Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon

by Marjorie Kellogg

Upon their discharge from a hospital, a disfigured girl and two young men, one with a neurological disease and the other in a wheelchair, decide to share an apartment

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Classics, Disability, Novels, Literature, Adult Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Marjorie Kellogg was an American author born in Santa Barbara, California. She died of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 83.

Reviews

[Tami Bussing · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than classic, it was beyond its time. Third time I’ve read it, and just purchased the movie so I can rewatch it over and over. It stars Liza Minnelli, one of three physically deformed misfits that band together to create a story so moving; all manners of human emotion are divulged. A must read!

[Christy Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like Three's Company if the cast had been horribly abused and/or disfigured.

[Anthony Mathenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first read this book many years ago as a teenager when I found it on my grandmother's bookshelf. I remembered it fondly as being a weird story about mental patients living together, but couldn't remember the title. Recently, I posted an inquiry on the subreddit /tipofmytongue and someone provided the title, "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon". Even with the title it took some tracking down until I found a used copy."

My second read as an adult was disappointing. I was surprised to learn that the three main characters weren't mental patients as I had remembered them, but in the hospital for other physical problems. Warren is a run-of-the-mill paraplegic, Arthur has jerks and spasms, and the titular character, Junie Moon, has acid burns. While, the backstory of each of the characters offers some trauma it barely serves to explain why they act and talk like they are retarded throughout the book. I found it to be rather off-putting to read in a more modern era where we tend to view people with disabilities as *gasp* normal and socially adjusted.

Another issue I had with the narrative was the constant head-hopping into whatever background character wandered into frame. The author provides unnecessary backstory for bit characters like hospital staff and even animals, like a vagrant dog. This slows things down and detracts from really getting inside the main characters.

Finally, the ending was terrible. I won't spoil it, but I will just say that it was abrupt, false and emotionally manipulative.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bittersweet story of the domestic partnership of three wounded people and the salvation they found in each other. Junie Moon is a compelling narrator. I read this because it is a classic from the 1960s

[Michael cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished so I'm stewing in it still.
It really held me, I think it's a very fragile and small story and that it is possible to have a large reaction to very simple writing.

[melodram · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Man weint, wenn man keine Zuflucht mehr hat.“ (S. 185)
.
Junie Moon, Arthur und Warren, drei Außenseiter, mit schweren Lebenspäckchen beladen, beschließen nach ihrer Entlassung aus dem Krankenhaus zusammen zu wohnen.
Warren, der seit einem Unfall im Rollstuhl sitzt und sich gerne wo es nur geht unterstützen lässt, ist Initiator des Vorhabens und macht für die Drei ein kleines, spartanisches Häuschen klar. Arthur lebt mit einer progrgessiven Nervenkrankheit und leidet immer wieder unter Anfällen. Er ist besonders dankbar für Junie Moons Nähe, die ihn, wenn sie nicht gerade mit Warren streitet, versorgt. Junie selbst ist ein Mosaik aus Narben. Sie wurde nach einer Verabredung von ihrer Begleitung mit Säure überschüttet. Zusammen gewinnen sie neue Kraft, schöpfen Lebensmut und werden unter Stänkereien und Schimpftiraden enge Freunde, Freunde wie man sie sich im Leben nur wünschen kann.
.
Marjorie Kellogg erzählt eine wundervoll-wundersame Geschichte über Freundschaft und der unbändigen Freude über die kleinen, die schlichten, unkäuflichen Dinge des Lebens.
Zwischen selbstgemachter Limonade und Schokobrownies lässt sie uns am unkonventionellen Leben der drei Freunde teilhaben und besinnt sich dabei auf das alltägliche Glück, das uns allen passiert, wenn wir uns öffnen. Innerhalb eines Tages bin ich durch ihre lockere, gleichwohl bissig-liebevolle Geschichte geflogen, habe mich sehr aufgehoben gefühlt.

