⋙ [PDF] Clown Girl A Novel Monica Drake Chuck Palahniuk 9780976631156 Books

Clown Girl A Novel Monica Drake Chuck Palahniuk 9780976631156 Books

Download As PDF : Clown Girl A Novel Monica Drake Chuck Palahniuk 9780976631156 Books

Clown Girl A Novel Monica Drake Chuck Palahniuk 9780976631156 Books

I did not expect to like this book; the opening chapter is surprisingly alienating. This is due to the fact that there is so little for a reader to hang onto that resembles anything remotely familiar, and I actually put the book down and read another one after reading that first chapter.

But then I decided to give the book another try, and I'm so glad that I did. The images and emotions evoked merely by the language used is reason enough to read the book. There is always a sense that there is more going on beneath the words on the page than what first appears. The narration of Nita (or Clown Girl) is witty and usually fun to read, and it is this first-person narration that finally drew me in, and once I began caring about what happened to Nita, I was hooked, and willing to accept that this novel is a complete caricature, a representation. It is one of the best-written, original, and satisfying books I have read in a long time, and I recommend it, knowing that the content will not appeal to everyone.

I have one small concern with the way one of the major themes of the novel is presented. Various internal monologues and conversations throughout the book indicate that Nita is coming to terms with the fact that she can make her own choices, that life does not or should not just happen to her.

This idea is presented attractively, if somewhat simplistically. The novel does such a good job of demonstrating (sometimes heavy-handedly) the fallacy of going too far to the opposite extreme-- that some people blame their circumstances and social situations for everything they personally do that is immoral or wrong-- that it ends up ringing somehow slightly false by not acknowledging the role that social life does play in shaping our choices and free will, especially considering the ending. Although, I found the ending and Nita's epiphany extremely empowering, realistically, it is doubtful that it would have occurred if she had not met police officer Jerrod in the opening chapter-- who not only suggested quite strongly several times that she could make different choices, but held himself out as a strong anchor of social support when she was finally ready to do so.

It is difficult to have an option in your range of choices that you are either completely unaware of or do not deem possible. Yet, because the book does not either directly or indirectly acknowledge this, it veers dangerously close to a mentality that, in part, blames victims for their own victimization. Nita is both an empowered actor, and an unfortunate victim, but she is not really given authentic credit for being either.

Despite this intellectual quibble, the book receives my high praise and should be widely read by those who are looking for something a little different.


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Clown Girl A Novel Monica Drake Chuck Palahniuk 9780976631156 Books Reviews

This story was very strange and very engaging. I don't really know how to describe this other than maybe *something* like "rom-com for societal misfits." I heard Kristin Wiig optioned this and I can't wait to see what she can do with it, but I hope it doesn't get watered down for the "straights" of the world.
Even though it was short I loved the time I spent with this book. The frazzled protagonist's daily disarray contrasts with her deep relationships with her rubber chicken, clown man, and the cinnamon cop.
I heard of Clown Girl while looking for something new to read. With Chuck Palahniuk being my favorite writer I of course checked his site recommendations, and there it was. It took me awhile to finally get my hands on but good ole helped me out. When I finally got it I was psyched, even though I knew virtually nothing about it except who the author was and that it was about clowns.

The book summary on the front flap totally misled me as to what the story actually was. I thought that the book was about a town called Baloneytown where everybody was a clown and 'clown girl' was just your average run of the mill clown struggling to keep up with all the other clowns around her. It's actually set in a regular town with regular people, and 'clown girl' is an artist turned clown who lives in a part of town everyone refers to as Baloneytown (because baloney is the best meat anyone in the area can afford) She's doing whatever clown gig comes her way so she can save up the money to send her clown boyfriend to clown college.

