Genre:
Contemporary Fantasy/Coming of Age/Humor/Drama
Description:
“One
morning 12-year-old Gregory Gourde wakes up in his bed with an
impossible new feature: his head has become a watermelon. We follow
Gregory down a rabbit hole of sorts to a new world and an audacious
exploration of what it really means to be different in this dark yet
humorous nod to Kafka's Metamorphosis and Carroll's Alice in
Wonderland.”
Author:
“Frank
Mundo is a full-time writer in Los Angeles. He has a BA in English
from UCLA, where he also completed the Creative Writing Program. His
stories, poetry, and essays have appeared in dozens of journals,
magazines and anthologies in print and online... Mundo is the author
of the award-winning novel in verse, The
Brubury Tales (foreword
by bestselling author and critic Carolyn See), a modern version of
The Canterbury Tales,
set in Los Angeles; and Gary,
the Four-Eyed Fairy and
Other Stories, an interconnected collection of his very best short
stories published over the last 15 years.”
Appraisal:
Gregory
Gourde certainly does take a trip down the rabbit hole in this dark
fantasy; I felt like he was skating on the edge of madness for most
of this story. Surely this is not what it is like for most boys going
through puberty. But the author’s prose had me convinced that it
had been for him. Frank Mundo does not just throw words at the page
in hopes that they stick. There is much thought put into the words he
chooses and this story will leave you thinking about it long after
you have finished the story. This is the sign of a true wordsmith.
The
story is told through Gregory's eyes with an omniscient narrator who
pops in occasionally to move the story along or fill in past events
of Gregory's life or other characters that played an important role.
This is masterfully handled by the author and gave me a chance to let
things soak in. Gregory is desperately seeking sanity and consistency
despite his dysfunctional family. He is a smart kid and until he
embraces and accepts himself for who he really is things go awry.
Especially when he is told he does not belong in this alternate
reality.
This
was not an easy read for me, I tend to get too involved with the
characters in the stories I read. So when things do not go well for
the characters I have invested in I feel their pain. That is why I
try to stick with fantasy. Gregory's problems are realistic, the
manifestation of his problems are fantasy but certainly real in his
mind.
The
characters are beautifully written and darkly wonderful in their own
way. The plot moves at a nice pace throughout the book. This is a
fantastic journey of self-discovery, and I am glad I survived the
trip as well as Gregory.
FYI:
Adult
language and content. Not for children.
The
artwork included in this story is excellent, it adds a dimension not
usually found in books. I read this on my Paperwhite and the images
came across beautifully.
Added
for Reprise Review:
Different
was a nominee in the Fantasy category for B&P 2014 Readers'
Choice Awards. Original review ran December 31, 2013
Format/Typo
Issues:
I
found no significant errors.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate
word count: 30-35,000
words
4 comments:
Thank you, Wazi and Big Al's Books and Pals for all you do for writers.
Thanks for dropping in, Mr. Mundo. You're welcome. It was time for this review to be shared again. :)
Sounds like a perfect example of a book that would never have seen the light of day if there was still no indie publishing. Yay for indies!
Thanks for commenting, Judi. Mr. Mundo writes with a strong sense of introspection in all of his work. His first love is poetry. The Brubury Tales is a masterful example of his work.
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