1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. Find all my work at MJMunoz.com 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:09,880 Prepare yourself for some off-the-cuff book talk as I tackle another middle grade book 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:11,880 chapter by chapter. 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:19,720 I am bringing you my thoughts, my review, my chapter by chapter coverage or discussion 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,240 of, yeah that's what I think, chapter by chapter discussion of Maniac McGee. This first chapter 6 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,960 that I'm talking about is not the first chapter, it's actually the introduction, it's called 7 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:36,320 Before the Story and it's kind of wild. I don't like this writing style and I'm suddenly 8 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:44,520 regretting that I decided to listen to this book, to have this book on my list. It's, 9 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:50,720 you know, a famous award-winning type of book. It's got accolades and just because something 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,720 has accolades doesn't mean it's actually good, which is something that I'd forgotten about. 11 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:01,920 I don't know, but it's on a list of other books, like it has Number of the Stars on 12 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:07,080 here of, you know, listeners also enjoyed that kind of thing. That was a great book, 13 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:14,400 it was one of the best books I've read so far in this section. But then BFG's on there, 14 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:21,200 BFG's supposedly weird. I don't know, Cricket and Times Square is on that list as well and 15 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:28,280 that's a great book. So yeah, I'm really not sure what to think about this. And just because 16 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,960 something is popular doesn't mean it's good. And again, just because something has accolades 17 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:35,480 doesn't mean I'll like it either, it doesn't mean you'll like it. You don't have to like 18 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,920 what everybody likes, you don't have to go by the Newberry Award list. That has a certain 19 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:48,020 utility but you also need to use your own discernment and I kind of randomly selected 20 00:01:48,020 --> 00:01:54,200 or used those. I used a chat GPT I believe to come up with this list. People talk about 21 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:59,680 the biases of that. And I did a little bit of filtering but some of the books I didn't 22 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,320 know what they were. I just knew that they were acclaimed and I thought, hey, I'm going 23 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:07,880 to check them out because the point of the project of Forge of Fiction is to check out 24 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:15,000 these classic and modern children's books that have great appeal, great success and 25 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,080 see how I like them and see if I think they're worthy of a place of honor in the Forge of 26 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:24,360 Fiction. That's what I'm doing here. And yeah, I don't know what to think about this book. 27 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:33,200 It's so strange already. And it my biggest problem with it. So it has an ending line 28 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:38,400 that goes with a 123 structure. The history of a life and these what it says is that the 29 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:45,240 history of a kid's life is one part fact, two parts legend and three parts snowball. 30 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:51,720 I think that's a non sequitur. If it isn't actually a non sequitur that just means nothing, 31 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:57,480 then it's got some sort of hidden meaning in it. And a snowball does two things. So 32 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,840 it's like a very evocative language that's being used, but it's also strange and weird 33 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:06,760 and I don't really like it. And I don't know that there's much utility in it to children, 34 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,480 who's the intended audience? Will it make them more critical thinkers? I don't know. 35 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,440 It might just like I honestly listened to the chapter two or three times just and I 36 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,400 just finished relisting to it as I was walking out here to sit down and talk about this book 37 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:26,160 or this introduction. And I thought the thought came to me, this book is sliding off of my 38 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,840 mind. And then I thought, no, that's not quite right. And then I tried listening to it again. 39 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,600 And I thought, okay, this the writing style of this is repellent to my mind. And it'll 40 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,120 be funny if I watch this or if I listen to this whole book and I end up loving it at 41 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:46,080 the end. But yeah, it's got like a like a slam poetry kind of style to the diction. 