THE INTUITIVE TRACK

A writer combines a memoir with a business motivational guide.

The latest book from Marshall (Solitary Genius, 2011) begins on a personal note. Having graduated from Loyola with a degree in speech pathology, the author was living with friends in Baltimore and feeling at loose ends, seeking a change in her routine. In 1998, she worked up her courage to phone her mother’s cousin Phyllis, a successful casting director in New York City. Phyllis initially advised her to send out a wave of resumes. When that turned up nothing, Phyllis offered Marshall an internship in her casting business. The author moved to New York City and quickly began to learn the talent agency business, then switched to the antiques world, waitressing, and other jobs. From this varied and unpredictable employment history, she derives a series of lessons for her readers. These tips span the spectrum, from the personal (“When someone important in your life is ill with a disease, your day-to-day is simply not that important. They are”) to the philosophical (“Never underestimate the power of a good attitude”) to the professional (“SUCCESS IN ANY JOB REQUIRES ANTICIPATION AND THINKING FIVE STEPS AHEAD”). Marshall stresses that at every stage of her intriguing trajectory in New York City, she was surrounded by smarter people who didn’t get the jobs she did. It was her attitude that helped her to succeed where they failed. The earnestness of these sentiments is effectively conveyed in this wide-ranging work, although readers will notice that the author’s own story sometimes undercuts those ideas. Marshall was simply given her first break; she was able to move to New York because her brother let her stay on his couch; in between jobs, she lived with Phyllis in Larchmont—all advantages that most New York newcomers won’t have. But the author’s clear, general-purpose advice is eminently useful regardless of how she came by it.

A worthy, readable account of one woman’s working and hustling in a half-dozen professions.