'A Note to Self': Alina Simone's debut novel leaves readers wanting

Anna, the main character in Alina Simone's debut novel “Note to Self,” has recently been let go from her cubicle job due to budget cuts. But Anna knows the truth: It's because she's addicted to the Internet.

Her world is in a constant state of refresh. As she flips between gossip sites, Twitter, and her email, she discovers a series of short films in the style of Nowism. (“The opposite of pop culture. Unpopular culture.”) Film, she decides, will be her new career. After answering a post on Craig's list, Anna soon finds herself working for Taj, another budding filmmaker. As they begin to pursue an undefined relationship, Anna encounters a series of disappointments and revelations.

Simone explores the depressing, self-absorbed art scene of Nowism with a tongue-in-cheek style (“It's either totally, obviously real, or really, obviously fake, you get what I mean?”), but the novel is so filled with irony it's exhausting. It's also slow. Anna spends $3,500 on camera equipment then doesn't open the box for 80 pages.

There is also the matter of her age. While I'm all for a coming-of-age novel set against the oppressively hip background of Brooklyn, N.Y., it's a tough sell when your narrator is 37 years old and thinks she has “ten years max to get her shit together.” Her adamant refusal to grow up and participate in adult relationships is depressing.

“Note to Self” leaves readers hungry for something authentic. While Anna believes “that was what she and Taj had in common: they were real people,” it isn't true. Simone was more concerned with producing an edgy, ironic novel than fully-rendered characters. In this manner, she succeeds; but readers looking for something real will have to keep searching.