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Cute Eats Cute
C.B. Murphy's compelling debut novel speaks cautiously with irony and humor to adults and adolescents about embracing black-and-white ideologies that can quickly spiral out of control. Cute Eats Cute (North Star Press, 237 pgs) follows the fragmenting family and the three Eco-Warrior high school friends of the book's 15-year-old narrator, Sam, who is forced to confront the ways and memes of the adult world in all of its many splintered shapes. Set in the BT Before Texting dawn of the 21st century, the novel's major conflict arises when a herd of deer is slated to be culled in a large city park, shifting various factions into hyper-drive as the entire community literally goes up in arms!
Cute Eats Cute the title taken from a speech Sam's dad makes at his high school defending the urban deer hunt encapsulates how animals eat one another for survival and defense. And the food chain never sleeps. The satirical jabs at the men's movement, the deafening but impressionable rhetoric of the gun-toting Christian right group, The Hunters of Men, and the fragile friendship of Sam s school chums (who are each facing down their own personal issues against their blind ecology crusade) all conspire to make Murphy's novel a page-turning delight. But it's not without its carefully constructed messages
Cute Eats Cute the title taken from a speech Sam's dad makes at his high school defending the urban deer hunt encapsulates how animals eat one another for survival and defense. And the food chain never sleeps. The satirical jabs at the men's movement, the deafening but impressionable rhetoric of the gun-toting Christian right group, The Hunters of Men, and the fragile friendship of Sam s school chums (who are each facing down their own personal issues against their blind ecology crusade) all conspire to make Murphy's novel a page-turning delight. But it's not without its carefully constructed messages
318 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
592 people want to read
About the author
C.B. Murphy
10 books410 followersC. B. Murphy is a writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He studied writing with Mark Wisniewski (contributor to 2003 Best Short Stories edited by Salman Rushdie), Linda Lightsey Rice (Southern Exposure), Ian Leask (The Wounded), and Melissa Bank (The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing). In 2005, he received first prize for fiction at the Southhampton College Writers Workshop, judged by Billy Collins (Poetry 180), Matthew Klam (Sam the Cat), and Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes). An excerpt from CUTE EATS CUTE was published as a short story in Ellipsis Magazine. Second novel END OF MEN published Zoographico Press 9/12
For several years, Murphy was a cartoonist for The Chicago Reader which ran his weekly comic strip, "C. B. Murphy." The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art selected his book--January is Alien Registration Month--for its permanent Artists' Books collection. His artwork and illustrations include, The Second Mongolian Invasion, Nuclear Pup, and Masonic Kabbalah Circus, all of which are in the University of Cincinnati collection. Murphy's short films have screened across the U.S. including at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Willis Gallery in Detroit.
Over the course of his professional career, Murphy was a commodities trader, industrial metals salesman, product development manager, international sales manager, and ideation consultant. Working for the Chicago-based Selfix company as a Product Development Manager, International Sales manufacturer and importer of household items, he designed prototype products, traveling to Asia to develop the company's import and sales programs. During the late '80s, he worked for select Fortune 500 companies as a contractor in various capacities.
Murphy studied a variety of subjects, including experimental film and poetry with Richard Grossinger, (Planet Medicine), and anthropology at the University of Michigan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in perceptual geography from the University of Minnesota, where he studied under Yi-Fu Tuan (Escapism, The Good Life).
Murphy also volunteers as an Assistant Art Instructor for Level-4 offenders at Stillwater Prison. He resides with his wife and two sons in the river valley town of Marine on Saint Croix, Minnesota.
For several years, Murphy was a cartoonist for The Chicago Reader which ran his weekly comic strip, "C. B. Murphy." The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art selected his book--January is Alien Registration Month--for its permanent Artists' Books collection. His artwork and illustrations include, The Second Mongolian Invasion, Nuclear Pup, and Masonic Kabbalah Circus, all of which are in the University of Cincinnati collection. Murphy's short films have screened across the U.S. including at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Willis Gallery in Detroit.
Over the course of his professional career, Murphy was a commodities trader, industrial metals salesman, product development manager, international sales manager, and ideation consultant. Working for the Chicago-based Selfix company as a Product Development Manager, International Sales manufacturer and importer of household items, he designed prototype products, traveling to Asia to develop the company's import and sales programs. During the late '80s, he worked for select Fortune 500 companies as a contractor in various capacities.
Murphy studied a variety of subjects, including experimental film and poetry with Richard Grossinger, (Planet Medicine), and anthropology at the University of Michigan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in perceptual geography from the University of Minnesota, where he studied under Yi-Fu Tuan (Escapism, The Good Life).
