Cringe

I came across Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas edited by Sarah Brown while browsing through the library catalog the other day. This is a companion book to the Cringe live performances. You know, people getting on stage to read embarrassing bits from their teenage diaries.

It's the same idea as Mortified... I really couldn't tell you what makes each project unique. But I recently saw a snippet of a Mortified performance on This American Life (tv version), and hope to go to a live show soon... so I was kinda excited for Cringe.

I was maybe too excited... at a few points I found myself struggling to read the handwriting of middle schoolers (too much like my day job) and skimming over the entries. That being said... it is funny. You will definitely cringe.

Like this little bit of a love poem written to impress a girl:
"I wish I could be your maxi-pad / Behind which you hide your prize." WTF?

or the love letter addressed to: "The face that launched my bicycle many times."

and the treasured bits taken from a series of entries over the course of a summer:

"June 28th 1991. This morning I met the other CITs. One of them is named Laura. She has some Jewish last name I can't remember. Also, I think she's got double C cups. They're huge.

July 23rd 1991 ... I didn't really sleep much which is good because otherwise I might have had a wet dream and that would be really embarrassing to clean out of a sleeping bag."

Recommendation: Much less painful than actually reading through your own teenage diary but find it at your local library, not the bookstore.

Criss Cross

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins was my ninth read for the Young Adult Challenge. I loved it. I would have read it in one sitting if trivial little things like cooking dinner hadn't of gotten in the way. It was one of those books where you tell yourself you'll just read for 30 more minutes... but those 30 minutes only feel like 5, so you keep going. And then you've read so far you might as well just finish the book... Good.

The story swirls around a group of friends who are 14 with Debbie getting the most page time (Hector in second). Debbie wishes for something good to happen to her. Hector is learning guitar. Both are entertaining their first exchanges with love as well as realizing subtle changes in their friendships. I'm struggling to explain the plot because I want to do it justice. It's hard to describe authentic characters who are not purposefully tied down to gimmicks.

You'll probably just have to read it.

(Note: I'd place this book on the border of Middle Reader / Young Adult.)

Recommendation: There's a reason it won a Newberry.

The Wordy Shipmates

I love Sarah Vowell. Sadly, her latest book, The Wordy Shipmates, is now known to me as "Strike Two for Favorite Writers Disappointing Me Lately." (The first being Sedaris). Perhaps I should blame the build up and not the actual book. I've been waiting for this release for at least a year. I've listened to excerpts on This American Life. I was even the first person to check the book out of the library for goodness sakes! As someone who rarely ventures into the territory of brand new books, that's kinda a big deal. But still.

The Wordy Shipmates is all about those crazy Puritans that came to the New World in the 1630s. Vowell purposely chooses to focus on the Puritans of post-Pilgrim/Thanksgiving days, and pre-Witch/Extra-Crazy days. And really, I approve of her subject. And I like history too. But what I realized I really like about Vowell's writing is all the personal stuff she squeezes in between the historical factoids. It's lacking in this book. (Although I did enjoy knowing she wore ballet flats in the snow while seeking out the site of John Winthrop's house.)

In short, the good bits of the book were already featured on This American Life's "What I Learned From Television" episode. Other interesting bits include the few pages about the Pequot War and Anne Hutchison. The rest of the time I was trying to keep track of each stuffy player in early American history.

Recommendation: If you're a Sarah Vowell fan, I can't stop you from reading it (because you still should), if you're just getting to know her... start with Assassination Vacation.

Geek Love

Three years ago I saw a girl from my statistics class on the bus reading Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. As the quarter progressed and we became friendly, I realized she was a girl with unique interests and tastes... and she always complimented my tights. I haven't seen her in years but her book on the bus that day has been camping in the back of my mind.

Geek Love is one of those books that makes you wonder about the author. Like, what would it be like to have Dunn over for dinner? How is her house decorated? Does she have children? Because really, this book is messed up. And good. I mean, there's a reason it was a finalist for the National Book Award.

The Binewski family is the talent behind the famous Fabulon traveling carnival/freak show. Al Binewski orders his wife Lily on a regimented diet of drugs during pregnancy in order to expertly craft a child with deformities. In other words, the next showstopper. If the baby looks like a norm, the baby goes and the process repeats. You can see how the set up here boggles the mind.

The story is told through Olympia Binewski, an albino hunchback dwarf, as she looks back in time to muster the courage and explain her need to save her "orphaned" daughter. She plays back the events in her life that changed her safe and loving home into the nightmare of a fanatic cult devoted to her older brother Arty, who is without arms and legs and instead has finlike apendages.

It's sort of hard to explain. Let's call it... dysfunctional family with a fantasy carnival destructive twist.

Recommendation: Just go with it.