The book starts off with 'clown girl' ,or Sniffles, working just another clown gig on the side of the street. She explains how she specializes in religious balloon tying (which shows us how she is trying to do something more artistic rather than clowning with her life) the kids are too demanding, it's too hot, and when she asks for some water she is ignored because clowns aren't supposed to talk. So of course she suffers a heat stroke and falls to the ground leaving everyone, not concerned, but disappointed. (which shows us how badly her life is going) When she is saved by a cinammon scented policeman and taken to the hospital the book starts showing her life as it goes from bad to worse. She developes a strange attraction to the police officer(which is unacceptable in her neighborhood), she does her best to live with her drug dealing ex boyfriend and his new weightlifting girlfriend(though that environment gets worse and worse for her little dog Chance and herself as the new girlfriend developes a hatred for her), she severly injures herself during a private gig(which brings a mysterious "Clownophile" into her life), and her two clown buddies keep pushing her into more corporate gigs(which by the end veers dangerously close to prostitution)

So to conclude, the book is good and that's why I gave it five stars. Even though there isn't a huge plot that unfolds the more you read, if you feel like a goofy, semi-depressing story then I suggest you read Clown Girl. A very good debute by Monika Drake, I hope she hits us with something new in the future. LATE
Full of heart, humour, warmth, quirkiness -- I'm only about three-quarter way through but already I know this is going to be one of those books I reread a thousand times and share with everyone I know.

Bravo, Monica Drake!
I would suggest this to fans of Chuck Pahlaniuk, bizzaro fiction readers and anyone who will give an author they never heard of a chance. I am a woman who doesn't usaully like women authors (its something my sister gives me s*** for), but I love this book.. In middle school it was the beats, high school, Hunter S. Thompson, and Bukowski and sci fi in my early twenties. I had read some reviews, and the intro and gave it a whirl. It took me a chapter to get into it and then I couldn't put it down. I wish I could tell a story so flawlessly.
Clever. Messy. Bizarre. Funny. I was looking for books similar to Chuck Palahniuk. The book turned out great. Disaster character you can't wait to be saved.
I did not expect to like this book; the opening chapter is surprisingly alienating. This is due to the fact that there is so little for a reader to hang onto that resembles anything remotely familiar, and I actually put the book down and read another one after reading that first chapter.

But then I decided to give the book another try, and I'm so glad that I did. The images and emotions evoked merely by the language used is reason enough to read the book. There is always a sense that there is more going on beneath the words on the page than what first appears. The narration of Nita (or Clown Girl) is witty and usually fun to read, and it is this first-person narration that finally drew me in, and once I began caring about what happened to Nita, I was hooked, and willing to accept that this novel is a complete caricature, a representation. It is one of the best-written, original, and satisfying books I have read in a long time, and I recommend it, knowing that the content will not appeal to everyone.

I have one small concern with the way one of the major themes of the novel is presented. Various internal monologues and conversations throughout the book indicate that Nita is coming to terms with the fact that she can make her own choices, that life does not or should not just happen to her.

This idea is presented attractively, if somewhat simplistically. The novel does such a good job of demonstrating (sometimes heavy-handedly) the fallacy of going too far to the opposite extreme-- that some people blame their circumstances and social situations for everything they personally do that is immoral or wrong-- that it ends up ringing somehow slightly false by not acknowledging the role that social life does play in shaping our choices and free will, especially considering the ending. Although, I found the ending and Nita's epiphany extremely empowering, realistically, it is doubtful that it would have occurred if she had not met police officer Jerrod in the opening chapter-- who not only suggested quite strongly several times that she could make different choices, but held himself out as a strong anchor of social support when she was finally ready to do so.

It is difficult to have an option in your range of choices that you are either completely unaware of or do not deem possible. Yet, because the book does not either directly or indirectly acknowledge this, it veers dangerously close to a mentality that, in part, blames victims for their own victimization. Nita is both an empowered actor, and an unfortunate victim, but she is not really given authentic credit for being either.

Despite this intellectual quibble, the book receives my high praise and should be widely read by those who are looking for something a little different.