prompted the writing, aiding the reader to understand the concept, and have a picture of what to expect. The tone used is a conversational and friendly one, making the book quite interactive and engaging. It also has instances of sarcasm and funny comparisons, making it a light and relaxing read. The character, scenes, and settings descriptions are exquisite and vivid enough to allow a clear visualization in the reader’s mind.
My favorite aspect of the read is how precise the timelines are; the author begins a chapter by stating the exact time the events took place, for example, in the last year of the eighties, or the first year of the nineties, therefore, setting up the scene of the environment at the time. Additionally, I equally love the fun and unconventional chapter headings. They tell of the overall tone or vibrant energy of the book. I, however, dislike the preying nature Tina tended to display or, in a way advocating for it; for example, negatively highlighting people's weakness and misfortunes while stating they deserve to be miserable. Nevertheless, that is my personal opinion and does not affect the rating of the book.
The book requires another round of editing to capture the grammar and spelling errors I found. The language employed is simple, with instances of casual or colloquial language. However, the read is suited for adult readers since the descriptions of the sexual and intimate scenes are explicit, and there are various instances of profanities and sexual jokes. Bougie in New York holds nothing back in highlighting Tina’s life and those she met and interacted with, including her romance adventures, the discrimination she underwent being a woman in the early nineties job environment, and person of color in the era of segregation and racial tension. The grammatical errors mean I have to give the book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars, even though I enjoyed reading it. I recommend it to anyone looking for a fast and easy read into the craziness of New York and her inhabitants.
******
Bougie in New York
View: on Bookshelves