[Lisette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just too lovely. It's funny, sad, extremely enjoyable and undoubtedly unforgettable!! It's just so darn lovely I can't get it out of my head. This book will make you laugh out loud and cry!!! Don't worry you will love it anyway :)
I am sad that this book is not that popular --it's really hard to get a copy of it :( Well, it's not in barnes and noble anyway, but they do have some used copies of it in Amazon but with a different cover (It's pretty and blue) So please go buy it and read it it's just so lovely!!
This is the story about three people, two guys and a girl, who live in a hospital and after being discharged want to live together. The three of them have almost nothing in common but all the same they are great friends even if they won't admit it to each other :) This story is about love, friendship, beauty, and so much more (don't want to give anything away).

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Do you see those birds flying?" he said at last, pointing to a cloud of terns wheeling in the sky. "They roost in the mangroves."

She did not reply. Arthur thought: Tell me all there is to tell about you. About the day you were born, about everything except old lovers, but of every other joy. Tell me about other times, about the things you wanted most in those days.

"By roosting in the mangroves," he said, "they are near the source of their breakfast."

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by my voice coach in high school because my name it June. I was lucky enough to find a copy of it at a library book sale one day. It is tattered and old but the story remains wonderful. This book will always be special to me because my voice coach has since passed.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

read back in 1970 and still remember how much i enjoyed it but do not remember much else Will search for my copy to reread.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a kid in the 70s, the movie version of this book was on tv a few times, and though my mom always watched it, she wouldn’t let me watch it because it had “grown up things” in it. She always cried at the end of the movie, and now that I have read the book, I get it.
Stylistically and thematically, this is very much a 70s novel, but it’s so honest and timeless about how important found family can be.
I am going to finally watch the whole movie tomorrow, even if it’s full of grown up things.

[Cha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book with a touching story of the struggle for acceptance, friendship and love.

"Dum-de-dum-de-dum-de-dum-de-dum. Tell me that you love me -- tell me that you love me -- tell me that you love me, Junie Moon, waa-waa. Tell me that you love me, tell me that you'll kiss me, tell me that you miss me, Junie Moon, waa-waa."

[Trudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strongly recommend this book. At the center of it, 3 very different people, suffering disability and abandonment. They are not perfect for each other but learn to forge bonds of love and community. A very realistic ending leaves the reader with both sadness and much hope.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

So weird and good.

[Nellie Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the characters. Reminds me of a Tom Robbins novel. Thanks for the recommendation Constance! Great book!

[OjazosNegros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love

[piratesPencil · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, almost dream-like read with compelling characters and a real sense of reality. The introduction speaks of this book being a subversion of stories about pretty young women falling in love with unavailable men and having their hearts broken, and it really succeeds at turning those tropes on their heads. And Warren, especially, was a fascinating character to me, with his exploration of queerness (and the parallels between disability and queerness).

[Martha Spear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!! I have read it several times since I read it the first time

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I plucked this book -- the original 1968 FSG hardcover -- from a table of hundreds in a huge auditorium bookfair of thosands just because I happened to like the look of it. Specifically, the electric green and blue lettering of the book jacket against the groovy b&w stylized line drawing of a hooty owl perched in the branches of a banyan tree. I later found that the writing therein was elegant and witty and took you inside the heads of people and animals alike. It seems that I'm not within my rights to try and describe the contents any further (as I know I can't do them a bit of justice), but I can say that this book recommends itself completely.

[Edy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject of Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon is unique kind of love shared among three physically maimed individuals. They form a bizarre relationship. The strange relationship that the trio shares and the encounters that they have with other people add depth and insights to human understanding. There is much symbolism in the novel: the owl, the dog, even the various afflictions of the three. The language is simple and flowing.

(I read this novel in the 70s when I was taking an adolescent lit. class. The critique came from one I did for the class.)

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It's about a disfigured and scarred woman who befriends two men with handicaps and they move in together and become a little family. The characters are dysfunctional and come from dysfunctional backgrounds but they are trying to become as normal as possible. I never saw the movie. Not a huge fan of Liza Minnelli (except in Arrested Development). This may be better the second time around because there are deeper concepts that escaped me the first time.

[Juliana Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book was kind of boring. Most books are in the beginning. But I learned about who they really were. Junie, a sweet-hearted kind person, struggles with the deformity of her face. Arthur, the big kid at heart, is brave, despite his failing health. And, Warren, an "all about beauty" kind of guy, tries to be the most elegant person he can, using "high type" words. This is the most weird love story I have ever heard of.

