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Look at Me
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
At the start of this edgy and ambitiously multilayered novel, a fashion model named Charlotte Swenson emerges from a car accident in her Illinois hometown with her face so badly shattered that it takes eighty titanium screws to reassemble it. She returns to New York still beautiful but oddly unrecognizable, a virtual stranger in the world she once effortlessly occupied. With the surreal authority of a David Lynch, Jennifer Egan threads Charlottes narrative with those of other casualties of our infatuation with the image. Theres a deceptively plain teenaged girl embarking on a dangerous secret life, an alcoholic private eye, and an enigmatic stranger who changes names and accents as he prepares an apocalyptic blow against American society. As these narratives inexorably converge, Look at Me becomes a coolly mesmerizing intellectual thriller of identity and imposture. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Tripex
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Been reading this since around the beginning of the year lol, taking little sips here and there 😊. Jennifer Egan is good.

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Tripex
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Going good, really good, muah 😘

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Tripex
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan

Current read. DNFed I Do Not Come To You By Chance.
This one looking good, I've read one of her novels before (can't remember the title now) and she didn't disappoint. The first few pages of this one has been captivating.
Great way to start the week.

15 likes1 stack add
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Megabooks
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Pickpick

This 2001 release from Egan was a great used book find! The plot lines are so deftly woven it is like reading a symphony. The comparisons to David Lynch are spot on.

Model Charlotte was in a mysterious car accident in Rockford, IL that shattered her face. She has trouble returning to her NYC life after she heals. A private detective contacts her about a party friend Z. Meanwhile in Rockford a brother and sister come of age amid family problems.

Megabooks @vivastory I think you‘d like this if you haven‘t read it and can find a copy. 2y
Megabooks @Bookwormjillk this is our clematis! 2y
Bookwormjillk @Megabooks beautiful 🤩 2y
See All 9 Comments
vivastory You had me at the David Lynch comparison! I have actually yet to read Egan 😬 2y
Megabooks @vivastory this is only my fourth. The Goon Squad/Candy House duology was fantastic, but her 2017 release, Manhattan Beach, was a miss for me. I‘m going to have my eyes out for her backlist when I‘m shopping used. I think you‘d like her. 2y
vivastory I am planning on reading The Goon Squad soonish. I have heard great things about The Keep. It is apparently a contemporary gothic novel. Sounds very intriguing. 2y
Cinfhen Gorgeous flowers 🌺 2y
Megabooks @vivastory I‘d recommend planning on The Candy House too this year if you like Goon Squad. They‘re great companions. I‘ll have my eyes out for The Keep. I get my ID on Tuesday, so I plan on finally selling my books and doing a little looking around. 👍🏻 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks! 2y
87 likes4 stack adds9 comments
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Megabooks
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Rainy days are for reading!

Cinfhen Amen to that, sister 😊💕 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen 😘😘 2y
AmyG True 2y
Megabooks @AmyG 👍🏻💜 2y
107 likes4 comments
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Megabooks
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Storytime!!

Do you ever buy a book and have to jump right in? 😀

Well, I headed to the used bookstore chain 2nd & Charles today for the first time since the pandemic, and I had A LOT of books to sell and most were hardcover. I lugged four oversized tote bags in and loaded all the books into bins, took them to the desk. They asked for my ID, handed it over… ⬇️

Megabooks My license had been expired for OVER A MONTH and I found out from the clerk at 2nd & Charles!! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I can‘t. So I had to pack up and lug out all those books, and now the first license appointment is next Tuesday, so I guess I‘m getting a chauffeur (aka my dad) for the next week! 😂😂😂 But, at least I found this book and came home with it. 👍🏻 (edited) 2y
BarbaraBB Oh no!! For over a month!! I bet your dad is more than willing to drive you in the mean time?! I just don‘t get why you couldn‘t leave your books there? 2y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB in America, you have to show ID for EVERYTHING! You know, in case a terrorist tries to sell used books with anthrax in them in small town Kentucky?? 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ I think we‘re a bit over invested in the whole ID thing. 2y
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Prairiegirl_reading I forget to renew my license every year!! Every single year. 2y
Megabooks @Prairiegirl_reading lol!! 😂 I got mine in 2018 and I thought it was good for 5 years…turns out it was 4 🤦🏻‍♀️ 2y
LeahBergen I was just going to ask what @BarbaraBB did! 🤔 2y
Megabooks @LeahBergen yeah, apparently taking books from a person with a recently expired ID is a step too far for 2nd & Charles! 😂 2y
AlaMich That‘s the stupidest thing I‘ve ever heard. 2y
Megabooks @AlaMich agreed! 2y
Cinfhen OMG! That‘s ridiculous!! But at least you didn‘t try boarding a plane 😂😂😂 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen right?? Or get a ticket out driving! 😂😂 2y
vivastory HPB also requests id if you sell/trade books, but I don't think they would refuse if it was expired. It seems mostly to be to discourage people from stealing & reselling books/CDs etc. Sorry you had to lug your books around!! I'll be curious to see what you think of the Egan. I just saw an add for the following on lithub & it seems right up your alley 2y
Megabooks @vivastory yeah, I can see why they do it, but I was just incredibly frustrated, especially since I was parked far away. 👎🏻👎🏻 I‘ll just go back next week. I have stacked homesickness. You‘re right that it sounds up my alley! Thanks! 2y
Centique I would have asked the same question as @BarbaraBB 😋 Sounds so strange to me to need ID! But then we have weird idiosyncrasies of our own here that I never think about until a tourist says “but why?….” 😉 2y
78 likes14 comments
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MelKelsey
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Pickpick

