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August 11, 2022
Kate Gavino's Playlist for Her Graphic Novel "A Career in Books"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Kate Gavino's A Career in Books is the best graphic novel I have read all year, a smart, funny, and insightful voyage into the worlds of publishing and friendship.
Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:
"With quill-sharp narration and spot-on details, this delightful graphic novel from Gavino (Last Night’s Reading) depicts New York City publishing through the eyes of three Asian American NYU grads who share an apartment... Specificity is the fire that fuels this witty social satire, in which fairness doesn’t always triumph, but friendship does."
In her own words, here is Kate Gavino's Book Notes music playlist for her graphic novel A Career in Books:
A Career in Books is set in the early 2010s, and it tells the story of three friends working as editorial assistants at different New York City publishing houses. During that era, I was mainlining every form of indie pop: obscure C86 mixtape finds, ethereal dream pop, brash Brit pop, jangly twee pop, every single band directly or tentatively related to Belle & Sebastian. I lived for Mondo NYC, a monthly indie pop dance party first held at Don Hill’s and later Cameo Gallery, where the playlist was always stacked with Pulp, Jonathan Richman, Black Tambourine, Camera Obscura, Tullycraft, Los Campesinos!, '60s girl groups, and any band with a glockenspiel.
The figure that looms the largest to me is Jens Lekman, the romantic and melancholic Swedish musician. The three main characters in my book are named after his songs, and his thoughtful, often lugubrious lyrics have provided the soundtrack for most of my creative endeavors. I consider him to be the patron saint of this book, so of course, he bookends this playlist, which is basically just what was on loop on my iPod Nano at the time.
Jens Lekman - A Higher Power
This song is what falling in love sounds like to me, including all the romantic, fickle, ill-advised, messy, and nonsensical bits. Shirin, Nina, and Silvia, the three main characters all bond quickly and have an intense, borderline dependent friendship. It’s both a comfort and a hindrance, but it’s also a miracle: you don’t get a lot of good, solid friendships in your life.
Hello - Then She Kissed Me (The Crystals cover)
I imagine this song playing in Shirin’s head during one ill-advised kiss, and continuing on during the ensuing chaos.
Galaxie 500 - Ceremony (New Order Cover)
If you were a girl with a Tumblr around 2010, chances are you probably listened to the Marie Antoinette soundtrack on repeat. I had at least 5-7 different covers of this song culled from various music blogs, and this one was my favorite. Silvia listens to it on the B38 bus every morning on her commute to work.
Voxtrot - This Place Has Got No Soul, Kid
Early on, Nina, Silvia, and Shirin befriend their next door neighbor, Veronica, a 90-something Booker-Prize-winning author whose books are long out of print. Her story is one of success, obscurity, and a love of writing that endured despite the publishing world repeatedly diminishing her. Wistful and beautiful, like this song.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Everything With You
Another friendship anthem for the girls.
Plastic Bertrand - Ça plane pour moi
There’s one chapter in the book that takes place on one of the girls’ work trip to Paris. The whole thing is a shitshow, as is usually the case when a 22 year-old visits a city that she only knows through Les Miserables and the 1999 Olsen Twin VHS classic, Passport to Paris.
Metronomy - The Look
There are a few playlists in the book, and one of my favorites is the one Nina makes her sophomore year of college: “Nina's (Never Used) Losing-Her-V-Card Playlist.” This is the first song on the list, and the thought of her carefully choosing this song from her iTunes library makes me laugh.
The Knife - Heartbeats
The girls go to karaoke often, and aside from the obligatory rendition of “Maps,” I picture Shirin belting this song out as well. I also imagine she bullied the owner of a karaoke joint in K-Town to ensure they always had this song in their catalog.
The Rentals - The Love I’m Searching For
An ode to the book publishing world following the girls’ first year in the trenches. Lots of doubt, regret, resentment, but set to a catchy, danceable tune.
Jens Lekman - Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death (Scout Niblett Cover)
There are no tidy, happily-ever-after endings in the book, which makes sense since the three main characters are all still in their early-twenties. There is nothing tidy or final about that period of your life, so instead, they’re just getting by, trying to make sense of whatever comes next.
Kate Gavino is the author and illustrator of Last Night's Reading (Penguin, 2015) and the graphic novel Sanpaku (Archaia/BOOM! Studios, 2018). Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Believer, Longreads, Oprah.com, and more. She was both the greatest and the worst editorial assistant.
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