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WORK TITLE: A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.sallyfranson.com/
CITY: Minneapolis
STATE: MN
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
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| 670 | __ |a A lady’s guide to literature, 2018: |b ECIP t.p. (Sally Franson) |
| 670 | __ |a The Guardian website, viewed June 17, 2017 |b (Sally Franson is a writer living in Minneapolis; her first novel is A lady’s guide to literature) |u https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sally-franson |
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Barnard College, B.A., 2006; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, M.F.A., 2013.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, teacher, and editor. University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, graduate instructor; The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, MN, teaching artist, 2011-; Isthmus, freelance writer and blogger, 2007-10.
WRITINGS
Contributor of fiction to periodicals and websites, including the Guardian, Best American Travel Writing, Witness, and on NPR.
SIDELIGHTS
Based in Minneapolis, Sally Franson is a writer, blogger, teacher, and editor. Her writings have appeared in the Guardian, Best American Travel Writing, and on NPR’s Weekend Edition, and she has written humor for The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis where she is a teaching artist. She has received recognition from The MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. In her teaching career, Franson is a graduate instructor at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.
In her 2018 debut novel, A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out, a ladder-climbing public relations representative feels she may be selling out to corporate interests, in which “Franson’s irresistibility flawed heroine holds her own as she strives to find honesty, meaning, and even love in a demanding world,” according to a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. Combining elements of Mad Men and The Devil Wears Prada, Franson’s book casts Casey Pendergast as an English major who lands a job at Minneapolis-based People’s Republic, a top advertising agency. At first she likes the idea of using her writing skills, cultural sense, and technical savvy to pair literary authors with corporations. Her salary and ambition are peaked. But when she sees a nature writer signing away her life’s work to a granola maker, an Italian poet selling sports clothes, and a short-story writer leaving academia to write for a plus-size clothing company, Casey begins to question if she has sold out. She sees the absurdity in her job, and her conscience is troubled. She needs to make up her mind how she feels about this before the prominent upcoming book festival in Las Vegas.
Complicating Casey’s journey of conscience is her infatuation with one of the authors she works with, Ben Dickenson, but a series of unfortunate decisions alienates her from Ben and her best friend. Such actions have made Franson’s character so insensitive to others and lacking integrity “that when her comeuppance does finally come up, it is virtually impossible to sympathize,” according to Xpress Reviews contributor Susan Santa. On the other hand, Franson “is a witty observer of the literary world and recognizes its poseurs, backstabbers, plagiarists and predators. All play a part in Casey’s cringe-worthy downfall, which happens at a Las Vegas book convention,” noted Star Tribune Online contributor Nancy Pate.
In Franson’s debut, “A high-spirited heroine loses herself in a vortex of modern striving,” said a writer in Kirkus Reviews, who added: “Come for the hilarious narration, stay for the whirlwind plot, luxuriate in the satirical gleam.” The writer also praised Franson for discussing sexual abuse and assault in the workplace, and for debating success defined by capitalism versus success defined by the soul. With a fast-paced plot, funny characters, crafted dialogue, and insight in to the advertising world today, “Franson cleverly explores the battle between giving in and staying true to oneself,” according to Booklist reviewer Carol Gladstein.
Although Franson admits to a little selling out of her own, she agreed to her editor’s suggestion to change the book’s title from A Lady’s Guide to Literature. In an interview with Drew Wood on the Mpls St. Paul magazine website, Franson explained: “I decided that I have to let people who are very good at their job be very good at their job. And one of Random House’s criticisms was that the original title was going to put people off if they don’t already love reading. It makes the book sound more old-fashioned than it is. And I thought of my friends who are working moms who don’t read a lot, and I was like, ‘I want those queens to read this book.’ So I said, ‘OK.’”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2018, Carol Gladstein, review of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out, p. 18.
Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018, review of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out.
Publishers Weekly, February 19, 2018, review of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out, p. 49.
ONLINE
Mpls St. Paul, http://mspmag.com/ (May 2, 2018), Drew Wood, author interview.
Star Tribune Online, http://www.startribune.com/ (April 6, 2018), Nancy Pate, review of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out.
Xpress Reviews, February 16, 2018, Susan Santa, review of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out.
