Not Ready for Prime Time: A Novel

By Brent Askari

Twenty-two-year-old singer Justine Nichols sings with a hard-rock girl's band every Thursday night and spends the rest of her week coping with her so-called-life--abandoned by her parents at three, raised by an alcoholic aunt, and now making her own way by working in a bookstore for an eccentric, si

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786706481
• ISBN13: 9780786706488
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Could never put it down..

well, I picked this book up for no reason, but the minute I started it I couldn't stop. The layout of the book is well done and interesting. I love the character of Blake, some parts are just plain funny. You must write more Mr. Brent and read this book. I promise you will never put it down.

Don't read ABOUT the book... read the book!

Fast, funny, meloncholy portrait of a woman struggling to be optimistic. Great character development and dialogue that is brilliantly written. This isn't just a quick and fun read, though. Underneath the storyline, you'll find thought-provoking commentary on our relationship with the media and modern interpersonal communication. I'd love to see this work in film.

Funny, Fast-Paced Book About Growing Up In The Media Age

I picked up this book on a whim at the local Megalopolis and really enjoyed it. Took it to the beach and popped it off in a day. The main character, Justine, is likeable and funny. I actually laughed out loud a few times, something which happens rarely. The book has a nice mix of comedy and pathos. So many twenty-something novels about growing up don't seem to have anything more going on in them than working in a cubicle, trying to lose weight, and attempting to get the guy down the hall to like you. Not Ready For Prime Time is actually about something more substantial than that, about living in a media-obsessed society and the ways television distorts and packages the experiences of our lives. In brief, a compelling, enjoyable read.

Great first novel from an important new voice

Forget the review from the publisher. The main character's secrets are important to the story, but they're not the story.This is a novel about nearly-broken people--people whose relationships have been so disastrous as to be humorous (in a deadly serious way.) If you read this book expecting to be overwhelmed by Justine's secrets, you'll be disappointed. The secrets are intended to be secrets to the other characters, not to the reader. The enjoyment is in pulling for these resilient, unlikely heroes to manage to pull their lives together before it's too late.Askari's writing is strong. He brings out some nice humor from his cast of non-conformist characters bouncing around in a city known for its non-conformists. The more serious subjects of the book are handled well, managing to succesfully have plenty of drama without becoming melodrama.