The First Bad Man

The First Bad Man Miranda July 4/5	Publication Date: January 13th, 2015 First Sentence "I drove to the doctor's office as if I was starring in a movie Phillip was watching - windows down, just one hand on the wheel."
Publisher's Description: From the acclaimed filmmaker, artist, and bestselling author of "No One Belongs Here More Than You," a spectacular debut novel that is so heartbreaking, so dirty, so tender, so funny--so Miranda July--readers will be blown away. Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people's babies. Cheryl is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women's self-defense non-profit where she works. She believes they've been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one. When Cheryl's bosses ask if their twenty-one-year-old daughter Clee can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl's eccentrically-ordered world explodes. And yet it is Clee--the selfish, cruel blond bombshell--who bullies Cheryl into reality and, unexpectedly, provides her the love of a lifetime. Tender, gripping, slyly hilarious, infused with raging sexual fantasies and fierce maternal love, Miranda July's first novel confirms her as a spectacularly original, iconic and important voice today, and a writer for all time. "The First Bad Man" is dazzling, disorienting, and unforgettable.
Dear Reader, I had NO expectations going into this book, nor did I know much about it since it was placed in my lap to review. Sometimes I think this helps and more often than not, this is how I discover new Authors I end up loving. I'm not overly gaga towards Miranda July after this, but I might be a little starry eyed if I see her in person. Let me explain, the plot of this book was little more than "meh" (with a shrug of your shoulders). So why am I rating it so high? Good question reader! I absolutely LOVE the way July can verbalize on paper the inner thoughts of a person, I'm talking about those deep, down, hidden thoughts.... the ones you probably wouldn't share with your best friend/lover/spouse, THOSE thoughts. Gah, I love when Authors can capture things like that. It makes me remember why I have FAVORITE authors. Funny thing is, I actually bought an "e-book deal" of hers, "No One Belongs Here More Than You" and was planning on reading it... but then I got accepted to read and review this for netgalley. I'm excited to have something else of hers to read sitting on my kindle! Okay, so the deal is... I have to give a disclaimer to all those readers who don't like anything raunchy, sexually explicit and sometimes controversially upsetting, The First Bad Man has all of that. Remember how I said I didn't really like the story? Well let me give you a tiny breakdown and you can decide to risk it or not. The main character, Cheryl, is a middle aged woman, living alone in a tidy organized apartment and works at a very productive office. One day the owners of the company ask if someone can take in their daughter, who is trying to find her way in life via acting. This task ultimately ends up in Cheryl's lap and this ends up "literally" the case... in her lap (wink, wink... if you know what I mean). So Cheryl has her life turned upside down with this creatures crazy unsanitary ways and ultimately we get to see Cheryl grow into someone different and more tolerable of everything around her. I'm still not sure if she was happier the way before or after, that would be fun to discuss. The best parts of the book are entwined in the language and writing Miranda July intricately plucks out... right out of our brains. I don't know how to explain it, maybe I should hire her to explain it for me, ha! I believe everyone has quirky habits and sides of themselves they don't want to share with anyone, but I also believe some people let a little bit of that out and then you get those sideways looks from people... the ones that whisper "what's wrong with her?" "Why is she acting so abnormally?". I want to scream at them, NORMAL?!? What the heck is normal? Who decides this and why do we as society suppress others to tone down this "quirky" "socially rejected" behavior??! I ask everyone to stand up tall, read Miranda July and unleash your quirky self (at least for a day). Should you read this book? I dunno, the better question is, will you unleash your inner thoughts willingly? ;) Happy Reading, AmberBug P.S. - I think the style (or lack thereof) of the cover is her thing? The other book I bought of hers is a yellow cover with black writing.

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In One Person

In One Person John Irving 4/5	Published 2012 First Sentence "I'm going to begin by telling you about Miss Frost."
Publisher's Description: "His most daringly political, sexually transgressive, and moving novel in well over a decade" (Vanity Fair).   Winner of a 2013 Lambda Literary Award   A New York Times bestselling novel of desire, secrecy, and sexual identity, In One Person is a story of unfulfilled love—tormented, funny, and affecting—and an impassioned embrace of our sexual differences. Billy, the bisexual narrator and main character of In One Person, tells the tragicomic story (lasting more than half a century) of his life as a "sexual suspect," a phrase first used by John Irving in 1978 in his landmark novel of "terminal cases," The World According to Garp.
Dear Reader, John Irving has done it again! If you've read Irving before, you know what to expect and this didn't disappoint. Irving brings us a little closer to sexuality with this one, it's a little more "in your face" without hiding it within. He tells the story from the perspective of Billy, a bisexual growing up in Vermont during that time when sexuality was being questioned more than ever. Billy attends an all male school with a step father who teaches the drama class there. His Grandfather is a somewhat closeted cross-dresser (mostly cross-dressing in the Shakespeare plays the school puts on). All around him he has signs that his family is inclined to be somewhat "different" and during this time he starts figuring out his own bisexuality. Apparently, Irving has openly admitted to having crushes on his male schoolmates and this is where the idea of the book came from. I've always wondered what Irving's sexuality was like since he focuses his books on many controversial sexual related topics. He doesn't state outright that he is bisexual, he does live with his wife in one of his three homes of Toronto, Vermont and Pointe au Baril. I love that he writes what he knows and uses his own experiences in his books. He has a creative mind but the realistic characters come out so vividly, they must be modeled from people he has known. Getting back to the story, we follow Billy to New York City during the AIDS epidemic and this section of the book was extremely upsetting and sad. During the 80's, AIDS became so prevalent that sometimes you didn't know someone was LGBT until they started dying from the disease (THIS is when they would or had to come out of the closet). I can't imagine what it would have been like to have all your close friends dropping off like flies from this virus. The main character, Billy, even emotes how awful he feels when people ask if he is sick and he has to reply that he isn't. To feel guilt from not catching the virus, that thought amazed me but when I put myself in his shoes... I started to realize that I would have felt the same way. I think the title of this book is a reflection on how people can have more than "one" person inside of us. How one person can be so many things, why must we narrow it down? Why can't we love people for people and not for what gender they are. Why must we classify ourselves as female or male? Isn't it true that we have characteristics of both, how many times have you heard someone say that they are "Metro" or a "Tom Boy"? This is only a step or two from dressing a different way or trying out a different style. I'm happy we've come this far but this book just made me want to scream at how far we have to go. If you take away anything from this book... take this... Love people or don't love people but don't hate those who love people. Enough said! Happy Reading, AmberBug

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