Review: “undiscovered gyrl, a novel” by Allison Burnett

When I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself:  if it were possible for a book and a film to have a torrid love affair (J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Party Girl, respectively), their offspring might look something like Undiscovered Gyrl.  I was completely engrossed from page one devoured this book in one sitting.  It thrilled me, shocked me, captivated me, and made me laugh—often and out loud!  I have a hunch this book is going to be very, very successful and I sure hope Allison Burnett is adapting it for a screenplay.

The voice of Katie Kampenfelt is so absolutely authentic that it is hard to believe this book is a work of fiction…and that’s a good thing.  Katie is impulsive, witty, naïve, wanton, intelligent and unapologetic.  She decides to defer college for a year to “discover her bliss” and documents that time in a blog…an anonymous blog.  The result is a hauntingly, painfully honest (and hysterically sarcastic) window into her soul.

There’s a broad appeal to Undiscovered Gyrl, it is enjoyable on the surface as YA fiction and yet profound enough to become classic coming of age literature.  This book is funny and entertaining, relatable and relevant.  It flawlessly captures the usual struggles of youth magnified today by the internet, texting, and the other “always available” technologies of this generation.  At a deeper level, it is frank and inadvertently cautionary without being preachy or artificial in any way.  There is one thing that bothered me about this book that unfortunately I cannot discuss without being a spoiler.  I will just say that without that one part, the book is superb, and with it, it’s still a great read with one unfortunate and annoying blemish. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book it is supremely clever and extremely readable.  Bravo, Allison Burnett!

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On Kindles, e-books, and digipublishing…

I do not have an e-reader…yet.  There are a few reasons for that and it’s something I have debated with fellow Amazon Viners (many of whom are Kindle enthusiasts and beg regularly for electronic ARCs).   I am also aware that the Kindle isn’t the only e-reader out there, but it is the only one backed by Amazon and thus a much larger selection of books to choose from.

I love the idea of a Kindle, I really do, and I want to want one.  I’m just not sold on it.  So for starters, let’s talk price, the 2^nd generation Kindle was $350, now it is $300, but even with the price drop…$300, really? (…and the slightly larger Kindle DX is close to $500!)  It’s not a netbook, it doesn’t have wifi, it’s a device to read books on and that is the primary function.  The Kindle is a $300 book shell that has small electronic parts inside of it. Unlike a book, if you drop this thing you might not be able to finish reading that novel you were engulfed in. And for that $300 price tag, it doesn’t even come with any books; you have to buy those separately.

Let’s talk books then, shall we?  I read a lot of non-fiction, I read a lot of niche-type non-fiction…the kind that is necessary but without a huge audience.  These types of reference books would be very, very handy to have on a Kindle all in one place at my fingertips, but the truth is, most of these books just aren’t available for Kindle and I doubt they will be anytime soon if ever. I also find most e-books I’ve come across are around $10, it’s been argued that they are usually much cheaper than that, but I haven’t found that to be the case.   So $10 a book and it holds 1500 books…that is, potentially, $15,000 worth of books, nay—electronic files on a device that has no guarantees.  So what if the Kindle meets the fate of 8 tracks, Betamax, or DIVX?! Then what do you have to show but an unsupported electronic device with a bunch of files on it that will become unusable at some point unless an uber dedicated band of geeks give it a second life (a-hem Sony Aibo)…but I digress.

Currently, the e-book world is a bit at odds with us more old school types, and I think this is primarily because it is presented as an either/or type of thing.  Hey, I love books, real books and that will never change, but I can see the appeal of e-books and could make use of them too. Why not give the e-book with the purchase of the hardback?  Can’t we choose how and when we want to read (and change our minds often)?  Must we pick sides? You may say I’m trying to have my Kindle and read books too. I am.

Finally…if we are going to make that change, why not make the Kindle book-lover friendly.  Was anybody interviewed before they made the prototype (and Kindle 1, and Kindle 2, and Kindle DX), or am I the only person in the world that loves to read in the tub and the pool?!?! Waterproof housing, please. Please? I have, only once, dropped a real book in the water; alas it was a $12 mistake and not a $300 one. Enough said.

To be continued…Part II

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