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The Quality of Life Report
The Quality of Life Report | Meghan Daum
5 posts | 4 read | 1 to read
Can a jaded, 30-ish New Yorker leave behind her life of eating from plastic containers, dodging the feng shui in her boss' office, and reporting on thong underwear as a lifestyle correspondent and discover "real life" in America's heartland?
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review
merelybookish
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Panpan

Like jokes about Britney's mental health, some things don't age well. Like this 2003 book about a plucky NYC lifestyle reporter for a morning show who decides to move to a small Midwestern town and create 'quality of life' reports for her Big Apple viewers. Silly plot and obvious regional snobbery aside, fatphobia, ableism, racism, class privilege were embedded throughout. It was hard to ignore. Sometimes it was meant to be funny. It wasn't. 👇

merelybookish Maybe if the book was better, it would have been easier to forgive some of these things. Probably in 2003, I wouldnt have noticed as much. 4y
rockpools 😟 3y
Flaneurette I have this in hardcover on my shelves with a bookmark in at page 215 so I must have bought it soon after publication but never finished as the whole meth thing was weird and I didn't like the tone of it at all. So, no it wasn't any more palatable when it was fresh. I do think she is a good writer- just didn't like this one, probably the midwesterner in me was insulted 😒

3y
merelybookish @Flaneurette I loved her essay collection Unspeakable so much I bought all her books. But this one is not good. I left it in the hotel room. No need to carry it home. 3y
54 likes4 comments
blurb
merelybookish
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Reading outside, enjoying a little respite from the heat. Another book that's been sitting on the shelf for a while. I enjoy Daum the essayist...not sure yet about Daum the novelist.

blurb
merelybookish
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A New York City TV reporter follows her #wildestdreams and moves to a small-town in the Midwest to pursue a kinder, simpler life. But things prove to be complicated even in a place called Prairie City.
This is from the #TBR pile. I'm a big fan of Daum's essays but want to give her fiction a try.
#augustgrrl @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Keep me posted, as if my TBR wasn't big enough 7y
ReadingEnvy Hey @SarahK this author always makes me think of you. Have you read this one? 7y
kspenmoll Keep me posted too- sounds interesting! 7y
SarahK @ReadingEnvy I haven't. I'll have to check it out 7y
63 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
Suet624
Mehso-so

Both NPR and the New Yorker liked this book. After reading several books in a row that I really liked, it's possible I'm a bit more critical of this than I otherwise would be. It's supposed to be funny – I laughed once. I will probably look for a book of her essays which are supposed to be good.