Weird in a World That’s Not: A Career Guide for Misfits, F*ckups, and Failures

This memoir-cum–guide to the modern workforce from Romolini, former editor-in-chief for the website HelloGiggles, lacks original insights despite the author’s charming account of her own experiences. Romolini starts off describing her fears—they include heights, home invasions, and dying before 97—and recounting an awkward orientation session at a new job that made her realize that she wasn’t like her gregarious coworkers. Romolini goes on to describe her experiences in high school and how she underachieved in college before taking a job waitressing and staying there for seven years. The author’s career trajectory was uneven and she suggests that this unevenness was due to her quirky personality. Most career guides, she asserts, cater to people who take or want to take a straightforward path to success. Romolini offers some sound guidance about how to quit an unsatisfying job, but that is the only advice that might strike readers as fresh. Her voice spices things up a bit but the résumé advice and interview tips are familiar and weird is never well-defined. Though purported to be for “weirdos,” there’s little here that’s substantively different from other career guides. [em]Agent: Byrd Leavell, Waxman Leavell. (June) [/em]