Bookish Buys: The Literati by Susan Coll
Bookish Buys
Inspired by The Literati by Susan Coll
Wearing a black square-neck maxi dress with black mesh ballet flats, a dainty book-charm pendant necklace, and a black-and-purple book bag (with, of course, a perfectly coordinated black-and-purple cat bed for the resident library cat) is the kind of outfit that makes you feel like you’ve stepped straight into The Literati by Susan Coll. It’s smart, a little dramatic, and brimming with bookish flair—exactly the kind of vibe Clemi, the main character, carries as she stumbles through chaos with wit and determination.
Clemi is 26, bookish, broke, and working her dream job at a prestigious literary nonprofit when she suddenly finds herself juggling an allergic reaction to the nonprofit’s inherited cat, the disappearance of her boss, the FBI knocking on the door, and the small task of pulling off the annual fundraising gala. Her story is a madcap comedy of errors wrapped in highbrow literary polish, and this outfit channels that duality perfectly: elegance on the outside, survival-mode underneath.
The sleek black dress and ballet flats? Classic, understated armor—professional enough for schmoozing donors, comfortable enough for dashing between crises. The book-charm pendant is a quiet nod to her literary soul, while the black-and-purple book bag says she’s serious about hauling around manuscripts, agendas, and maybe a few existential questions. And the coordinating cat bed? That’s the wink of whimsy that acknowledges sometimes your life is one big mess of fur, fiction, and financial calamity.
Slip into this look, and you’re not just dressed for the day—you’re dressing like the heroine of your own story. The woman who can hold it together when everything is unraveling, laugh in the middle of the madness, and still carry a touch of elegance as she figures out what comes next. In other words: very Clemi, very main-character energy, very you.
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Bookish Buys: The Literati by Susan Coll
About The Literati by Susan Coll:
"Like Bookish People, the novel sparkles with kooky details plucked from literary culture. A comedy of errors that gets it just right." --Kirkus
An unexpected catastrophe of literary proportions . . .
Aspirant, bookish, and close to broke, 26-year-old Clemi steps into her dream job at a prestigious literary nonprofit and finds herself in the bull's eye of a financial, legal, and existential calamity. The executive director has disappeared, leaving behind an inscrutable cat to which she is highly allergic. Meanwhile, the bank accounts have been overdrawn, the FBI is asking questions, and she has three days to pull off the annual fundraising gala, a glamorous affair filled with famous writers and local literati.
On the upside, she will get to meet her all-time favorite writer, who has won the award. Clemi has read and reread her novels, pouring over her every word. But her interactions with the author and her eight-year-old son, as well as with the nonprofit's Board Members, leave her wondering whether certain writers are better on the page than in person.
All the while, Clemi is trying to sort out her own life: her current boyfriend is, like every boyfriend before him, a pompous poseur, and the clock is running on her apartment-sitting gig. She finds herself wondering what all the goings-on in this dysfunctional, scandal-plagued nonprofit have to do with literature. And if it's time to let go of her literary aspirations and apply to law school.
In the week in which this madcap story unfolds, USA TODAY bestselling author Susan Coll weaves together a charmingly witty and warm comedy of manners that offers a peek behind the literary curtain--one that anyone who's ever been a little bit uncertain of what the future might hold can relate to.
