Bumbling Into Body Hair - A Review

Title: Bumbling into Body Hair: A Transsexual's Memoir

Author: Everett Maroon

Release Date: March 15, 2012

Format/Page Count: Kindle/250

Publisher: Booktrope Editions

Purchased: AMAZON

Synopsis:

A comical memoir about a klutz's sex change, Bumbling into Body Hair shows how a sense of humor - and true love - can triumph over hair disasters, resurrected breasts, and even the most crippling self-doubt. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: This is another 'found it on Twitter' book. (-: I actually found Everett Maroon on Twitter. I had a good sense of his voice from his tweets. I guess I just knew I would like his writing. Call it a hunch. High expectation for this book.

REVIEW:

“I was Jenifer, and now I’m Everett,” I said. I stifled the urge to say, “Ta da!” ~ Everett Maroon, Bumbling into Body Hair

Every once in a while, a book will come along that has it all. The story is engaging and poignant and the writing is beautiful and the writer’s sense of humour is the icing on the cake. Bumbling into Body Hair is one of those books. From page one, I was fully engaged. Maroon’s wonderful sense of humour came through as strongly as his beautiful, lyrical prose.

A memoir, Bumbling into Body Hair is the story of Everett’s transition from Jenifer. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a story of family, work environments, friendships—lost and won, acceptance and letting go…and the myriad of emotions and struggles that come with each one of these things. It’s a human story—a story of strength and fear, courage and challenge. And love.

We all want to belong. We all want to be stable and emotionally happy. And we hope our family and friends want the same things for us that we ourselves want. Maroon showed us what happens when these things don’t align and when they do. Seeing his family adapt to Everett was touching and at times deeply poignant. I loved that he allowed us in to witness the way his mother tried so hard to make Everett know she was proud of him and loved him. There were no walls of protection between Everett, his family and friends and the reader. We were allowed to see the good, the bad and the ugly. And even the ugly was delivered with the same finesse and wonderful sense of humour as the rest of the story. This made the punches slightly less painful, in some way, but no less poignant.

Reading about Everett’s milestones throughout the process was wonderful. As a reader, I was ecstatic when Robyn came into Everett’s life. I believe the right people show up at the right time. This was never truer than when Everett came across this angel of a therapist who basically showed him how to blossom and be himself. The little moments when co-workers and family showed him small kindnesses that pretty much brought me to tears were so heart-warming. “I left for lunch and walked back to my office barely twenty minutes later. Fatima had changed the name plate outside my door to read Everett Maroon. Touched by the thought, I also liked how it looked and put my hand on the sign as if Fatima would sense me thanking her from the other building.” Moments like that make this story SO worth the read.

This is not a story without villains (see ‘the ugly’ mentioned above). My anger was palpable when Everett explained some of the scenes he had with his ex, Pat. I kept waiting for even a small clue that there was some redeeming quality to this bully of a person…but I never did see it. Perhaps what redeemed him in the end was that Everett was able to wash his hands of him. As a reader, I was HAPPY to see him go. Without his exit, we would not have seen Everett's relationship with the lovely Susanne...the girl he would eventually marry. And Jeffrey. I still find myself hoping that he eventually came around. The dynamic Everett shared with him seemed real, palpable. That it ended badly seemed like such a waste of a valuable friendship to me. Jeffrey’s stubbornness in the situation was infuriating. To hold Everett accountable at such a huge turning-point moment in his life was unacceptable to me. I kept hoping he would come to his senses.

Every large transition a person goes through is bound to have supporters and naysayers. This look into the transition of Jenifer into Everett, and the life-story in which it is enshrouded, is such a lovely one. The reader had the opportunity to see Everett grow into the person he somehow always knew he was, while at the same time coming into his own in the business world and finding a woman to love along the way. This was Everett’s story, but it could have been anyone’s. We all have families, co-workers, friends. Some—well, we know we can only count on them for so much. While others—they’re in for the long haul. They only want what everybody should want—for their loved ones to find happiness. This was an exquisite story (exquisitely written) of one man and his slightly hilarious, often poignant road to happiness.