Bio
SALLY FRANSON received her education at Barnard College and the University of Minnesota. Her work has appeared in such varied places as The Guardian, NPR Weekend Edition, and Witness, and she has received recognition from The Macdowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Glimmer Train, Best American Travel Writing, and more. Once in a while she writes humor for The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, where she lives with her boyfriend and her feelings.
@sallyjf on Instagram
Sally Franson
Sally Franson
Writer, Teacher, Editor
Minneapolis, Minnesota
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
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82 connections
Experience
Writer, Teacher, Editor
Company Name
The Loft Literary Center
Teaching Artist
Company Name The Loft Literary Center
Dates Employed Oct 2011 – Present Employment Duration 6 yrs 8 mos
University of Minnesota
Graduate Instructor
Company Name University of Minnesota
Dates Employed Sep 2010 – May 2013 Employment Duration 2 yrs 9 mos
Isthmus
Freelance Writer and Blogger
Company Name Isthmus
Dates Employed Jun 2007 – Mar 2010 Employment Duration 2 yrs 10 mos
Education
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Degree Name Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Field Of Study Creative Writing
Dates attended or expected graduation 2010 – 2013
Barnard College
Barnard College
Degree Name Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Field Of Study History
Dates attended or expected graduation 2002 – 2006
Skills & Endorsements
Creative Writing
See 6 endorsements for Creative Writing 6
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Endorsed by 3 of Sally’s colleagues at University of Minnesota
Teaching Writing
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Endorsed by 4 of Sally’s colleagues at University of Minnesota
Editing
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Endorsed by 2 of Sally’s colleagues at University of Minnesota
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University Teaching
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Teaching Adults
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Barnard College
Barnard College
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The Loft Literary Center
The Loft Literary Center
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University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
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A Lady's Guide to Selling Out
Carol Gladstein
Booklist.
114.14 (Mar. 15, 2018): p18. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
A Lady's Guide to Selling Out.
By Sally Franson.
Apr. 2018. 288p. Dial, $27 (9780399592034).
Casey Pendergast is quickly climbing the ladder of PR success. The former English major has put her skills, interests, and cultural insight to good use. She gives clients what they want or think they need and has the technological savvy to stay ahead in a highly competitive field. When Casey receives a big promotion, leading a new project that connects authors with the corporate world, she couldn't be happier. What better fit than a nature writer selling her work to a manufacturer of granola bars, or an Italian poet helping to sell athletic wear? But the literature lover in Casey fears deep down she might be selling out. When Casey falls in love with one of her authors, her spiraling ambition quickly comes face-to-face with her literary past, and she must finally decide where her loyalties lie. Franson's debut is a fast-paced and quick-witted trip into the world of advertising today. With smart, funny characters and perfectly crafted dialogue, Franson cleverly explores the battle between giving in and staying true to oneself.--Carol Gladstein
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Gladstein, Carol. "A Lady's Guide to Selling Out." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2018, p. 18. Book Review
Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A533094418/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=8c75b784. Accessed 30 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A533094418
1 of 4 5/29/18, 11:45 PM
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Franson, Sally: A LADY'S GUIDE TO SELLING OUT
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 15, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Franson, Sally A LADY'S GUIDE TO SELLING OUT Dial Press (Adult Fiction) $27.00 4, 3 ISBN: 978-0-399-59203-4
A high-spirited heroine loses herself in a vortex of modern striving in this debut novel.
Casey Pendergast is the definition of "plucky" except for the old-fashioned sound of the word. Casey is a thoroughly millennial 28-year-old, living in a Minneapolis that has its own Real Housewives franchise and working at an upscale ad agency. She's such a fast-rising star at work that she delays pursuing her dream: finding a televised outlet for her wit and enthusiasm (which drive the biting narration along with raw insight into her own insecurities). At the moment, she's in a moral bind, pulled between loyalty to her leftist best friend, an aspiring novelist, and a new opportunity at her job selling authors to corporations for a profit. Money--that marvelous, temporary healer of all wounds--and accolades from her boss are her initial choice, though she's barely able to ignore the angel clutching her shoulder, which only gets louder as she barrels headlong into the work. She's delightfully effective at it, convincing writer after writer to shill for products. One cost of doing business, however, is being sexually assaulted by one of her marks. Casey believes she can weather this rain shower and gain the upper hand, but one lesson of this topical book is that women are not easily--or ever--granted the upper hand, no matter how plucky or right they are. The realism is a downer, presaging and speaking to the recent sea change in views on sexual abuse and assault. But the other lesson regards success as defined by capitalism versus success as defined by the soul. Here, Franson has better news.