Book 155

4.5

Look at Me is an intricate story with complex characters, excellent writing, and a dense vocabulary (perhaps overly so).

Published in 2001, it's the story of a limited social media that's not free. It's very interesting to read currently.

So many characters, not all evenly fleshed out. I wanted more about Ellen. I don't completely get Moose.

I really liked the book and look forward to reading more by the author.

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Eggs
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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A dramatic car crash, a life-saving surgery, a face no one can recognize any longer? Seems like #rebirth to me...
#acrossapril

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Billypar
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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#youngandbeautiful #MayMovieMagic
I'm 2/2 with Jennifer Egan, so looking forward to trying this one. But it does sound like a tough read: the story of a fashion model who is in a car accident and after recovering must come to grips with the change in how people react to her appearance.
@rohit-sawant @Cinfhen

merelybookish What have you read by her? I adored Goon Squad but haven't read anything else by her even though I own a couple. 5y
Billypar @merelybookish I read Goon Squad and The Keep- loved them both, but I think I liked The Keep best- so inventive and it had me hooked all the way through 5y
merelybookish @Billypar Oh cool! I own that one so will bump it up the TBR! 🙂 5y
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Billypar @merelybookish Nice- hope you enjoy it! 5y
batsy I found it quite a difficult read, pretty savage. Egan is pretty uncompromising in depicting how society can be. No warm fuzzies here. 5y
Reggie Have you ever seen that movie Amores Perros? Where there‘s 3 intersecting story lines but ones about a model who is kept by a married man whose wife she used to call at night. Then the model gets in an accident and loses her legs. Then she loses her dog under the floorboards and can always hear it but can‘t get it out. After the married man comes to live with her, now she starts to get phone calls at night. It‘s crazy. 5y
Cinfhen Reminds me of the true life story of the model who had her face slashed ~ Marla Hanson 5y
Billypar @batsy Yeah, I think I'd have to be in the right reading mood. But I'm interested where it could go from the description. 5y
Billypar @Reggie I saw it a long time ago and remember really liking it, but not a lot of the details. What you mentioned sounds vaguely familiar- definite parallels with the Egan novel. I've enjoyed every Inarritu film I've seen- one of my favorite directors. 5y
Billypar @Cinfhen I don't think I heard about that one- how awful. Hearing those kinds of stories on the news makes you shudder, but I value novels that can put you in the mindset of the survivor who has to overcome the trauma a horrific event like that can cause. 5y
batsy Definitely recommend it. I've only read this one and The Keep (which I think we've swooned over before :) and really liked both; she's an intriguing writer. @Reggie Thanks for the reminder of that one! Such a good movie. Want to watch it again. 5y
Reggie @batsy I used to have the hugest crush on Gael Garcia Bernal when I was younger. I had to see everything he was in. (edited) 5y
batsy @Reggie Me too! I still have a crush, but it's under control now 😂 I still haven't watched Mozart in the Jungle and younger me would be shocked about this lol 5y
Billypar @batsy @Reggie Yes, have definitely swooned over The Keep before. I haven't swooned over Gael Garcia Bernal but I get it 😁 5y
44 likes1 stack add14 comments
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Coleen
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Not one but TWO Christmas cards in today‘s mail already (?!!), along with this lesser-known Jennifer Egan through PaperBackSwap. Has anyone read this one?

Zelma I didn‘t care for it but I‘ve seen good reviews so I think I was an anomaly. 6y
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TheEscapist
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Pickpick

Met Jennifer Egan at a book signing. She is so cool and smart! While she was signing my copy of Manhattan Beach I told her how much I loved this one, and she said that this is her favourite also. And then I stood like a gap-mouthed fool. #starstruck

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quietjenn
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Jennifer Egan it's well-represented on the #fashion tag, as this one totally works too. #septembowie

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rachellayown
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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There aren't very many #bookssetinmycity. When I learned Jennifer Egan's LOOK AT ME is I added it to my TBR where it has stayed for years. I'll get to it eventually because I love her and it does sound good!

48 likes2 stack adds
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jackalope-dreams
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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I love the idea of this book. Let's see if this "idea" holds up ?

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laurenalysse
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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His and hers. Mostly hers.

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Danwilli2012
Look at Me: A Novel | Jennifer Egan
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Pickpick

Pluto had a tougher time getting through this book. The writing was a little rough, but the storyline was captivating.