Expectation: This SO exceeded my expectations. I expected a funny read and a touching one...but not such a deep experience. The prose in this book was beautiful. Maroon has a wonderful voice and I hope to one day see it dabble in fiction. (-: Go and get this book now! I guarantee you will love it!

Size: 5 (1/2)

The Perfect Order of Things - Review

Title: The Perfect Order of Things

Author: David Gilmour

Release Date: August 27, 2011

Format/Page Count: Hard Cover/224 Pages

Publisher: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd

Purchased: From the Publisher, through the Ontario Writers' Conference.

Available at Amazon: The Perfect Order of Things

Synopsis:  Like a tourist visiting his own life, David Gilmour’s narrator journeys in time to re-examine those critical moments that created him. He revisits the terrible hurt of a first love, the shock of a parent’s suicide, the trauma of a best friend’s bizarre dissembling, and the pain and humiliation of unrelenting jealousy, among other rites of passage.

In fact, here is the narrator of David Gilmour’s previous novels writing his own fictional autobiography in a dazzling cavalcade of stories that punctuate a life passionately lived and loved. Set within an episodic narrative arc, here are stories about the profound effect of Tolstoy, of the Beatles, of the cult of celebrity, of the delusion of drugs, and of the literary life on the winding road of the narrator’s progress.

This compelling and deeply interesting picaresque novel is a creative tour de force from the hand of one our master story-tellers. The Perfect Order of Things breaks new fictional ground and is an astonishing story of a life lived fully and with breathtaking passion. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: I love David Gilmour...plain and simple. I 'get' his words. I have not yet found a Gilmour I didn't like love. My expectation for this title was extremely high. When you adore an author, there is always the fear that you will read one of their works and think, 'what were they thinking!?' So, I went into The Perfect Order of Things with a high expectation...I was excited to be entering Gilmour's head again, and slightly nervous that this would be the book I didn't 'get'.

Market/Genre: Adult/Literary

Review:

As much as this is a work of fiction, David Gilmour can be gleaned in every sentence. This beautiful story is a trail of breadcrumbs that brings us to the author himself.

Gilmour’s first person narrator walks the reader of The Perfect Order of Things through a complex, well-lived life of a man always on the brink of the brink. We are treated to the narrator’s great loves, including Tolstoy and the Beatles, and we learn how these loves altered and enriched his life. We listen in as he walks us through the calamity of errors that go into making up his wondrous life and we wonder at the fact that he is still with us to tell the story.

This is a remarkable look at a man split open and vulnerable. The reader will delight in the way the stories of the narrator’s life are told. He is able to see the humour in each of his falls and he is able to mock himself and give us a clear unbiased look into his most inner thoughts as he maps out the fractured route of destruction taken through his remarkable and ordinary life.

Be prepared for honesty! You will see a small, bitter man being a wallflower at parties of the rich and famous and you’ll be able to listen to his inner thoughts and get a glimpse into just how fragile he is when he points out the flaws of the flawless people around him. He’ll give you glimpses into his parenting skills, his lust for beautiful women, his lust for accolades and fanfare. He’ll show you his broken friendship with a man more on the brink than he himself. And he’ll show you a small pathetic man who tries to recapture the places of his youth with a failure so ripe you can smell it!

David Gilmour’s writing is simply beautiful. For me, nothing comes close to beating it. He may be his generation’s most gorgeous wordsmith. And I constantly feel that he is underrated. Even by myself. I don’t think about Gilmour between his books. When I hear that another book is on the shelves, I think to myself that I must pick it up. And then, maybe six or eight or ten months later I will get it. And then I will read it…and I will die a million deaths from the beauty I discover within its pages.

The Perfect Order of Things is a look into the seedy underbelly of the mindscape of a human being. It’s simply a vulnerable view of a vulnerable man…an honest retelling of a man’s life and a man’s mistakes. And a man’s passions. I would recommend The Perfect Order of Things to anybody.

Expectation: This book is one I closed and held close to my heart when I was finished. Some writers can show us the summation of a life with a beautiful flare that makes us believe in that life. Gilmour is one of those writers.

