The Beautiful Bureaucrat

The Beautiful Bureaucrat Helen Phillips 4/5	Published Aug 2015 First Sentence "The person who interviewed her had no face."
Publisher's Description: In a windowless building in a remote part of town, the newly employed Josephine inputs an endless string of numbers into something known only as "The Database." After a long period of joblessness, she's not inclined to question her fortune, but as the days inch by and the files stack up, Josephine feels increasingly anxious in her surroundings. The office's scarred pinkish walls take on a living quality. The drone of keyboards echoes eerily down the long halls. When one evening her husband Joseph disappears and then returns, offering no explanation as to his whereabouts, her creeping unease shifts decidedly to dread. As other strange events build to a crescendo, the haunting truth about Josephine's work begins to take shape in her mind, even as something powerful is gathering its own form within her. She realizes that in order to save those she holds most dear, she must penetrate an institution whose tentacles seem to extend to every corner of the city and beyond. Both chilling and poignant, The Beautiful Bureaucrat is a novel of rare restraint and imagination. With it, Helen Phillips enters the company of Murakami, Bender, and Atwood as she twists the world we know and shows it back to us full of meaning and wonder-luminous and new.
Dear Reader, What the heck just happened? Should I care? I loved the ride. This story was like a waking dream, an insomniac walking the streets so tired they start to see things that shift, liquify, change into strange. I would have classified this book as magical realism but Goodreads doesn't... what's up with that? Not that Goodreads is the say all for genre classification. Sentences and thoughts such as; "what's it like to eat three hours? She was feeling impish. How do they taste? Like cotton candy or grass or concrete?". If that speaks to you... you'll probably very much enjoy this book. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't hard to get through - some magical realism is SO far out there it's hard to keep interest or balance. This isn't that. Phillips gives us a little lighthearted approach to a dark plot, with characters named, "Trishiffany" and "The Person with Bad Breath". Josephine and Joseph need to find new jobs in this hard hitting economy (the feel is almost apocalyptic or maybe on that verge with no natural disaster). The two both find "bureaucratic" jobs and find places to sleep by renting from temporary furnished apartments (in other words, smelly and filled with someone else's crap). Josephine has the strangest mundane job of inputting numbers into a document on the computer. She is told not to speak of the job with anyone, especially at home ("Fight Club" anyone?!). The Author has a unique way to capture things, which reminded me a little of Miranda July's book "The First Bad Man". Not in plot, but in tone? uniqueness?, she definitely goes a little outside of the box. For example, the main character walks into the girls bathroom and sits on the toilet to pee, another woman walks in and takes the stall next to her. Phillips describes this moment, "an uneasy music, the music of two women peeing side by side..." I mean yes, how perfect is that? You can't deny being in that position and hearing that loud echo of pee hitting the water in the toilet and not be a little self conscious. This is why she reminded me so much of Miranda July, who handled situations similarly in her book. Taking those moments in life you don't want to share with anyone (inner thoughts) and writing them on the written page without discretion. I love that. I'll take more of that please. I can't end this review without mentioning the word play. Josephine has a very strange quirk that grows more prevalent as time passes in the story... she plays with words quite a bit. Sometimes it's anagrams, other times it's something else... but I found it very amusing to read. Speaking of amusing, this is pretty much how I viewed ALL the quirks to the book... amusing. However, there is a very dark theme and purpose to the story that shouldn't be overlooked. I would recommend anyone who flirts with magical realism, likes characters who speak anything that comes to mind and has a very open mind... this one would definitely be for you. Happy Reading, AmberBug P.S. - I received this e-book free from Netgalley/Publisher.

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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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