Great memoirs teach readers something not just about the author but also about themselves. Jennifer Romolini's Ambition Monster is an admirably truthful portrait of how easy it is to fall into the status-chasing trap and how hard it is to turn instead toward personal fulfillment.
Romolini is a keen observer of human nature and the psychological fissures that contribute to workaholism. She describes a chaotic childhood, a troubled adolescence, and a young adulthood spent clawing her way up the social stratum from waitress to magazine editor--although "the job doesn't pay a lot." But her increasingly senior titles never quite seem to satisfy the insatiable monster that is her own ambition. Her story takes a long, winding road toward understanding why, enticing readers to join her for the ride.
Romolini is laugh-out-loud funny as she blithely describes scenes where the behavior on display is so horrible that humor is the only sensible response. Every day at one magazine, "a senior editor walks through the office scouting for the website's 'outfit of the day' (OOTD) girl, points a finger at the chosen one, You! Cute!" Of course, this causes Romolini to "start obsessing" about her own outfits as she feels a "chest-clenching pressure to get it right." Moments like this call to mind the truism "pain plus time equals comedy," as Romolini captures the intersection of absurd hilarity and all-too-real trauma.
Romolini's prose is sharp and insightful as she explores questions of work and its relationship to identity. Ambition Monster is full of diamond-edged writing and delightfully cruel wit, and its complicated author ultimately achieves a hard-won revelation. --Carol Caley, writer