Spin is written by Robert Rave. It's the story of Taylor Green, a midwest boy who has just moved to New York, and is breaking into the world of Public Relations. Spin is the perfect book to read on your lunch break. My reading time has been drastically reduced lately, and I spent most of my time reading Spin when I was on my hour break at work.
Rave's style is easy to get lost in. The book is narrated in first person, and Taylor is such a likable guy. He's got Midwest charm, but he's not about to let anyone take advantage of him. He's endearing and vulnerable without being a pushover. All of Rave's characters are likable. Including Jennie, the evil queen who runs the PR firm Taylor works for.
Throughout the novel, you can tell that Taylor likes Jennie. He knows he shouldn't. He knows she's awful to everyone, but he can't help but like her. Reading the book, I felt the same way. You find yourself liking Jennie in the way that you liked Neely O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls. Jennie needed to be someone that the reader could like. The reader needed to believe that this monster of a woman could successfully run a PR firm and have people like her. The dichotomy of her two sides serves the book well.
As with most stories like this, Taylor finds himself getting sucked further into the dark side of the business, and further from his midwest upbringing. Speaking of his upbringing, Taylor's grandmother Ethel is a hoot! I'd love to read a book just about her in her glory days.
Spin is full of delicious scandals, gossip, wheeling and dealing. It's everything you would expect from a book about the PR business. It's worth it just for the characters. There's no way you can read the book and not fall in love with them. If you want something to read to escape and be entertained, you'd be doing yourself a favor to pick up a copy of Spin. Just brace yourself for an ending that neither you nor the characters will see coming!
