What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
So, I'm currently on the Megabus. As I'm starting this post, we are stopped in Milwaukee. Earlier during this bus ride, I read the entirety What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (also PAUSE we just left Milwaukee and I have my own two seats, YESSSS).This was one of the books at our house that I'd picked up for a bit of a lighter read (I'm still reading [or not reading, as the case may be] that other urban planning book). SADLY, books with covers like this one (see below), ones that feature women on them, are usually "lighter reads," so I just assumed that and grabbed it to provide a contrast to my denser book. It's a well-loved edition that sports a very old Goodwill price tag and a lot of water damage.Turns out, this book I knew nothing about was a selection for Oprah's Book Club and was written by Pearl Cleage, quite a famous African-American playwright and author (not that I'd heard of her at the time). I liked the book and it was a great bus read, but not quite your classic "chick lit" (blegh) as I had assumed; no regrets.The book focuses on a woman who, having recently found out she is HIV positive, closes a salon she was running in Atlanta and returns to her childhood hometown: Idlewild, Michigan. I'd heard of Idlewild before but didn't know much; it used to be called a "black paradise," as African-Americans were able to stay in the resorts there, but once other resorts opened to African Americans, the town struggled. Ava, our protagonist, intends to stay with her sister Joyce for the summer before heading off to San Francisco and some unknown future, as she is struggling with her diagnosis.Joyce is probably the star of the book - having lost all of her family besides Ava, including a husband and children, to tragic ends, she is now a retired social worker trying to keep the young people of the town together and well. She organizes the young mothers at church to put together a nursery for Sunday mornings, and along the way, teaches them about condoms and self-respect (okay, that sounds corny, but she is quite inspiring).Young black masculinity is one of the main themes of the book, interesting as the two main characters are black women. Cleage's characters are all flawed and mostly horrible - they do awful things, though you do know they are the worst examples and there are certainly better characters as well - but the social environment is also a main theme, such as the closing of factories in Detroit (and this was written how long ago...). It was interesting for me to read Cleage's meditations on the topic, and I hope to read more of her writing in the future.Of course, in the novel, Ava also finds love, which brings us the last line of the novel: "...because by now we were all old enough to know that what looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight." A bit too gimmicky for me, but I think they liked titling books like that in the 90s. If it came out now it would probably be called something like Positivity.I liked it a ton! I learned a lot by reading it. It was a quick read, too. Definitely recommend. I guess the discussions of sex, drugs, etc. probably make it most appropriate for high school and up. Very meditative and thoughtful.
Told in the first person, main character Ava Johnson returns to her hometown of Idlewild, Michigan. Ava up until recently lived in Atlanta, GA. However, after finding out that she is HIV positive, she ends up having to shut down her business after losing customers when her status is found out.Ava is blunt, funny, and at times sad when she reminisces about growing up/being raised by her older sister and brother in law. Ava has plans to stay with her sister for just the summer before heading to San Francisco to live. She feels like her HIV status there won't be a problem and she can start anew. However, returning home brings its own trials and tribulations. Besides Ava, we have her big sister Joyce, their long-time friend Eddie, and a whole cast of younger women that live in Idlewild trying to do what they can to get by raising their young children. I liked the character of Joyce, who even though her own life had been hit with non-stop tragedy, was still doing what she could to make things better for those around her.You have Joyce doing her best to bring a sense of order to Idlewild by heading up her group that talks to young mothers about safe sex and how to protect themselves from assault. I come from a small town that reminds me of Idlewild. No it, not solely black. However, the town is dying. It physically hurts me when I go home these days, because the houses that used to be full of parents and kids are now all boarded up. We have a large amount of crime and drug use is through the roof. It used to be that I could walk anywhere I wanted and I would know everyone and everyone would know me. Now there are strangers in every house that I pass, and most of them would not think twice about trying to rob me if they think I have anything expensive on me. It makes you sad to think of a place that was so alive starting to fall into disrepair. Idlewild is very much a town like this and to see all of the characters trying to do their best to keep the place alive feels frustrating since you know that they are not going to be able to do much to stem the tide. I thought that Ms. Cleage's writing style was effortless. Everything flowed together so nicely that I found myself reading and reading and reading without taking breaks. In one sentence you would have something heart breaking said by Ava or another character, and in the next I would find something so funny that I would laugh out loud. The setting of Idlewild comes alive to you and you can picture every house, the lake, the people in your head as you read. I thought that the ending was perfect and I was surprised to see that there was a sequel to this book, I Wish I Had a Red Dress (Idlewild #2). When I get some more free reading time, I will definitely read this sequel to see what happens to Ava, Joyce, Eddie, and everyone else in Idlewild, I Wish I Had a Red Dress (Idlewild #2). “What looks like crazy on an ordinary day looks looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight.”
What do You think about What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day (1998)?
Not sure about this one. Started off boring enough to make me fall sleep. I knew it being an Oprah book I wouldn't be all about it. The story clunked along with not much to go on. It was very predictable, even in a world I'm not part of. I knew on every turn what was going to happen. Then the end happened....what the hell kind of ending was that? I felt like it just stopped. I don't like when the epilogues explain quickly what should have been explained in more chapters. That bugged me. All of the writing was surface/generic. I didn't "care" about the characters...(except that poor baby at the end). It seemed like the author just wanted to get the story out there and didn't want to build on the characters except to tell you why they were/weren't bad.It was a quick read anyway. :)
—Elvia
I loved this book. I found it in an op shop and loved the title so thought I'd give it a go, and I neglected my kids for a few hours because I couldn't put it down! I really liked how it was written, I really liked Ava and Joyce and have a bit of a crush on Eddie, partly because I have a bit of a weakness for dreads, but also because he sounds so much more well-rounded and normal than any man I know (except my dad of course!). I felt the last bit was a bit rushed, I didn't want to book to end, a
—Anna
This review is several months overdue, but here are a few thoughts.This was a quick and interesting read, but I'm not sure that it deserves the acclaim that many readers have offered. The story is filled with lots of unrealistic drama that takes away from the very real and human story at its core. Ada's struggle as a woman recently diagnosed with HIV becomes essentially buried as a love interest, an abandoned child, delinquent teenagers, lies within the church, crack addiction, and custody issues all try to crowd into the relatively short book. I also felt that Joyce and Eddie's characters were quite static, with only a terse attempt to develop depth. Overall, this was an OK read, but it doesn't make any of my "best of" lists.
—Leann
