Talk of the Town Tuesday: Jancee Dunn, The Pop-Culture Connection

My second appearance on "Talk of the Town with Parker Sunshine" is Wednesday, July 16. This week, in case you're curious, a little bit more about why I chose this book.

Jancee Dunn's first novel DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME has been on my radar for a while, before it even got its current title. After the success of her memoir BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME, about her journey from starstruck fan to MTV2 VJ (between 1996 and 2001), she got a two-book deal, with her first novel then named IN BETWEEN DAYS after a Cure song. The new title also comes from an '80s song from the band Simple Minds, best known as the song at the end of Brat Pack classic "The Breakfast Club." Here's a clip (with spoilers, naturally):



Now there's a song that can get stuck in your head. The callback to the '80s is intentional, not only because Dunn is a child of the '80s but her protagonist, Lillian Curtis, is returning to her New Jersey hometown after the breakup of her marriage -- just in time for her 20-year high school reunion.

Dunn isn't a VJ any more, but she still contributes to Rolling Stone where she started her career long ago, so I'm expecting to see a lot of musical references in this novel. But she's also branched out to many other media, including a recent New York Times story about real-estate buyer's remorse.

All this said, I wouldn't be reviewing this book if someone at Current Employer hadn't left a copy on the free table and if I hadn't gotten a free copy of her first book from the good folks at HarperCollins when I took a tour there. But even if I hadn't, I would seek out this book to see how a life lived among stars translates to fiction.

A little light reading on Jancee Dunn
Jancee's blog, which includes the favorable Publishers Weekly review for DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME
A blooper reel from her days at MTV2 [YouTube]
There aren't any examples of her regular VJing on YouTube, but here's a Charlie Rose appearance from 1999. [YouTube]
This blogger was one of Dunn's rare non-famous subjects for a "Rolling Stone" interview. [Tart Suite]