Come for the hilarious narration, stay for the whirlwind plot, luxuriate in the satirical gleam.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Franson, Sally: A LADY'S GUIDE TO SELLING OUT." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. Book
Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527248104/GPS?u=schlager& sid=GPS&xid=dd7e1b37. Accessed 30 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527248104
2 of 4 5/29/18, 11:45 PM
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A Lady's Guide to Selling Out
Publishers Weekly.
265.8 (Feb. 19, 2018): p49. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
A Lady's Guide to Selling Out
Sally Franson. Dial, $27 (288p) ISBN 978-0399-59203-4
Franson's snappy debut nimbly skewers the high-flying world of advertising and romance in the age of social media. Casey Pendergast is creative director for the Minneapolis-based People's Republic advertising firm, anxious to please her achingly cool boss, Celeste Winter, and eager to climb the corporate ladder. She's' given the chance when she's put in charge of Winter's new venture, Nanu, paying writers to use and their influence to promote products. Sounds like a win- win. When Casey meets the first author, Ben Dickenson, she's immediately attracted to him. But navigating the pretentious literary scene, a new promotion, and a possible romance can be tricky business, especially for someone who believes that "love is a delusion shared by two lonely people." Casey narrates in a hyper, painfully self-aware voice, hiding her insecurity behind great style and great hair. Bitingly funny, she frequently calls out the absurdity of her job duties, such as creating an ad campaign for a self-absorbed Real Housewives star. Characters like Casey's best friend, Susan, an idealistic, perennially stunted writer, are intelligently observed and further bolster the story. Comparisons will be made to The Devil Wears Prada, but Franson's irresistibility flawed heroine holds her own as she strives to find honesty, meaning, and even love in a demanding world, resulting in an addictive, escapist novel. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"A Lady's Guide to Selling Out." Publishers Weekly, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 49. Book Review Index
Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357492/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=ec73e0c1. Accessed 30 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357492
3 of 4 5/29/18, 11:45 PM
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Franson, Sally. A Lady's Guide to
Selling Out
Susan Santa
Xpress Reviews.
(Feb. 16, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews- first_look_at_new.html.csp
Full Text:
Franson, Sally. A Lady's Guide to Selling Out. Dial. Apr. 2018. 288p. ISBN 9780399592034. $27; ebk. ISBN 9780399592058. F
[DEBUT] Casey Pendergast, a 28-year-old rising star, the youngest creative director at "the best boutique public relations agency in town," and Real Housewives superfan, should have it all. After successfully wooing Ellen Hanks, "the face of Minneapolis's Real Housewives franchise," for a lucrative branding opportunity, she is given a plum assignment by her boss Celeste Winter, erstwhile clone of Miranda Priestly, to start up an offshoot agency. This "Blue Ocean" company will focus on pairing respected authors with companies that no longer have the cachet to attract "real" celebrities: oil companies, recalled-meat producers, etc. For her first assignment, Casey sets out, American Express business gold card in hand, to entice well-known local author/asset Ben Dickinson to come on board. When the two meet, sparks fly and love is in the air, but soon things unravel as Casey's sometimes thoughtless actions blow up. Her best friend feels betrayed, her other personal relationships crack, and her business decisions have no moral compass.
Verdict Debut author Franson has created a character so insensitive to others and lacking any integrity that when her comeuppance does finally come up, it is virtually impossible to sympathize. Well intentioned but not essential.--Susan Santa, Shelter Rock P.L., Albertson, NY
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Santa, Susan. "Franson, Sally. A Lady's Guide to Selling Out." Xpress Reviews, 16 Feb. 2018.
Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530232532 /GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=cd830bcf. Accessed 30 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530232532
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Review: 'A Ladies' Guide to Selling Out,' by Sally Franson
FICTION: A Minneapolis advertising star takes on the literary world in Sally Franson's debut comedy of manners.
By NANCY PATE Special to the Star Tribune
April 6, 2018 — 10:11am
Sally Franson
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A woman who lost her temper on a plane recently ended up losing her job when a fellow passenger posted a video of the incident online, where it went viral.