Size: 5 (1/2)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Review

Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

Release Date: March 7, 2005

Format/Page Count: Paperback, 368 pages

Publisher: Penguin

Purchased: Christmas present (-:



Synopsis: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey. (FROM GOODREADS)


Expectation: Finally getting to this book was a long journey. And somewhat confusing. I picked it up about 10-20 times over the years. I read the synopsis. I thought I would enjoy the story. I put it down. Just before Christmas, I actually picked it up and read the first paragraph. I don't know why I didn't do that earlier. It was like I was fighting against reading this book. After reading the first paragraph, though...I knew I was destined to read it and love it. Expectation was low for years and years...and rose to a crescendo about a month ago.

Market/Genre: Adult/Contemporary


Review: 



'What about a teakettle? What if the spout opened and closed when the steam came out, so it would become a mouth, and it could whistle pretty melodies, or do Shakespeare, or just crack up with me? I could invent a teakettle that reads in Dad's voice, so I could fall asleep, or maybe a set of kettles that sings the chorus of "Yellow Submarine", which is a song by the Beatles, who I love, because entomology is one of my raisons d'etre, which is a French expression that I know. Another good thing is that I could train my anus to talk when I farted. If I wanted to be extremely hilarious, I'd train it to say, "Wasn't me!" every time I made an incredibly bad fart. And if I ever made an incredibly bad fart in the Hall of Mirrors, which is in Versailles, which is outside of Paris, obviously, my anus would say, "Ce n'etais pas moi!"

So begins this glorious tale that should be incredibly sad but somehow lifts you up like a balloon and takes you, smiling, into the wonderful world of Oskar Schell!

As I said, I really fell in love with this book somewhere within the first paragraph. It makes you catch your breath...forces you to keep reminding yourself to breathe.

This is a post-911 tale. The precocious 'main' narrator, Oskar Schell, is a wonder. I found him so whimsical and honest that I made the statement, "This is my new favourite book" the second I finished reading it. Oskar thinks outside the box. He sees the world in a unique way, but he doesn't leave the reader in the dust. He takes you with him.

I don't want to say much about the story-line of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...as the movie will be released this month. Some may be reading it soon or watching it soon. I'll just say that it was pure delight, through and through. It was heart-wrenching and joyous. You will laugh and you will cry.

Oskar is on a mission...to be closer to his father, who passed away when one of the towers collapsed on 9/11. He wants his words, his spirit, his touch...anything. Listening to his father's last recordings on the home phone is not enough. He wants one last adventure with his father. One last scavenger hunt, like the ones his father used to send him on.

When Oskar finds a key in a vase in his father's closet, while looking for things to touch and smell to get closer to the man he misses, he decides it is part of a scavenger hunt his father planned out before he died. Following the clues he assumes to be there, he ends up digging for treasure in Central Park, searching for all the people in New York City with the surname BLACK and searching for the one lock in all of New York that his key will open...the one lock out of the hundreds and thousands of locks that are waiting to be opened.

Along with Oskar's journey, the reader is also shown the complicated and intriguing story of his grandparents. There are several threads trailing out from the onset of the book...and one is never quite sure how they will be woven together. But Safran Foer does an incredible job bringing the reader there...to that magical place where all is intricately woven together in a lovely mosaic that will leave the reader sighing with contentment at the end.

I love quirky and I love emotional and I love a narrative that takes me so deep that the line between narrator and reader gets all squiggly and blurred. Safran Foer does this with EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE. This is a book I will revisit time and again. It's simply beautiful. It's a heart-song born from a tragedy. And to think this is just one imaginary boy's post-911 experience. There are so many stories out there surrounding this tragedy. This fictional account will leave you breathless and wondering... 

SIZE: 5

Expectation was exceeded in the first few pages.

Taking Lessons from Ernest - Review

Title: Taking Lessons From Ernest

Author: TRISH STEWART

Release Date: December, 2011

Format/Page Count: Paperback, 252 pages

Publisher: Writers Amuse Me Publishing

Purchased: Directly from the publisher

Full Disclosure: Trish Stewart is a writer friend. Our paths first crossed at Absolute Write. We share a love of poetry, A Moveable Feast and writing style. I read a first draft of Taking Lessons from Ernest a few years back. This review is of a friend's book...but it is an honest non-biased review of a book I love.

