by Jesse Andrews
Publisher: Abrams Books
Publication Date: March 1, 2012
Jesse Andrew’s much-revered debut novel, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL, was the perfect sardonic counterbalance to what seemed like a wave of “fake-deep” books about illnesses that seemed to not only populate the 2012 bookshelves, but dominate them. It isn’t hard to describe the essential Early 2010’s Cancer Book; a main character has an illness, a romance ensues, a life lesson is learned, and none of them are over the age of 19. Allow me to tell you why ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is different: it acknowledges that its characters are teenagers.
Greg Gaines, the protagonist, doesn’t speak like some third-rate philosopher; he’s funny, he’s selfish, he’s flawed; Greg is a real teenager. He doesn’t know how to deal with Rachel, his old childhood friend who he’s only talking to again because she has cancer. He doesn’t even know if he should be dealing with her at all. This imperfection is what makes him such a compelling character. (That, and the fact that he’s hil-ar-ious.)
This ability to tap into the real feelings of teens makes ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL a book that will make you cry tears of laughter, and just cry in general. While it’s familiar in the sense of subject matter, it’s nothing that you’ve ever read before. ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is a book that everyone must read, and trust me, you’ll thank me for suggesting it once you have!
No comments:
Post a Comment