Casey Pendergast could relate. She is a modern-day Emma in Sally Franson’s first novel, “A Ladies’ Guide to Selling Out,” a timely but uneven comedy of manners set at the crossroads of art, pop culture and corporate interests. Like Jane Austen’s heroine, Casey can be both amusing and annoying, self-involved yet well-meaning. A former English lit major who is now a rising star at a boutique Minneapolis ad agency, she’s a slave to social media, a material girl with the clothes, the car and the condo, unlike her best friend Susan, an aspiring writer.
Casey does admit to the occasional doubt since turning 28 — “a funny little tremor in my brain … a shimmering feeling of existing in two places at once, the life I’d imagined for myself, and the life I was currently living.”
Then she lands a plum assignment at work, matching businesses that want to brand their products with writers who can endorse said products on their social media platforms. A novelist, for example, could tout fountain pens on Instagram, or a nature writer could tweet about the benefits of granola bars. Armed with a corporate credit card, Casey travels around the country and is somewhat surprised how many authors sign on.
Still, she reassures herself that they’re not really selling out: one prizewinning author needs a retirement account, another wants to open an animal rescue center. The cute writer with whom she has fallen in love has to support his ill mother. What could possibly go wrong? A lot, as it turns out, almost all of it Casey’s fault as she misreads people and situations.
Franson, on the other hand, is a witty observer of the literary world and recognizes its poseurs, backstabbers, plagiarists and predators. All play a part in Casey’s cringe-worthy downfall, which happens at a Las Vegas book convention. “A former poet laureate lurked blackly in one corner of the hall like the Phantom of the Opera; a National Book Award finalist desperately drank cola after diet cola while three old women buzzed around him like gingham flies.”
“A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out,” by Sally Franson
“A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out,” by Sally Franson
As unlikable as Casey can be, she doesn’t deserve her internet shaming and she eventually does learn from her mistakes and misadventures. With the help of a reality TV star and some difficult soul-searching, she begins the climb back, becoming more sympathetic in the process. Her coming-of-age is late, but, hey, I think she’s going to make it after all.
Nancy Pate is a writer and reviewer in Orlando, Fla., who has attended many book conventions.
A Lady's Guide to Selling Out
By: Sally Franson.
Publisher: Dial Press, 276 pages, $27.
Events: In conversation with Joanna Demkiewicz, 6 p.m. April 10, Milkweed Books, 1011 Washington Av. S., Mpls.; in conversation with Ben Purkert, 7 p.m. April 23, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
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Q&A with Sally Franson, Author of 'A Lady's Guide to Selling Out'
Say hello to the Minneapolis littérateur (with a fancy degree to prove it), and her possibly bestselling debut novel.
by Drew Wood
May 2, 2018
Expand
Author Sally Franson
Photos by Caitlin Abrams
It’s hard to miss Sally Franson. When I arrive to meet her at Five Watt Coffee in south Minneapolis, all the seats and tables have been squatted by loafers. I’m relegated to a platform stage in the back. But Franson’s voice rises above the clamor. She’s catching up with the barista. He hasn’t seen her in a bit and, despite the fact that she wrote the majority of her first novel, A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out, at his coffee shop, this is the first he’s heard that Franson wrote a book, let alone that it’s weeks away from publication. And if you somehow were to miss the voice, Franson’s authentically Midwestern height and big-heel boots thrust her into the stratosphere.
Book, A Lady's Guide to Selling Out
If our debut ended up looking that choice, we’d toss our manuscript into the air, too.
Franson appeared in Minneapolis about a decade ago to attend the University of Minnesota’s prominent creative writing MFA program. Not only did she stay—she lives in Kingfield with her boyfriend, a poet who teaches at Macalester—she also set her novel here. And, despite lit-nerd bona fides, which also include a sideline gig teaching college, her debut novel seems destined for a more populist audience than the writer’s colony.
The plot follows a former English major trying to save her soul from an all-consuming advertising gig. The publicists at The Dial Press (a division of a semi-obscure boutique press called Random House), describe A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out as “Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada.” And among the effusive jacket blurbs is the endorsement “totally addictive” from Lucy Sykes (The Knockoff), a darling of “chick lit”—which, unbelievably, is still the term of art in the business.
As Franson—tall, brash, and, on this day in February, still anonymous—makes her way back to an improvised platform seat, the novel that could catapult her to the rarified air of Sykes and Lauren (The Devil Wears Prada) Weisberger rockets toward a mid-April release. Franson settles down on what, it occurs to me, is a bizarrely apropos stage, and I just have to ask—
Are you about to be famous?