Murphy also volunteers as an Assistant Art Instructor for Level-4 offenders at Stillwater Prison. He resides with his wife and two sons in the river valley town of Marine on Saint Croix, Minnesota.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 20, 2014
I received this book as part of Goodreads Giveaways.
It was a really good book. I wish some of the minor characters had a bit more, well, personality of their own (such as Holly), but overall the characterization was very well done. It was written as if it really were through the mind of a teenager in a really unedited sort of way. The author manages to get what runs through a teenager's brain, even when that brain tends to go a little dramatic. The only parts I didn't like were references to people being "just as bad as Nazis," and figured something could have been used. I'm sure the author was going for a realistic vibe, it was a little too out there for me.
This book also shows different sides to life, and actually has the ability to truly make you think. It seems to come from a neutral standpoint, but yet shows the pros and cons of all sides. That aspect was probably my favourite part of the book. Very intelligent.
I like how the parents are on opposite poles and it seems like they've become two opposite people, both trying to pull Sam toward them and using petty behaviour at times. I found the way that Sam felt lost in the world and twisted in all sorts of ways believable, even if his mind goes to humping chipmunks or whatever whenever he has a free second.
Each friend seems to come from a different background and history, which was interesting.
Overall, it was a good, enjoyable young adult read. It was written well (would have never guessed this was a début book), good characters, likeable and un-likeable characters, a fascinating and modern plot, although there were a few editing errors (but nothing that can't be overlooked).
SPOILERS PAST HERE
The one addition to the book I didn't find necessary was Holly's pregnancy. It didn't add much to the story and seemed to be there just almost for shock value. I just didn't see much point in it other than to sort of get her out of Sam & Megan's way.
At the end I was left wondering what was going to happen to Sam next as the real story hadn't been told. I was left with questions and I'm sure it was meant for me to fill in the blanks. I didn't hold it against my ratings by any means. Instead, I can just imagine a hundred pages more of him explaining himself. Maybe next time!
Another irksome feature I found was how lesbians were written. They were written as if they were aliens of some sort. "We'll work it out like lesbians" and the like. Everything seemed to come down to the fact that they were lesbians and nothing more. I don't know, maybe it was because of Sam's point of view, but anyway.
It was a really good book. I wish some of the minor characters had a bit more, well, personality of their own (such as Holly), but overall the characterization was very well done. It was written as if it really were through the mind of a teenager in a really unedited sort of way. The author manages to get what runs through a teenager's brain, even when that brain tends to go a little dramatic. The only parts I didn't like were references to people being "just as bad as Nazis," and figured something could have been used. I'm sure the author was going for a realistic vibe, it was a little too out there for me.
This book also shows different sides to life, and actually has the ability to truly make you think. It seems to come from a neutral standpoint, but yet shows the pros and cons of all sides. That aspect was probably my favourite part of the book. Very intelligent.
I like how the parents are on opposite poles and it seems like they've become two opposite people, both trying to pull Sam toward them and using petty behaviour at times. I found the way that Sam felt lost in the world and twisted in all sorts of ways believable, even if his mind goes to humping chipmunks or whatever whenever he has a free second.
Each friend seems to come from a different background and history, which was interesting.
Overall, it was a good, enjoyable young adult read. It was written well (would have never guessed this was a début book), good characters, likeable and un-likeable characters, a fascinating and modern plot, although there were a few editing errors (but nothing that can't be overlooked).
SPOILERS PAST HERE
The one addition to the book I didn't find necessary was Holly's pregnancy. It didn't add much to the story and seemed to be there just almost for shock value. I just didn't see much point in it other than to sort of get her out of Sam & Megan's way.
At the end I was left wondering what was going to happen to Sam next as the real story hadn't been told. I was left with questions and I'm sure it was meant for me to fill in the blanks. I didn't hold it against my ratings by any means. Instead, I can just imagine a hundred pages more of him explaining himself. Maybe next time!
Another irksome feature I found was how lesbians were written. They were written as if they were aliens of some sort. "We'll work it out like lesbians" and the like. Everything seemed to come down to the fact that they were lesbians and nothing more. I don't know, maybe it was because of Sam's point of view, but anyway.
May 29, 2011
Cute Eats Cute by C.B. Murphy is a cynical, funny, and surprisingly tender-hearted social satire and coming-of-age story. In a Minneapolis suburb, community discord over whether hunters should cull a burgeoning deer herd in the local nature reserve becomes a vehicle for dissecting a multitude of modern America's social divisions. Talk radio, New Age religion, eco-sentimentalism, pop psychology and macho hunter culture all come under Murphy's microscope.
