By: Saije Rusimovici, Staff Writer
A Career in Books: A Novel about Friends, Money, and the Occasional Duck Bun by Kate Gavino exemplifies all the reasons a writer and book-lover might strive to work in the world of publishing — while pointing out how this career path presents challenges, especially for women of colour. Everyone who wants to work in publishing must read this book. Gavino published her first graphic novel, Last Night’s Reading: Illustrated Encounters with Extraordinary Authors, in 2015. A Career in Books, her third book, is the only book I rated five-stars this year (and I’ve read a lot of books).
Meet Sylvia, Shirin, and Nina — recent college graduates navigating their first jobs in publishing. From the low-paying, exasperating tasks of editorial work to the challenges of being a Southeast Asian woman in a white-dominated industry, the women begin to realize establishing a career in the publishing industry comes with unique obstacles. Shirin’s boss wrongly assumes she speaks Cantonese, Sylvia’s supervisor is condescending and treats her like “the office custodian,” and Nina struggles with her bosses and boyfriend not taking her career seriously. The three twenty-something roommates rely on their tightly-woven friendships to navigate these challenges and encourage each other to achieve their greatest aspirations — no matter what it takes.
The story truly begins when they accidentally meet their elderly Vietnamese-American neighbour, Veronica Vo, a Booker Prize winner whose work has long gone out of print. Gavino told Publisher’s Weekly she “always wanted an author like her to exist.” Publishers were more interested in Veronica’s “stories from her homeland, Vietnam, which she feels distanced from” than the content she actually wanted to write about. Sylvia, Shirin, and Nina are captivated by her “books about Asian ladies doing shit that has nothing to do with tea ceremonies or honourable ancestors.” Veronica humbly dismisses the girls’ praise with a wave of her hand, but they don’t take no for an answer; together, they work to figure out a way to reissue Veronica’s books for a modern audience.
In an interview with Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Gavino stated most of her work “addresses some aspect of growing up or living as a Filipino American since, like a lot of second generation kids, I was often torn between pride and shame for my family’s culture.” Having worked under “pushy” white women assuming she is quiet and willing to work late, Gavino narrates some of her personal work experience using witty and relatable characters. Realistic and laugh-out-loud hilarious, the book tackles systemic racism in the publishing industry by pointing out the prevalence of microaggressions from higher-ups.
Gavino’s illustrations are one of my favourite aspects of this book. Having a visual representation of the characters helped bring their personalities to life. You get inside the character’s heads with screenshots of their group chat, a peek into their decorated apartment, and a sense of each woman’s personal fashion sense. The illustrations are in black and white, so it still leaves some room for imagination. Each chapter opens with a large illustration, paired with snappy titles like The Dangers of Soju, Anthropology Money, and Wicker Furniture, which kept me guessing. I haven’t read a graphic novel since high school, but Gavino makes me ask myself why I haven’t been reading them all this time.
Through their friendship, the characters have epiphanies about themselves, translating Veronica’s experience in the ‘70s into action in their own lives. One of my favourite things about this book is the relationship between Veronica and the three women, and how their determination to stake their claim in the publishing industry is further ignited by Veronica.
All of Gavino’s books can be purchased in select stores or online. For more information on the author, visit her website.
