Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

February 6, 2006
Goodwillie's chronicle of his New York days and nights in the exuberant years of the late 1990s can be accurately characterized by its own title. A 1995 graduate of Kenyon College, the author failed at a Cincinnati Reds tryout, then went East for the big city's bright lights (comparisons to Jay McInerney's 1985 classic are unavoidable). During his days, Goodwillie changed jobs—private investigator, copywriter, journalist, sports expert—the way free agents change teams; by night, he swung with the best of them whatever the venue, whatever the side: neocon right or Clintonian left; Upper West or Lower East. The author wisely depicts himself as ironist naïf, and he exuberantly relates episode after episode. However, the matters of his steady job, housing and relationships (or lack thereof) never quite cohere into memorable drama. Still, finely wrought details anchor the story in time and place, and perhaps the work's lack of moral weight is the truest mark of the decade it portrays. Goodwillie has written a frenetic picaresque with little soul but lots of rhythm.

April 1, 2006
Goodwillie (contributor, "My Father Married Your Mother: Writers Talk About Stepparents, Stepchildren, and Everyone in Between", reviewed on p. 94) has produced an entertaining and thoughtful memoir of his struggles to become a writer. Now a freelancer whose fiction has appeared in "BlackBook "and "Swink", he started his career as a Minor League baseball player in the Midwest but was quickly drawn to the aura and energy of New York City. Torn among his artistic impulses, fast-paced party lifestyle, and attempts to earn a living, Goodwillie amassed a multitude of adventures, mishaps, and the odd lucky break about which to write. From stories of dalliances with the movers and shakers of the dot-com world to his time on the wrong side of the mob, he draws readers in with a witty, worldly, often self-deprecating style that vividly evokes the breathless pace of the city. In sharing his career and relationship struggles, Goodwillie does more than just recount personal anecdotes -he reflects critically, yet ultimately affectionately, on the nature of American society. Suitable for public library nonfiction collections." -Rebecca Bollen Manalac, Sydney, Australia"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2006
Adult/High School -When the author graduated from college, he tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. He failed to make the team, so he took what was to him the next logical step: he moved to New York City to become a writer. This memoir details the sometimes unsettling, frequently hilarious events in between. Goodwillie first worked as a private investigator and then as a copywriter for a sports auction house, which led to a prestigious job at Sotheby -s organizing and then auctioning a huge private baseball-memorabilia collection. The second half of the 1990s saw the rise of the dot-coms, and, though Goodwillie was reasonably happy and earning a steady and adequate paycheck, he was seduced by the glitz, mad creativity, and possibility of instant wealth of the Internet start-ups. He worked for a series of these companies, all of which failed to flourish. His personal relationships also lacked commitment, and it wasn -t until the horrifying events of September 11th that he began to reflect on the direction his life was taking. After six years of gathering material, he finally decided to write. Goodwillie -s pre-9/11 New York was a city of exuberance and seemingly endless possibility. This picaresque tale also tells of lean times between jobs, run-down apartments, nightlife, and superficial relationships. Short on analysis but with plenty of fresh experience, it provides a detailed view of life in the recent past." -Susanne Bardelson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2006
Fresh from a solid liberal-arts/baseball education, Goodwillie attempted to land a spot on the Cincinnati Reds. Tryouts ended after two swings of the bat, one a foul ball and the other a meek, broken-bat dribbler that didn't quite make it out of the infield. So he moved to New York to live the life of a writer, more a lifestyle choice than creative endeavor, which followed a comparable groundout trajectory. He was invariably sidetracked by the requisite glitz, drugs, and stalled relationships the city abundantly offers but somehow landed a job at Sotheby's, auctioning off the world's largest private collection of baseball memorabilia. It was wildly successful, and Goodwillie tried to parlay his good fortune into the emerging Internet economy, with a series of startup companies that never got far beyond their initial handout of stock options, while worrying that his career as a writer might share a similarly tenuous foothold. After six years spent wondering if he has anything to say, he has certainly amassed enough raw, dizzying experience for this memoir of the World's City lurching into a new millennium.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)