I can’t answer that question because it’s so far outside of the balance of my control.
Well, right. But that is what Random House is trying to do here. It works out well for them if Sally Franson becomes famous.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m in a liminal space.
Kirkus just gave you a great review that ended with, “Come for the hilarious narration, stay for the whirlwind plot, luxuriate in the satirical gleam.”
Yeah. Man, that meant the world to me. Family and friends are like, “You’re so great!” They’re going to say that. But when someone else reads it and understands what I was trying to do, I’m like, “Thank you so much. I worked really hard on that thing.”
Since you’re not famous yet, what’s the abridged version of the Sally Franson story?
For sale: one baby shoe, never worn.
That’s cheating.
Grew up in Madison, preacher daddy, now agnostic to atheist. Always wanted to move to New York, moved to New York—very loud and stressful. Took 10 years to get on my feet as a writer. Wasted a lot of time in my 20s, had cancer in my 20s, and then finally became an adult since I moved to Minneapolis.
I like that Minneapolis is the hero.
I know my audience.
What’s the abridged version of A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out?
My bad elevator pitch is, “It was the best I could do when I was 30 years old, and I hope I write a better book next time.”
That’s the most credit you’re willing to give yourself?
No, it’s just my bad elevator pitch. Here’s another version. “A lady who works in advertising but longs for more makes a deal with the devil. A workplace coming-of-age story for millennials.”
How much of you is in the book?
The main character, Casey, is like a brave, loud-mouthed, ill-begotten version of myself.
Franson at a reading last November
Franson at a reading last November.
Your working title was A Lady’s Guide to Literature, which sounds loftier than A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out. Was changing it, ahem, akin to you selling out?
I decided that I have to let people who are very good at their job be very good at their job. And one of Random House’s criticisms was that the original title was going to put people off if they don’t already love reading. It makes the book sound more old-fashioned than it is. And I thought of my friends who are working moms who don’t read a lot, and I was like, “I want those queens to read this book.” So I said, “OK.” And don’t think that it wasn’t a blow to my ego.
Random House compares ALGTSO to The Devil Wears Prada? Have you ever read it?
Oh, yeah, I even saw the movie. It’s so fun. No one will leave that movie and be like, “I’m sort of disappointed by it.”
Your pedigree includes fancy stuff like a stint at the MacDowell Colony and stories in Glimmer Train. Do you mind being compared to something some people from that world might consider lowbrow?
I am honored by it. It’s such a fallacy that something can’t be fun and serious. When I was writing it I said, “I want this to be so fucking funny, and I want it to be so deadly serious.”
Why did you set it in Minneapolis?
Minneapolis is this melting pot of Fortune 500 companies, punks who have been here forever, old-money families, suburban people, small-town remnants, and then artists. It’s a great mix of people. And the city is still a mix of people because it’s affordable. Diversity in voices and ways of being can exist here. I think that’s very unique.
If this becomes a film—and you already have a movie agent—you just know they’re going to scrap Minneapolis as the locale. They’re going to set it in Chicago.
You think so? But there are so many things that I feel are unique to the city that are in it. I was thinking about a place on 25th and Nicollet, the Warehouse District at 4th. If you know Minneapolis, it should be a treat. Like, “Damn, I know what she’s talking about.”
And it’s not just the location that Hollywood will mess with, you know.
Part of me thinks that I took this to the end of my capabilities, and then I had a lot of help taking it even further than I thought I could go. And then to translate it into a medium that I am not skilled in, it will take these other enormous things that should be done by an expert. I like that idea. It’s like passing the baton.
Admit it. You’ll have a tough time handing over the keys.
I’ll be like, “OK. I know you think you know what you’re doing, but I have some ideas that you should be aware of.”
“Let me just show you this look-book I threw together.”
“I was fiddling around in iMovie last night, and I’ve come up with this. This isn’t an intrusion, is it?”
Then again, what if this famous writer bit doesn’t materialize? The book flops. There’s no film version. Then what?
I’d just start fracking.
That would be an explosive next chapter in your life.
What could possibly go wrong? You know, I’m very susceptible to environment, so I’d also be a great cult member. Fifteen minutes in, I’d be like, “Oh my God, you guys. This is really dynamic.” And then probably three days later, because I’m also an introvert, I’d be out.
You’re going to be walking through the airport and see your book between, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Danielle Steel on the new releases table.
