Sociable

A Novel

By: Rebecca Harrington

Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso

“Extremely funny.” --Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post

An exuberant comedy of manners set in the world of digital media, Sociable is a deliciously irreverent satire about the capriciousness of internet fame, the bewildering sexual mores of online dating, the preening male ego in the workplace, and about what it means to be young, broke, dumped, and scarily good at creating viral content.

When Elinor Tomlinson moved to New York with a degree in journalism she had visions of writing witty opinion pieces, marrying her journalist boyfriend, and attending glamorous parties with famously perverted writers. Instead, Elinor finds herself nannying for two small children who speak in short, high screams, sleeping on a foam pad in a weird apartment, and attending terrible parties with Harper’s interns wearing shapeless smocks and clogs. So when Elinor is offered a job at Journalism.ly, the digital media brainchild of a Silicon Valley celebrity, she jumps at the chance. Sure, her boyfriend is writing long think pieces about the electoral college for a real website while Elinor writes lists about sneakers and people at parties give her pitying glances when she reveals her employer, but at Journalism.ly Elinor discovers her true gift: She has a preternatural ability for writing sharable content. She is an overnight viral sensation! But Elinor’s success is not without cost. Elinor’s boyfriend dumps her, two male colleagues insist on “mentoring” her, and a piece she writes about her personal life lands her on local television. Destitute, single, and consigned to move to a fifth-floor walkup, Elinor must ask herself: Is this the creative life she dreamed of? Can new love be found on Coffee Meets Bagel? And should she start wearing clogs? With wry humor and sharp intelligence that skewers everyone from grand dame newspaper columnists to content farm overlords to peacoat-wearing lit bros, Sociable is a hilarious tale of one young woman’s search for happiness.

Just don’t

Maybe someone out there will just adore this book- I just can’t imagine who. The narrator had this odd emphasis at the end of each sentence- so the reading all felt so forced. And the main character was. so. freaking. annoying. You know how we all have, or perhaps had, that one friend who habitually makes poor choices- they always ask for advice and then continuously do exactly the one thing they shouldn’t. Well, listening to this book is kind of like that friendship. I get the feeling that maaaaaaybe (?) this would be more enjoyable when read, rather than as a listen b/c there were some funny parts. However, those funny parts weren’t funny enough to carry the entire book.