[Reanna Mckee · Rating 5 out of 5]

i picked this book up at a library book sale. it was old, a gentle deep creamy blue hardcover with an owl on the front. i read the first two pages and knew i had to buy it. it was worth the dollar i paid for it. i wolfed it all down in one day, and it is a great book to swallow. it's an easy read with curious characters. this 1968 story was not what i expected. but i love it. it's a very comforting read. more of a journey than a destination kind of book.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Picked this up in Bearly Used Books in Parry Sound while I was on vacation and loved it! I remembered there was a movie of it made in the '60's so thought I would give it a whirl and I loved it. Three disabled people meet in the hospital and grudgingly become roommates when they get released. It is all about character and it is humorous and poignant. Nice little read, it would be my book club pick if I was still in my book club!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving story about human beings who have survived tragic incidences and the friendship that kindles between these characters. Maimed and disfigured by an ex-boyfriend, Junie Moon learns to live again with the help of her new-found friends. While this story is tragic and brutal at first it gleans the themes of hope, endurance, friendship, and love. This is one of those books that has stuck with me through the years.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously, the edition available to be posted was a later edition of the one I read. I read this book when I was a teenager, LOVED it, and have never forgotten it. It was recommended to me by an older woman who was both my friend and my best friend's mother. She had suffered a great deal in her life and this was her favorite book.

[Minnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read and reread this book so often that my copy is in tatters. An unlikely bunch of misfits come together and their life together creates a most readable story. It's sad ,happy and altogether just wonderful

[Loripdx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a kid. One of the most amazing stories ever. I was recently made aware that there is a movie by this name--please do yourself a favor and read the book instead!

[Deborah J Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read. I first read this back in 1980 and it's back on my to read list again. Thoroughly enjoyed this strong story.

[Eden Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog

Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon is a 1968 novel by Marjorie Kellogg, her first and most famous work. She also wrote the screenplay for the film directed by Otto Preminger in 1970, starring Liza Minelli, Ken Howard and Robert Moore. If you are a fan of the quirky, independent stories that highlighted the Seventies in films and novels, like Midnight Cowboy, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Sterile Cuckoo, and Harold and Maude, you will find this a charming classic. When I finished it, I opened the front cover and read it again.

It doesn't get more original than the character of Junie Moon (that was her real name), a stringy oddball of a young girl whose abusive boyfriend threw acid on her one night. The doctors have done as much as they can for her disfigured face, and her twisted arm is missing a few fingers. She lives in a facility with Warren, a wheelchair bound paraplegic who was shot in the back as a teenager, by his friend whom he made a pass at. Arthur is the third amigo, with an undiagnosable progressive neurological disease which gives him a stuttering walk, his uncontrolled arms flailing. As they are as rehabilitated as they are ever going to be, Warren proposes they rent a house together as roommates. Maybe he can get a job, or as much as they hate charity, they can live on welfare for a while. This they do, and encounter the many problems all roommates find at first. "We'd better not have any scatter rugs in our house," says Warren as Arthur lurches about. Aside from being on the fringe of the community, they befriend the local Fishmonger, who is quite lonely too. They might think they accept exactly who they are, but they end up learning a lot about each other, and find their way - even take off on a beachside adventure holiday. Yes, they have challenges - no-one needs to tell them that - and have adapted with a combination of drive and black humour. Soon, their differences fade and become non-issues.

Kellogg's writing is insightful and honest. People might turn in disgust seeing Junie Moon, or be at a loss dealing with a spastic and a paraplegic, but the friends look beyond that and support each other, and as their friendships grow, you will too.
Kellogg was a social worker in New York City and also wrote a screenplay for The Bell Jar.

I saw this first as the film. This was Liza's second role after the acclaimed The Sterile Cuckoo, (another great novel/film which was a box-office hit and earned her an Oscar nomination). Junie Moon didn't do so well, but does feature great acting from Liza and Ken Howard (more controlled here as the romantic lead than in the novel), and also offers up an unusually positive 1970's gay role for Warren, certainly more flamboyant than in the book, but natural and another among this story's non-issues.
Liza's third film was Cabaret, and that was that.

Personally, I love this book, and think it's a gem.