Synopsis:
His job is unfulfilling, his girlfriend controlling, his family has disowned him, and a loan shark is circling: Eric Bastien's life is a mess. Then, as a work day ends on a high, his love life hits the skids, and he gets the phone call from his estranged mother that changes everything. "Your father's dead." Life hands Eric a great opportunity, an awkward family reunion, and an ultimatum --  if he wants his inheritance, he has to take a road trip to see his father's old Army buddy, Oliver. For most, it would be no problem. Hop in the car, placate the family, get your money: no problem. Then again, you have not met Eric, have you? Armed with his father's journal and a first edition of Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, Eric decides to make amends to his family and get his life back on track. What he doesn't expect is to have Ernest Hemingway's ghost along for the ride. With intentions of helping Eric get it right, Hemingway manages to complicate the situation, resulting in an unforgettable road trip. Help comes in many forms. In this case, it is Hemingway's ghost who is determined to make Eric's first draft at life a good one. With any luck, he'll succeed before Eric loses a kneecap. (FROM PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE)

Expectation: Extremely high. I was dying to read this finished version of TLFE, ever since I read the amazing first draft!

Market/Genre: Adult/Literary

Review: 

Taking Lessons from Ernest is one of those books you just want to read out loud. The first paragraph had me gushing with sentiment. I had to read it to my wife. Twice. “Listen to this! Just listen to this!” It’s that kind of book.

Trish Stewart has created the quintessential MEDIOCRITY KING in her main character, Eric Bastien. Eric bumbles through life, unable to cling to any significance whatsoever. From the onset of the story, I found myself rooting for him…but I still don’t know why I did. He is just one of those souls who slips through the cracks of life. He had no passion, no drive, no commitment.

Or maybe, just maybe, that’s what the author of TAKING LESSONS FROM ERNEST wants you to believe. Maybe the story is a journey back to the passion and commitment that LIFE burned out of Eric Bastien. Stewart shows Eric how to get back to his paused life through a wonderful journey filled with the ghost of Ernest Hemingway and the guidance of his own estranged father. And through that journey, the reader can also feel themselves growing. We walk hand in hand with Eric. We get angry when he takes a step backwards, and we revel in every step forward.

Taking Lessons from Ernest is a unique look into the dangerous slide into mediocrity that each and every one of us is capable of making…and a warning to prevent us from doing so.

When Eric’s father dies, Eric is sent on a road-trip to find Oliver Crowe. Crowe was an army buddy of Daniel’s…and has obviously greatly impacted his life. Crowe was larger than life…wonderful in every way. But life has a knack of finding those mythical characters from our youth and eating away at them, making them less. Eric is not impressed with what he finds at the end of the path to Oliver Crowe. But his real journey just begins there.

In life, Daniel was no longer speaking to his estranged son…but in death he has a well mapped plan for Eric. He can—with the help of a seemingly wild goose chase with the accompaniment of A MOVEABLE FEAST and his journals from his time in the army—give Eric a journey back to the self he left behind in the chaos that has become his life.

And us, lucky readers, are along for the ride. We see Eric discovering a kinder gentler father through reading his journals. We see him aching with adoration as he makes his way through Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast and we see him itching to discover just what his father wanted him to learn through his pre-planned post-mortem intervention into his son’s life. But what we also see is Eric’s complete reluctance to succumb to the lessons. This is what we love…the struggle, the pull to refuse the light into his discombobulated life. We read on because we want him to melt, we want him to take the opportunity for growth that his dead father is giving him.

This is a story of redemption. Not only is it a strong story of personal growth, it’s also one of those novels you stumble across once in a long while where you want to quote these beautiful lines of wisdom. Stewart is a fine writer. Her poetic wisdom comes through in her narrative. I think we’ll be seeing more of her. Her melodic prose is the true gift of this novel…not to mention the lessons given to the reader through the solid plotline from mediocrity to…well, something better. Stewart’s love of Hemingway comes through in every word. Through the use of his ghost as Eric’s mentor along the journey, she does a huge honour to his memory. Here’s to Eric Bastien…and here’s to Trish Stewart.

SIZE: 5

Expectation was met in spades. This book makes me want to be a better person. Stewart definitely accomplished what she set out to do with this novel! Bravo.