Your mouth to God’s ears.
Random House is going to make that happen.
Can you imagine?
I’m not the one who has to.
I think it is going to feel weird. When I first got the galleys, I couldn’t even pick them up. I literally put them in a different room. I couldn’t bear it. And now I’ve given a few readings with a bound galley. And sometimes it’s like looking at a disgusting mud baby like, “That’s my baby?!” But then sometimes I’m like, “I made that. I don’t know how I did that.” Wait! What time is it?
Quarter to—
—I have to leave and go see Black Panther!
Really?
Yeah. I had the tickets before we set this up. And I had a dental cleaning right before I saw you, so my life’s pretty glamorous already.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Drew Wood
Drew Wood
Our deputy editor and generalist extraordinaire has been around the block with stints at Thrillist, Metro, and Minnesota Business to name a few. He lives in Tangletown with his wife and kids, and would almost always rather be wearing a baseball cap.
Read more by Drew Wood
Sally Franson’s ‘A Lady’s Guide to Selling out’ is a lively debut
sally-franson-ladys-guide-to-selling-out
Sally Franson, author of “A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out.”
By Mary Ann Grossmann | mgrossmann@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
April 21, 2018 at 11:30 am
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Casey Pendergast lost herself in the world of advertising but she comes out whole, smarter and a lot wiser about personal integrity and what’s really important in life. This is not a spoiler because the joy of this book is Casey’s oh-so-contemporary journey.
Franson, who lives in Minneapoils and attended the University of Minnesota, gives us a smart, driven 28-year-old in her debut novel, “A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out” (Dial Press, $27).
Casey works at a hip ad agency in New York and spends off-time with her best friend, Susan, an aspiring writer. But beneath Casey’s self-assurance she’s really looking for validation that her cold mother never gave her. The closest she comes is her boss Celeste, who assigns her a project that will make her a queen of the ad world, if she can pull it off.
Celeste wants Casey to head up a top secret initiative for which Casey needs to persuade high-profile writers to lend their names to, and write short copy for, big businesses that want to rebrand their products. Casey’s thrilled. She’s arrived; she’s got a gold credit card.
Casey falls in love with Ben, the first writer she meets, and goes on to meet others who, to her surprise, are willing to come aboard for money. One respected woman author wants to end the teaching job she hates. A man needs money for medical expenses of his ailing wife. Casey’s having a good time traveling and meeting these people, pushing aside her doubts about the morality of the project, until she interviews an old Jewish cartoonist whom she’s asking to sign with an anti-Semitic company.
After that, her world falls apart. She’s in trouble for betraying Susan, things aren’t going well with Ben, and her dream job ends in a messy situation in a hotel room of the #MeToo variety. All the shiny objects are gone, and she has to take a good look at her life.
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Franson gives us a lively, often-funny story that lets us into sharp-eyed Casey’s mind. Here’s her snarky description of an Uptown gallery opening: “The art at the gallery was mediocre, but honestly, that’s true most of the time. The accompanying book called it ‘mixed media.’ The bo-, bro-, and fauxhemian crowd was full of the usual suspects, a mix of creatives and professionals and a new subgenre called creative professionals. There were women in loafers and odd hats, queers talking about queerness, men who generally looked uncomfortable.”
If you are 20-something you will probably sympathize with Casey. If you’re a baby boomer or past retirement, she’ll show you what young people have to deal with in today’s morally dubious business world.
IF YOU GO
Sally Franson discusses “A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out,” with Ben Purkert reading from his debut poetry collection “For the Love of Endings,” 7 p.m. Monday, April 23, Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls. She will be a guest bookseller from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at Common Good Books, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul, in celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, and she will read at 7 p.m. May 5 at Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls., with Kai Carlson-Wee, Sam Sax and Hieu Minh Nguyen.
Tags: Books
Mary Ann Grossman
Mary Ann Grossmann
Mary Ann joined the Dispatch-Pioneer Press in 1961 when there were two papers. She has been a fashion writer, a women's columnist and the women's department editor who brought "society" pages into the 20th century. She was named book editor in 1983, just when the local literary community exploded. She has won the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award, a Page One Award and YWCA Leader Lunch Award. She retired in 2001 and works part time. A graduate of Macalester College, she lives on St. Paul's West Side in a money-sucking Victorian house with assorted old animals.