Fifteen-year-old Sam's hippie parents want him to call them Jeff and Elissa, but they agree on little else. Elissa is an eco-feminist, a vegan, and a newly converted Wiccan, while Jeff, an officer with the Department of Natural Resources, swerves ever closer to a manly hunting culture. Sam and his band of high school friends are convinced that killing deer is cruel and harmful to the earth, and they decide to Do Something. The Something escalates from street theater to sabotage. When Megan, the object of Sam's lust, asks him to infiltrate the hunters' camp, Sam finds himself bouncing wildly among people with different belief systems and affiliations.
Sam's undercover mission allows Murphy to poke fun at a medley of characters, from the activist lesbian who wears a gas mask for her Environmental Sensitivity to the bow-toting Christian Hunters of Men. A family eco-therapist urges Sam to pass through an initiation and be on the lookout for a spiritual guide, but Sam can't figure out whether to follow a radical ecoterrorist who may or may not be advocating human sacrifice. This book was great fun to read, and I recommend it highly to teen boys and adults.
Fifteen-year-old Sam's hippie parents want him to call them Jeff and Elissa, but they agree on little else. Elissa is an eco-feminist, a vegan, and a newly converted Wiccan, while Jeff, an officer with the Department of Natural Resources, swerves ever closer to a manly hunting culture. Sam and his band of high school friends are convinced that killing deer is cruel and harmful to the earth, and they decide to Do Something. The Something escalates from street theater to sabotage. When Megan, the object of Sam's lust, asks him to infiltrate the hunters' camp, Sam finds himself bouncing wildly among people with different belief systems and affiliations.
Sam's undercover mission allows Murphy to poke fun at a medley of characters, from the activist lesbian who wears a gas mask for her Environmental Sensitivity to the bow-toting Christian Hunters of Men. A family eco-therapist urges Sam to pass through an initiation and be on the lookout for a spiritual guide, but Sam can't figure out whether to follow a radical ecoterrorist who may or may not be advocating human sacrifice. This book was great fun to read, and I recommend it highly to teen boys and adults.
June 11, 2015
I won this book through a Goodreads contest. This book was compared to The Catcher in the Rye which I enjoyed so I entered and was lucky enough to win.
Anyway, this book is a pretty slow read I found myself not being able to focus on it and I had to force myself to read it. I found myself asking how Elissa and Jeff were still together, then realized the moral of the story is that love can survive between even the most opposite of people.
Anyway, this book is a pretty slow read I found myself not being able to focus on it and I had to force myself to read it. I found myself asking how Elissa and Jeff were still together, then realized the moral of the story is that love can survive between even the most opposite of people.
May 12, 2013
Great read! Brilliant!...Murphy nailed it! Best novel I've read in a long time. I highly recommend it!
May 26, 2014
Cute Eats Cute is a wonderful and witty novel which I enjoyed to the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone :)
March 1, 2011
The premise of this book is solid. Your traditional coming of age story, a boy torn between his parents, his friends and his struggling with his own emotions and opinions. What makes this story unique is that it's sets against some strong themes of environmentalism. Sam (the main character of the story) is surrounded by some excellent and hilarious characters who both aid and impede his development. The main conflict is what to do over the ever growing deer population. The deer are reproducing at an uncontrollable rate and the town is divided between a scheduled hunt to thin the herd and those who want to protect the deer at all costs. Sam isn't just divided because the community disagrees but because his parents do as well. Having the rallying point be the deer herd seemed a little odd at first, but it worked. Who doesn't love Bambi right?
Many of the characters in this book are hilarious. Situations often reach ridiculous proportions that you just can't help but laugh at. In particular I loved Sam's mother, a die hard, middle aged hippie, his high school girlfriend Megan, a know it all with rich parents and delusions of grandeur and his friend Ryan, an amateur activist with a flair for the dramatic. Many other characters, however, fall flat. Most are based on common archetypal characters and their development doesn't go far beyond these basic traits. They fit into their roles exactly, usually at the expense of their personality and originality.
Overall this book is a easy going, fun read. Sam may not be Holden Caufield, but he is your average teenager, trying to find his place in the world. The characters are basic, the plot is simple but it makes you laugh and it gets the point across.
Review can also be found at my blog: http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot...
Many of the characters in this book are hilarious. Situations often reach ridiculous proportions that you just can't help but laugh at. In particular I loved Sam's mother, a die hard, middle aged hippie, his high school girlfriend Megan, a know it all with rich parents and delusions of grandeur and his friend Ryan, an amateur activist with a flair for the dramatic. Many other characters, however, fall flat. Most are based on common archetypal characters and their development doesn't go far beyond these basic traits. They fit into their roles exactly, usually at the expense of their personality and originality.
