Book Review #2
If I was really serious about this, I would straight up take notes while reading.
Puff by Bob Flaherty
Okay, this time I am going to start with the actual book synopsis on the back cover.
"Meet John Gullivan, age thirteen, obsessed with the moles that dot most of his body. Meet his brother Gully, who can't stop laughing at them. Now meet the brothers ten years later, in the middle of the most ferocious blizzard anyone can remember. Set in an Irish working-class suburb of Boston in the 1960s and 1970s, Puff centers on a quest as the soon-to-be-orphaned brothers, posing as rescue personnel, attempt to steer their dilapidated van through insurmountable snow, all to score a bag of pot.
Trapped in their own ruse and forced to act the part of the saviors they are pretending to be, the brothers run into an endless stream of foes and obstacles: the cops, their childhood priest, a knife-wielding maniac, and the ill all stand in the way of their elusive high. A raucous caper, Puff is as hilarious as it is heartfelt and will resonate with old and young alike."
I'm not really sure if I can agree with that last sentence. It was certainly hilarious at parts. Really, it was more heartbreaking than heartfelt, though.
So, when the book says the brothers are 'soon-to-be-orphaned', it means they actually brought their mother, dying from cancer, to the hospital where they weren't certain how many days she would survive to see. Three days later they then take off into the night to score an ounce of Dominican Sin while poorly disguised as Red Cross workers. (Remember, this is a serious blizzard, so they are at a level three snow emergency. At least.) (For those of you who don't know, a level three snow emergency means emergency vehicles on the road only.)
Can you do me a favor, and reread that paragraph? They bring their dying mother to the hospital and leave her. They leave her there. By leaving. Without her. It then snows for three days and three nights and on the fourth day of not having seen to their dying mother, they head out on an adventure to score weed.
What a couple of upright young men.
So anyway, they borrow this Red Cross stuff (red armbands, magnetic red crosses for the outside of their van) from their friend, Doody. Yes. Doody. It's a nickname for this kid who shit his pants once in elementary school or something. Doody. While they are on their way down the road some guy mistakes them for actual Red Cross workers and flags them down, insisting his mother needs to be taken to the hospital because her oxygen has run out and she can't breathe.
From here on out the story is basically them getting into ridiculous situations and then responding to these ridiculous situations in even more ridiculous ways. They get suckered into driving their childhood priest around by a cop who will otherwise arrest them. They then come up with a scheme to dump the priest at a lady's house by pretending the van has been stolen. They get chased around by some asshole named Pelo, with a knife no less. They break into their old high school where they proceed to get chased around by the cops. One of them gets stabbed in the arm when they run into Pelo again.
Now, throughout this entire, ridiculous, story John Gullivan (who is narrating) tells all these other stories about his mom and dad from his younger years. These stories absolutely break my heart. Both of his parents worked their asses off and pretty much for nothing. His dad operated a small newspaper distributing company, plus ended up running most of the paper routes himself since his paperboys were unreliable. Absurd work hours, plus the zany antics of young John and Gully end up completely ruining his heart, which they find out after he dies from a head wound. His mom pretty much just never asked for anything, just kept plugging away at trying to support the family and her husband. She had virtually no friends, tried to publish a children's book and failed and then gave up forever and then ended up with cancer and sons that would rather go look for weed than spend her last days with her.
Granted, it's made really clear throughout the story that these boys really love their mother, and loved their father. They are just completely irresponsible and have no idea how to show it or act decently. The whole story is meant as this 'boy becomes a man' story for John Gullivan and ends up being a 'boy becomes a boy who thinks he is a man' story. Although it did have many incredibly funny stories, I just found the whole thing depressing by the end.
Puff by Bob Flaherty
Okay, this time I am going to start with the actual book synopsis on the back cover.
"Meet John Gullivan, age thirteen, obsessed with the moles that dot most of his body. Meet his brother Gully, who can't stop laughing at them. Now meet the brothers ten years later, in the middle of the most ferocious blizzard anyone can remember. Set in an Irish working-class suburb of Boston in the 1960s and 1970s, Puff centers on a quest as the soon-to-be-orphaned brothers, posing as rescue personnel, attempt to steer their dilapidated van through insurmountable snow, all to score a bag of pot.
Trapped in their own ruse and forced to act the part of the saviors they are pretending to be, the brothers run into an endless stream of foes and obstacles: the cops, their childhood priest, a knife-wielding maniac, and the ill all stand in the way of their elusive high. A raucous caper, Puff is as hilarious as it is heartfelt and will resonate with old and young alike."
I'm not really sure if I can agree with that last sentence. It was certainly hilarious at parts. Really, it was more heartbreaking than heartfelt, though.
So, when the book says the brothers are 'soon-to-be-orphaned', it means they actually brought their mother, dying from cancer, to the hospital where they weren't certain how many days she would survive to see. Three days later they then take off into the night to score an ounce of Dominican Sin while poorly disguised as Red Cross workers. (Remember, this is a serious blizzard, so they are at a level three snow emergency. At least.) (For those of you who don't know, a level three snow emergency means emergency vehicles on the road only.)
Can you do me a favor, and reread that paragraph? They bring their dying mother to the hospital and leave her. They leave her there. By leaving. Without her. It then snows for three days and three nights and on the fourth day of not having seen to their dying mother, they head out on an adventure to score weed.
What a couple of upright young men.
So anyway, they borrow this Red Cross stuff (red armbands, magnetic red crosses for the outside of their van) from their friend, Doody. Yes. Doody. It's a nickname for this kid who shit his pants once in elementary school or something. Doody. While they are on their way down the road some guy mistakes them for actual Red Cross workers and flags them down, insisting his mother needs to be taken to the hospital because her oxygen has run out and she can't breathe.
From here on out the story is basically them getting into ridiculous situations and then responding to these ridiculous situations in even more ridiculous ways. They get suckered into driving their childhood priest around by a cop who will otherwise arrest them. They then come up with a scheme to dump the priest at a lady's house by pretending the van has been stolen. They get chased around by some asshole named Pelo, with a knife no less. They break into their old high school where they proceed to get chased around by the cops. One of them gets stabbed in the arm when they run into Pelo again.
Now, throughout this entire, ridiculous, story John Gullivan (who is narrating) tells all these other stories about his mom and dad from his younger years. These stories absolutely break my heart. Both of his parents worked their asses off and pretty much for nothing. His dad operated a small newspaper distributing company, plus ended up running most of the paper routes himself since his paperboys were unreliable. Absurd work hours, plus the zany antics of young John and Gully end up completely ruining his heart, which they find out after he dies from a head wound. His mom pretty much just never asked for anything, just kept plugging away at trying to support the family and her husband. She had virtually no friends, tried to publish a children's book and failed and then gave up forever and then ended up with cancer and sons that would rather go look for weed than spend her last days with her.
Granted, it's made really clear throughout the story that these boys really love their mother, and loved their father. They are just completely irresponsible and have no idea how to show it or act decently. The whole story is meant as this 'boy becomes a man' story for John Gullivan and ends up being a 'boy becomes a boy who thinks he is a man' story. Although it did have many incredibly funny stories, I just found the whole thing depressing by the end.