42 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,800 And that honestly might be a little bit because it's being read by S. Apta Merkerson. And 43 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,440 if you don't know who she is, she's fabulous. I don't know what else she was in, but I know 44 00:03:55,440 --> 00:04:03,560 her from Law and Order from the 90s and maybe early 2000s with Briscoe and Green. And she 45 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,760 was the LT over their unit. I can't remember what precinct they were in, but Law and Order, 46 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,520 the crime, you know, procedural show. And man, that's a great show. That's a great show. 47 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:17,800 And she was great in that show. And, you know, she's an African American woman. So she brings 48 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:23,000 her own style. And like she brings herself, she brings herself to the role of reading 49 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,520 this book. And the book's about, you know, black people and white people, I presume, 50 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:32,060 because it's about racial division in somewhere Southish, I guess. Yeah, the kid was born 51 00:04:32,060 --> 00:04:36,360 in Pennsylvania, I think is what they say. Or did I just meet someone from Pennsylvania? 52 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:44,560 I'm not sure. Anyway. And yeah, it's odd. It's odd. She brings her style to it. And 53 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,920 I think it's a great performance. And it sounds good. And that's the thing about like that 54 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:54,280 slam poetry style of writing. There was a Star Wars book written by Daniel Jose Older. 55 00:04:54,280 --> 00:05:00,360 It was a Han and Lando book, I believe. Last Shot, I think is what it's called. And for 56 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,960 the audiobook, they did three people, they did a woman, him and one other man, I believe 57 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:11,640 who did the the reading. And Daniel Jose Older's performance is I pulled up for you, if I could, 58 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:20,280 but it's at one point, somebody gets drunk or like, like Chewbacca gets like spice thrown 59 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:27,400 into his face. And if you don't know from Star Wars, spice is like a drug. And, you 60 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,080 know, I'm just going to patch it in, I'm going to find a clip and I'm going to record like 61 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,080 10 seconds of his performance and share it with you. And like I overall like that book 62 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,920 a lot. But like I kind of cringed every time his parts came up, because he covers like 63 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,940 a specific character at a specific time in their life. And just like the delivery and 64 00:05:42,940 --> 00:05:46,720 like the the structure of the diction, it's like a very or the structure of the sentences, 65 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:54,440 the prose, it's a very like, trying to sound like, you know, I walked up the stairs, grabbed 66 00:05:54,440 --> 00:06:01,640 a cigarette, lit it as I stroke the match against the hard wooden banister. The heat 67 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:12,200 of the fire lit up the end of the cigarette like a 68 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:24,840 fire that had been left on too long. It was burnt. Sweet. Almost like colonized. You know, 69 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:29,360 wheat, which that rhymes on accident. Anyway, it's like that kind of style where it's like, 70 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:34,000 you're trying to sound really cool and you're trying to like, like be something like project 71 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,440 an image of something. That's what I felt about those sections of that book. But the 72 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:42,160 one man wrote them all. And the other sections didn't feel like that. So he was definitely 73 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,040 he gave voice and character to each section of the book. And I know I'm talking about 74 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:51,760 a Star Wars book now, not about Megan Mcmiggy, but this first chapter really feels like it 75 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:57,720 has that or this introduction. It has that vibe of like that trying to harken back to 76 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:04,920 like the like a beatnik. It's like beatnik delivery of a story. And I don't really appreciate 77 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,000 that. Like, I'm happy for those people to do that on their own. But it doesn't mean 78 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,760 I have to like it in my books. And I don't like it here. And spoilers, I actually because 79 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,360 the chapters are so short. I actually listened to all of chapter one as well, which is just 80 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:25,380 a couple minutes and it's similar. Like, I don't know, I'll just go back to it real quick. 81 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:30,340 In the intro, they say that they say that maniac McGee was born in a dumpster or a dump 82 00:07:30,340 --> 00:07:39,320 that his heart was a cereal box and his stomach was a spring. And he had an eight inch cockroach 83 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,760 that he washed, walked on a leash and rats that would guard him at night when he slept 84 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:50,360 at like, I don't know that's supposed to be kid myth and kid legend, like old school playground 85 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,040 legend when there was no internet when there was no, there was only like, you know, three 86 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:58,080 TV channels. And kids would just like make stuff up and, you know, lore developed and 87 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:03,520 things like that. And that's something I kind of touched on in. I only remember seeing Clemens 88 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:09,440 or Mark Twain and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Wait, Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is what 89 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:18,000 I read for fortress fiction. And I