Overall this book is a easy going, fun read. Sam may not be Holden Caufield, but he is your average teenager, trying to find his place in the world. The characters are basic, the plot is simple but it makes you laugh and it gets the point across.
Review can also be found at my blog: http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot...
January 14, 2014
Received through Goodreads first reads giveaway.
I'd rate this a 3.5 but I'll round up to a 4 since I really liked the topic for the book. You don't need me for the summary, but I will say that the book was a great read. Being stuck in that gray area myself, although I am not confused about where stand, I can really relate to the main character. I loved the inner debate, trying to figure out what is right and what s wrong, who to trust, all while being either pulled from or distrusted by both sides. Even if you aren't close to the issue at hand in the book, it's still pertinent to other debates in life.
It was fairly humorous and intriguing, however the one caveat I have with Cute Eats Cute is the ending. The story had some great characters and questions throughout the entire book but the end fell a bit flat. It just didn't have the oomph that I was wanting. **Kind of Spoiler** I would even be fine with leaving every question unanswered and leaving characters confused, but it seemed like the main character just dismissed everything that had happened and it had no effect on his life. **
I really like the book but 10 more pages for a good ending would have really made it a great book.
I'd rate this a 3.5 but I'll round up to a 4 since I really liked the topic for the book. You don't need me for the summary, but I will say that the book was a great read. Being stuck in that gray area myself, although I am not confused about where stand, I can really relate to the main character. I loved the inner debate, trying to figure out what is right and what s wrong, who to trust, all while being either pulled from or distrusted by both sides. Even if you aren't close to the issue at hand in the book, it's still pertinent to other debates in life.
It was fairly humorous and intriguing, however the one caveat I have with Cute Eats Cute is the ending. The story had some great characters and questions throughout the entire book but the end fell a bit flat. It just didn't have the oomph that I was wanting. **Kind of Spoiler** I would even be fine with leaving every question unanswered and leaving characters confused, but it seemed like the main character just dismissed everything that had happened and it had no effect on his life. **
I really like the book but 10 more pages for a good ending would have really made it a great book.
September 11, 2014
This book is very funny, especially Perry, I found a lot of the moments where people were overreacting to things that from an outside point of view might be suck a big deal absolutely hilarious. Though I'm not big into politics and the issues that communities like to argue about (for example in the book the main issue was the hunting of deer, some didn't want it to happen and others considered it necessary) but it did a great job of explaining both aides. There were a few "eye rolling" moments when characters engaged in activist speech-like conversation, like comparing global warming to hunting deer, but I feel like it added to the experience you were supposed to have when hearing both sides arguments.
Though the book is focused mostly on the perspective of teenagers I think adults would enjoy the story as well, especially if you are a parent, the interaction between the teens and adults is realistic and doesn't seem fake or manufactured. Overall I like this story, the ending was unexpected, eventful, and left me satisfied. Great book.
I received this book for free via Good Reads First Reads Giveaway.
Though the book is focused mostly on the perspective of teenagers I think adults would enjoy the story as well, especially if you are a parent, the interaction between the teens and adults is realistic and doesn't seem fake or manufactured. Overall I like this story, the ending was unexpected, eventful, and left me satisfied. Great book.
I received this book for free via Good Reads First Reads Giveaway.
August 5, 2016
Haven't received my copy yet, just received notice I had won. 12/19/13
Received my copy and hope to start soon. Have 2 others plus my current read in front. 1/14/14
Started 1/20/14
Finished 1/25/14
A special hunt is planned to help thin the deer population in the Wirth. The whole community is outraged: some for the "limited" hunting permits and others for the hunt itself. Sam's dad work is planning the hunt while his mom is Wiccan and believes all living things should be saved. Sam's friends talk him into going undercover in his fathers camp to help the other side sabotage the hunt.
Okay, I get the eco friendly stuff and that there are both sides to the story. This book seemed really fragmented to me though. I guess it is because it never showed why Sam and his friends had the beliefs they did. It seemed very shallow, almost like it was just what they were expected to think. I know some teenagers are like that but most have actual reasons for their "crusades". I feel the story line was decent, just not very well executed.
Received my copy and hope to start soon. Have 2 others plus my current read in front. 1/14/14
Started 1/20/14
Finished 1/25/14
A special hunt is planned to help thin the deer population in the Wirth. The whole community is outraged: some for the "limited" hunting permits and others for the hunt itself. Sam's dad work is planning the hunt while his mom is Wiccan and believes all living things should be saved. Sam's friends talk him into going undercover in his fathers camp to help the other side sabotage the hunt.
