Robert Rave’s Spin : Shockingly Funny First Novel From Real Writing Talent
Posted: 9th Nov 2009 Author: Michelle Penny Topics: Books
When he was publicist based in New York City, Robert Rave spent his days (and many an evening too) working on public relation campaigns and putting on some of the biggest profile events in the lifestyle, nightlife, entertainment and fashion industries. Now though things are very different from Robert. The publicist title has been neatly packed away and he has a whole new one – full time writer, with 2009 seeing the publication of this first novel, Spin.
Featuring Taylor Green, a young ambitious guy from the Midwest as the dominant character in the book, Spin begins with Green working for a friend of his grandmother, Ethel, in New York City. Then one evening the unbelievable happens – Taylor is offered his dream job – to work for Jennie Weinstein, one of the biggest names in the public relations world.
Definitely at the top of the PR game, Taylor is soon to discover that she’s at the top of the diva game too, with rudeness, obnoxiousness and downright deviousness just some of Jennie’s better qualities, and one’s she expects her employees to have to, that and being at her beck and call whatever the hours of the day.
Working his way up from being the new boy stuck in the broom cupboard, Taylor becomes Jennie’s most trusted assistant and confidant, which causes him to find himself right in the center of both the glamourous side of the PR world, that includes opening, fashion shows and a whole lot of gossiping, and the rather darker side of drugs, sex, fame and greed, all of which seem to have one character at the centre – Jennie Weinstein.
A fast learner, Taylor soon discovers any situation in the PR world can be spun to benefit a client, but that’s not all his time in the PR world reveals. Discovering the perks of free gifts and rubbing shoulders with big name celebrities come at a price – his own sanity, Taylor soon feels his life start to slip out of control, leaving him having to make the difficult decision of whether the rewards of working in such a business really justify the ends he has to go to to get them.
Made up of 352 pages this is a book that sounds like it could keep you going for a while, but I can promise you it won’t. Robert Rave may have taken his publicist hat off but he still manages to make this a book so addictive that once you’ve started, you may as well tell everyone to go out and enjoy themselves for the day because you’re not going to be putting it down.
Definitely not your average first time writer, the quality of the writing of Spin shows that Robert Rave is an author you’re going to want to keep an eye on, with the book taking you on a journey that find you having to keep closing your mouth as it drops open in shock, and apologising to everyone around you as you laugh uncontrollably over some of the scenarios Taylor finds himself in.
A brilliantly balanced piece of writing, Rave doesn’t allow his book to get too wrapped up in the harshness of the PR world or the impact it can have on those involved, but at the same time has written something that’s far from a fluffy story. This is good stuff. Very good stuff, and here’s hoping there’s a whole lot more to come from Mr Rave.
Spin is available to order online from Amazon.
