Getting Over Jack Wagner by Elise Juska (September 5-6, 2003)
This novel begins with an excerpt of script from General Hospital, which frames Eliza Simon’s quest:
Frisco: Once upon a time there was a rock star who met a princess...
Robin: Did they live happily ever after?
Frisco: Isn’t that how all good stories end?
Eliza is dating Philadelphia rock stars, who never meet her expectations of what a rock star should truly be. She is a copywriter for a travel agency to convince others to take vacations she’s never taken, and has minimal interest in her job. Her two best friends Hannah and Andrew eternally pick her up after another “rock star” bites the dust, and both are in happy relationships. Both characters are poorly developed, but compared to the other characters of the book (even Eliza), they are the most likable.
Throughout the story, Eliza has to analyze why she is so critical of others and why she wants her relationships to fail, but she seems happier to wallow in her self-defeating cycle without change. The best parts of the story are the 80s and early 90s references to song title (at the beginning of each chapter) and television. She reminisces about 1984, saying: "The beauty of eighties music was this: rock stars weren't afraid to speak their feelings. Back then, it wasn't corny. It wasn't suspicious. It wasn't desperate. They could spill their guts in a flood of synthesizers, cymbals, A-B-A-B rhyme schemes and long notes high as women's…As a grown-up, I find that kind of openness terrifying. But in 1984, it was acceptable, even desirable, and it was the way I loved Jack Wagner: with confidence, fearlessness, and a T-shirt bearing a steam-ironed decal of his sultry face."
Though Eliza’s love life is still empty, she reaches a surprise resolution by the end of the book and is able to express “unashamed” love once again. The ending was a twist to possibly make an unsympathetic character more likeable, and also to avoid falling into the “Chick Lit” trap of a man solving an overly analytical woman’s problems and providing her with happiness. Still, the ending felt forced, and lacking a real resolution for the reader. Eliza came across as self-defeating, whiny and pathetic throughout, and it is nearly impossible to believe that she will change, and the reader is left not caring much if she does change or not.