Okay, I get the eco friendly stuff and that there are both sides to the story. This book seemed really fragmented to me though. I guess it is because it never showed why Sam and his friends had the beliefs they did. It seemed very shallow, almost like it was just what they were expected to think. I know some teenagers are like that but most have actual reasons for their "crusades". I feel the story line was decent, just not very well executed.
May 20, 2014
I received this book through a Goodreads first reads giveaway.
I'm currently juggling between a rating of a 3 and a 3.5. At first I wasn't really into the whole Eco theme throughout the book. But once I had some free time and gave it a chance, it really started picking up for me towards the middle of the book. I thought the characters were great and likeable for the most part. The only one I didn't feel much of a connection to was Holly. It was a funny, quick read (once I actually had some time to finish it) that I enjoyed.
The only negative thought I had about it (and it's not really that negative), is that I didn't like the ending much. I thought there should've been more to it and it just fell short.
Other than that, I thought it was a fine book.
I'm currently juggling between a rating of a 3 and a 3.5. At first I wasn't really into the whole Eco theme throughout the book. But once I had some free time and gave it a chance, it really started picking up for me towards the middle of the book. I thought the characters were great and likeable for the most part. The only one I didn't feel much of a connection to was Holly. It was a funny, quick read (once I actually had some time to finish it) that I enjoyed.
The only negative thought I had about it (and it's not really that negative), is that I didn't like the ending much. I thought there should've been more to it and it just fell short.
Other than that, I thought it was a fine book.
February 29, 2016
In the end I liked this book overall, but I had a hard time reading through it. The story was interesting and environmental idealism vs realism approach is something that I argue with my own parents a lot so I was extra interested. Sometimes the writing felt a little plodding, almost too unsure which I think goes with the protagonists own situation of being a teenager and stuck between two warring sides and trying to figure out who he really is and what he believes. So the book was good in that perspective, but it just got bogged down a little at times so it took me longer to read than normal.
Overall though I would recommend it as a good story and a refreshing premise to a coming of age story.
I received this book for free as a part of the Goodread's First Reads program.
Overall though I would recommend it as a good story and a refreshing premise to a coming of age story.
I received this book for free as a part of the Goodread's First Reads program.
April 30, 2015
I want to thank C. B. Murphy and Goodreads First Reads Giveaway for my copy of Cute Eats Cute.
Cute Eats Cute involves an ecological conflict that arises when the deer population in a city park was getting out of control and the proposal was made to reduce the population with a controlled hunt. Three high school students take the side to protect the deer, the church crowd that believes in hunting and the natural order of the food chain and school officials, all have a point of view as to the fate of the deer. The story is told with humor and gives the reader something to think about the issues.
Cute Eats Cute involves an ecological conflict that arises when the deer population in a city park was getting out of control and the proposal was made to reduce the population with a controlled hunt. Three high school students take the side to protect the deer, the church crowd that believes in hunting and the natural order of the food chain and school officials, all have a point of view as to the fate of the deer. The story is told with humor and gives the reader something to think about the issues.
January 20, 2011
It shocked me at how hilarious this book is. Sam is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he sides with one parent he will alienate the other parent. Sam is like every other teenager out there. Scared, wanting to please others, confused, liking the opposite sex. Sam wants to please everyone and the author does a great job coming across as Sam's age. It will bring some memories of when you were a teenager and can relate. With all the issues the characters get themselves into makes this a funny read. I liked how the characters come to life and you really feel for Sam.
July 24, 2014
Thank you, C B Murphy, for my free copy of Cute Eats Cute as a Goodreads First Reads winner!
This story was a very interesting read. A coming-of-age story that starts out sad to me...The 8 year old brother, Perry, isn't old enough to understand why his parents are changing the way they want things, but 15 year old, Sam, can grasp the details a bit better. Not that he understands it either, but he is accepting to it - (at first).
I highly recommend this title for all readers.
This story was a very interesting read. A coming-of-age story that starts out sad to me...The 8 year old brother, Perry, isn't old enough to understand why his parents are changing the way they want things, but 15 year old, Sam, can grasp the details a bit better. Not that he understands it either, but he is accepting to it - (at first).
I highly recommend this title for all readers.
August 8, 2014
I won this from a goodreads giveaway and I absolutely loved it. It's exactly the kind of book I'm interested in!
July 13, 2014
Won in a good reads contest!
January 30, 2014
A great book...worth the time and money.
July 26, 2014
I thought the book was very cool and fun to read plus it has a awesome cover , also awesome characters .
December 27, 2014
This was a fun and witty novel, enjoyed it all the way through out. Recomanded to everyone
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews