Working Parts

by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

An engaging debut novel about two individuals who challenge themselves and each other through friendship, commitment, reading, and sport

Lesbian cyclist Lori Taylor is an exceedingly likable, top-notch bike mechanic. She's a smart woman with an embarrassing secret: she can't read. Her best friend Mickey, also a bike mechanic, is long on literacy but he often comes up short on love. In Lucy Jane Bledsoe's first novel, the two friends enter into a pact that leads each of them into dangerous emotional territory. As they negotiate the rough ride of personal growth and strained friendship, the mutual dream that drove them to the pact begins to unravel. Set at breakneck speed, Working Parts dazzles with its vibrant prose, memorable characters, and snappy dialogue. Bledsoe's increasing number of fans will eagerly welcome this fully realized story.

Genres: Fiction, Queer, LGBT, Lesbian, Lesbian Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 1997

About the author

Preorder Lucy's new novel, ALL HANDS ON DECK, in which a queer 61-year-old marine biologist and a 25-year-old climate justice activist make a run for the Canadian border. Coming February 2nd: https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/...
Meanwhile, TELL THE REST, which received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Library Journal, about love, rage, and redemption, is available at https://amzn.to/3QRyHXD. The New York Times says Lucy Jane Bledsoe's novel, A THIN BRIGHT LINE, "triumphs." Ms. Magazine calls her novel, THE EVOLUTION OF LOVE, "fabulous feminist fiction." Her 2018 collection of stories, LAVA FALLS, won the Devil's Kitchen Fiction Award. Bledsoe played basketball in both high school and college. As a social justice activist, she's passionate about working for voting rights.

Reviews

[Bri]

ljb im your biggest fan!!! loved sweat so i had a feeling id also love working parts and i was so right! this reads like rubyfruit jungle which i also enjoyed reading, and it balances funny with heartwarming so well!

[Amber]

Sweet lesbian fiction of a young woman who finally realizes that her illiteracy is holding her back and she struggles with her internal and external feelings of self while trying to learn to read. Follws the story of her and her best male friend as they set out to overcome their secrets (he's never kissed a girl before) in the backdrop of a bicycle shop. I really enjoyed this author's descriptions.

[Elaine Burnes]

This is a terrific novel about a young woman (27) who is out and proud but in the closet about not being able to read. I always wondered what "functionally illiterate" meant, and how an adult could get by. This may not be universal, but Lori Taylor has become quite the con artist, but she pays a heavy price. Her struggle is fascinating, believable, sad, frustrating, but ultimately wondrous. Call this the Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance.

[Kate McLachlan]

Read this book quite a few years ago, when I first joined my bookgroup. I don't remember a whole lot about it, but I remember that I liked it! The main character is illiterate, which is certainly different.

[Lucile Barker]

11. Working Parts by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
I found parts of this book were not working for me. I think it would be a great YA book, even with the lesbian love scenes, but it was not what I was expecting. It was a book that had been recommended by the University of Iowa writing course. Lori Taylor, a California lesbian, works in a bike store with her good buddy, Mike. Their dream is to open their own store. Mike has been disfigured in an accident and is painfully shy. Lori is illiterate and when she admits this, he dares her to learn to read and she dares him to get a girlfriend. Lori has several false starts, and meets other women who encourage her in her business plans while unaware that she can't read. None of this goes smoothly, but it is interesting to see how they resolve their problems.

[Emily]

This was so beautiful :’) don’t recommend finishing it at work unless you want to cry in front of your coworkers

I wrote more about this Stonewall Book Award winner in an article for Mental Floss: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/bes...

[Rebekkila]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11497667

[Camille]

Highly underrated queer fiction

[Larry-bob Roberts]

Sweet book about adult literacy and bike repair with a lesbian main character.

[Carrie]

books I've read,glbt fiction