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Uncommonly Normal
Uncommonly A Novel Pretty Much Like Any Other
You might think it an easy task to be normal. Lots of folks are average-type people, living average-looking lives.
Plenty of us manage to trudge from birth to death without earning worldwide fame, without striking it rich, without landing that dream job, without being too joyful or too dejected -- in short, without standing out from the crowd.
Normal, average, regular behavior ought to come naturally in a society that encourages fitting in at every turn. Glorifies it, even, at times.
But what if you were obsessed with experiencing normalcy in all daily situations? What if you made your decisions by compulsively seeking out a culturally median outcome? Every time?
Then you'd be our main character.
Along the way, you'd receive assistance from your best friend, who is very much not like other best friends. He's snarky, wise, he likes to steal the show, and he can pull a supernatural stunt when the occasion calls for it.
Which is fine. You're trying to be uncommonly normal, anyway.
Trying, at least.
In this irreverent look at American culture, author John Fraley takes aim at whatever and whoever deserves it. Although maybe trying to be normal isn't always all that bad, it turns out.
You might think it an easy task to be normal. Lots of folks are average-type people, living average-looking lives.
Plenty of us manage to trudge from birth to death without earning worldwide fame, without striking it rich, without landing that dream job, without being too joyful or too dejected -- in short, without standing out from the crowd.
Normal, average, regular behavior ought to come naturally in a society that encourages fitting in at every turn. Glorifies it, even, at times.
But what if you were obsessed with experiencing normalcy in all daily situations? What if you made your decisions by compulsively seeking out a culturally median outcome? Every time?
Then you'd be our main character.
Along the way, you'd receive assistance from your best friend, who is very much not like other best friends. He's snarky, wise, he likes to steal the show, and he can pull a supernatural stunt when the occasion calls for it.
Which is fine. You're trying to be uncommonly normal, anyway.
Trying, at least.
In this irreverent look at American culture, author John Fraley takes aim at whatever and whoever deserves it. Although maybe trying to be normal isn't always all that bad, it turns out.
130 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2011
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September 13, 2011
An interesting debut novella! The tone of the book was vaguely reminiscent of Christopher Moors but at the same time had a style all its own. My only critique would be that there felt like there were areas where plots and characters could be further developed, were it a longer novel. But being left wanting more isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Displaying 1 of 1 review