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Book cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Book cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Original photo by Sobham Panja
Life > Experiences

The Book That Changed My Life

Brooke Johnpier
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

A couple months back I decided to read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. As much as I loved the book and powered through it easily, I didn’t really feel a connection to the book. That is, until the same thing happened to me. 

Here at St. Bonaventure, I do a weekly article for the campus radio station about a music band or artist. Each week is different, and the artists I do are all over the place in terms of genre, era and just types of people in general. 

For these articles, I also take requests for readers’ favorite artists to be features, or they can just be an artist they like. Whatever the case may be, I take requests for article subjects. My boyfriend gives me a lot of requests, so I do a lot of his favorite artists, including the late, great Jimi Hendrix. 

That article has been by far the most viewed article of mine. Why? I have no idea. It just has been, and this article was also how I got the biggest break of my career. 

One day after my History of Rock and Roll class, I checked my email to find an email from a prior rockstar asking me to write his memoir about his life, and the band he played in back in the day. When I read this, I nearly fainted in the Hickey Dining Hall, but I immediately replied yes. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! 

But, after I said yes and I got my dinner, I sat there and realized that I had literally just finished a book that had this exact same thing happen. 

Out of all the journalists, writers, authors, etc. in the entire world, a small-time journalist from New York City gets picked to write the story of a famous movie star in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I remember when I read it that I thought that that would be really cool to have happen, but never in my wildest dreams would I think it would happen to me. 

But, it did. Out of all the music journalists, writers, autobiographers, biographers and just music people in general, this man picked me to write his story, and I couldn’t be any more grateful. 

Long story short, I feel such a strong connection to the book now. I feel like reading it gave me good luck in a way and possibly set me up for success. I don’t know how I was chosen, but I’m so happy I was, and I’m loving all the work that has been done already. 

My first interview with him was on April 5, and although the transcribing process took four hours, it was so worth it. All the knowledge and stories I got from just that one hour long session were unbelievable. I am so honored to be doing this project. 

In conclusion, St. Bonaventure University is the best school ever for allowing students to get involved from day one, and Taylor Jenkins Reids’ book has officially changed my life forever and is forever my favorite book. 

Here’s to writing, books and the genre of rock and roll! 

Brooke Johnpier is a contributor to the SBU chapter of Her Campus. She writes about the more "manly" topics of the site, including automotive, motorsports, mechanical, technical, DIY, and anything hands-on. Brooke is also using this platform as her personal blog, of which she will talk about more personal things that she feels the world should hear about. Besides Her Campus, Brooke is a part-time motorsports journalist for Speedway Illustrated, a columnist for Race Pro Weekly and Dirt Track Digesr, and a staff writer as well as a social media promoter for The Podium Finish, where she is interning. Brooke is also a writer for TAPinto Greater Olean, WSBU The Buzz, and PolitiFact NY. Brooke is also involved with St. Bonaventure's literary magazine, The Laurel. Brooke is currently a sophomore at St. Bonaventure University where she is majoring in Sports Media with minors in Native American and Indigenous Studies & English. You can also find Brooke working as an assistant in the Koop Lab and upstairs in the office, making her money. In her free time, Brooke loves reading, going to the local racetrack, riding four-wheelers, working on cars, and riding in tractor trailers. Brooke is a music lover, and will talk about most any genre, especially her favorites which are rock and rap. Brooke is also a percussionist, a published author, and a women's rights activist. Brooke is also a member of several lineage organizations, and currently holds a national position in one of them. As well as writing for campus media, Brooke is involved with Faith in Fiction, Jandoli Women in Communication, the History Club, College Democrats, and the Indigenous Student Confederacy. A fun fact about Brooke is that she was the only female to ever be in the top 5% of the Automotive Technology class at the trade school she attended in her junior and senior years of high school.