talked about that. And like, it's interesting. And 90 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,040 I don't know if it's distinctly Southern because Tom Sawyer was definitely Southern. He grew 91 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,760 up in rural Mississippi or Mississippi is rural, I guess, at the time all of it was 92 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:30,160 rural and like the vocal performance of that was really good. And it had like a music to 93 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,360 it and a rhyme. And I'm sure that comes from that comes from, you know, the actor gave 94 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,880 that performance, but also it came from the from what Clemens wrote himself and Twain, 95 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:46,400 sorry, what Twain wrote. And like, there's definitely skill in what Jerry Spinelli is 96 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,280 doing. Like he's doing something skillful, but I don't have to appreciate it. I'm not 97 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:55,600 required to appreciate your skillful. I'm not required to appreciate your skills. And 98 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,360 I don't appreciate this so far. So it'll be interesting to see how I get through the book. 99 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,520 You know, it's plausibly short. I think the total like it's taking me about three hours 100 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:09,280 to get through the book, which probably six hours because I'll listen and then I'll come 101 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,160 talk about listening to talk about it. And yeah, I don't know. I don't know if you've 102 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,560 read this book. I'd like to know about it. I'd like to know what your thoughts are on 103 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:22,360 it. I'd like to know if it gets better. And I mean that in multiple ways. And yeah, I 104 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,000 know this will be an interesting journey. And just because the books on the list, just 105 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,440 because I'm doing a chapter by chapter, it doesn't mean I'm going to like it doesn't 106 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,200 mean it's going to get into the fortune fiction. But in spite of the book itself or the you 107 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,720 know, these things I don't like about it, it might be an amazing book that gets gets 108 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,340 in anyway. So I just might have the caveat that yeah, it belongs here, but it's just 109 00:09:40,340 --> 00:09:45,040 not for me. I'm not the target audience for it. I'm not the reader for it. But anyway, 110 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,440 I know this will be interesting, interesting journey through this book. So till next time, 111 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,000 folks, take care and keep reading. 112 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,840 Here is a sample of what I was talking about from Star Wars Last Shot by Daniel Jose older 113 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:02,020 a book I do like but I love some criticism at very clear that whatever that song was, 114 00:10:02,020 --> 00:10:07,120 it was all about Hans current crappy state of affairs. Each bending lick and all those 115 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:12,320 whining harmonies going each other teasing or turning to the ether. They were clearly 116 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:17,120 designed to paint pictures of Hans own mashed up heart, the pulsing sense of regret, the 117 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:22,120 never ending replay of each step along his dumb broken life that had led him here to 118 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:27,360 this moment. Lovesick and wasted at Mazas and waiting for Sana to show up with whatever 119 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:33,160 ridiculous cargo she needed his help smuggling. And Sana was late, which the song seems to 120 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:38,400 know to prep the Falcon she said before she left. Chewie would do it. And anyway, the 121 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:43,160 Falcon was always prepped. And why were these cackling but tango notes mirroring Hans silent 122 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:44,560 compensation with himself? 123 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:50,160 Yeah, so I mean, there it is. You know, a song doesn't know anything. Like it's very 124 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:58,120 expressive. But it's like mumbo jumbo, sort of. And it kind of irritates me. And that's 125 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,240 the kind of thing you get maniac McGee as well. And it's just an interesting. I don't 126 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:06,040 know if that's a whole literary like sub genre or what that is. But I'm not familiar with 127 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:12,920 it. And I'm not the audience for it. And I'm not saying anybody who is is wrong. It's just 128 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:19,240 surprising that if it is a thing, that it is a thing, because I wouldn't think anybody 129 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:24,360 would be too interested in hearing that for too long. So anyway, I think that's going 130 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,360 to be it for now. 131 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:34,320 I hope you enjoyed that. Please remember to like, share, subscribe. I invite you to comment, 132 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,000 ask questions and share your thoughts with me. It's always more fun when you're part 133 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:43,280 of the conversation. Until next time, keep reading, be well and do good things. Visit 134 00:11:43,280 --> 00:12:05,440 MJMunoz.com for more of my work and help me build up the fortress fiction.