In a remarkable debut novel that sizzles with sensuality, crackles with life-affirming energy and moves the reader to laughter and tears, author Pe...
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Jul 25, 2011
Diane16
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A quick, easy read about a tough, but somewhat dated subject: the main character Ava Johnson stops by her small hometown in Michigan after many fun-and-sex-filled years in Atlanta. She is HIV-positive and on her way to a new life in San Francisco. While spending time with her sister, she gets caught up in a local situation and ends up falling in love. This book wasn't terribly deep, but I have to imagine that it did a great job at portraying the conflicted, angry (and disappointed) thoughts of a
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Jul 17, 2011
Leah
rated it: 
Ava Johnson is almost the exact opposite of me. Seriously, we have nothing in common--but I was drawn to her character in just the first page of the novel, when she discloses her big secret. It's also nothing I can relate to, but intriguing nonetheless. She has undergone change since escaping the tiny Idlewild community, but comes back to discover that maybe change isn't always good. Her growth and progress through the novel were captivating, and Cleage really sucks you in to feeling as though
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Feb 15, 2010
Caroline Alicia
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Mar 09, 2008
Lynn
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Normally I run like crazy from an 'Oprah's book club' selection - finding them self-righteous and/or overwritten. What a nice surprise to discover that this book was neither!
I found myself emotionally engaged by Ava's situation and relationships and didn't tire of the narrative at all.
I guess I've learned a little about my own particular literary prejudices by enjoying this book much more than I expected!
I found myself emotionally engaged by Ava's situation and relationships and didn't tire of the narrative at all.
I guess I've learned a little about my own particular literary prejudices by enjoying this book much more than I expected!
Apr 08, 2009
Allison
rated it:
I picked this book up at a thrift store just because I liked the title. I almost quit reading after the first two pages, but I am glad I stuck with it. The plot is flat at times and it can be raw to the point of vulgarity, but hope shines through it all. This is definitely not the sort of book I normally read, but I liked it because of that.
Quotes I enjoyed:
"Sometimes you meet yourself on the road before you have a chance to learn the appropriate greeting. Face More...
Quotes I enjoyed:
"Sometimes you meet yourself on the road before you have a chance to learn the appropriate greeting. Face More...
Dec 17, 2010
April
rated it:
Although I thought I would never read an Oprah book club pick, I ended up reading this due to a Twitter book club I joined that was started by Rae Lewis-Thornton. The book follows the main character as she heads to Idlewild, MI from Atlanta, GA. The protaganist is a woman who is HIV positive and was pretty much driven from Atlanta as her status became known and she had to pick up and leave to start a new life. While the story talks a little about her HIV status, this book touches on more of th
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Sep 20, 2009
Elvia
rated it:
Not sure about this one. Started off boring enough to make me fall sleep. I knew it being an Oprah book I wouldn't be all about it. The story clunked along with not much to go on. It was very predictable, even in a world I'm not part of. I knew on every turn what was going to happen. Then the end happened....what the hell kind of ending was that? I felt like it just stopped.
I don't like when the epilogues explain quickly what should have been explained in more chapters. That bugged More...
I don't like when the epilogues explain quickly what should have been explained in more chapters. That bugged More...
Jun 29, 2009
Jaclyn
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When I picked this book up off the shelf, I had no idea it was an Oprah's Book Club book. I just liked the sound of the title and the look of the cover. However, it didn't take me long to see why Oprah chose it for her bookclub and to be totally absorbed in the story and anxious to see what happened. Pearl Cleage is a wonderful story teller and she manages to take some pretty heavy topics, convey a message of hope, and still make you laugh along the way. This was an incredibly fast read for
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Jul 28, 2011
Carolee
rated it:
Amazingly powerful without superfluity. Straight from the hip and non-preachy; I love how this woman writes for her intended audience. I asked my teenage daughter to read the Sewing Circus' Statement of Purpose, and then the proceding 3 pages ( in my copy that's pg 157-161 ... month of August - first entry.) I explained to my daughter that because she's a white girl in a nice neighbourhood someone (me) might not think to share with her those rudimentary, and brutally honest social directives
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Mar 14, 2010
Victoria
rated it:
Being a bit burned out by my normal non-fiction/self help type of books, I picked this one up hoping to "escape" into the unreal lives of others.
Fictional as it may be, the situations & stories of the main characters, Ava & Joyce, their lives & those in it, are very real to many people.
Through this book I experienced the joys & sorrows of lives so different than my own. The author wrote in such a way, the characters became "real".
The author drew More...
Fictional as it may be, the situations & stories of the main characters, Ava & Joyce, their lives & those in it, are very real to many people.
Through this book I experienced the joys & sorrows of lives so different than my own. The author wrote in such a way, the characters became "real".
The author drew More...
Jul 24, 2009
As12600
rated it:
Great book about life is what you make of it. When trying to change crack-heads into upstanding persons, every day seems harder and harder.
Knowing that she has HIV her older sister and a concerned friend change Ava's life more than she would ever expected.
Joyce the older sister is completely compassionate to others well being. The reverends wife Gerry Anderson creates quite a stir in all that is good. Determination gets Joyce to continue in her mission to better this town More...
Knowing that she has HIV her older sister and a concerned friend change Ava's life more than she would ever expected.
Joyce the older sister is completely compassionate to others well being. The reverends wife Gerry Anderson creates quite a stir in all that is good. Determination gets Joyce to continue in her mission to better this town More...
Apr 02, 2011
Kari
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Jun 15, 2010
Colleen
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This was a very interesting look into life in a declining African American community plagued with violence, drugs, and disease. I don't think I have ever read anything about the African American experience from the perspective of an African American. Very enlightening.
It was written like a journal/diary, and I think that may be part of the reason I felt the characters were poorly developed - but I just had to keep reminding myself it was a journal and so not omniscient. I do with More...
It was written like a journal/diary, and I think that may be part of the reason I felt the characters were poorly developed - but I just had to keep reminding myself it was a journal and so not omniscient. I do with More...
Oct 29, 2010
Sanum
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Aug 05, 2010
Melissa
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Ang finished, yay! Now I can write my review. This was a really quick and enjoyable read. Before I started this book, I thought there would be heavier subject matter since we know the main character (Ava) is living with HIV. Surprising to me though is how little focus this actually gets - which I thought turned out ok because we got to know the other main characters well. Now that I think about it, I felt like I got to know Joyce and Eddie a lot better than Ava. We learn all about Joyce's late h
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Apr 27, 2010
Joni
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It was a long, hot summer, and I was home from college and needed something to read. I had to go to the DMV and wasn't about to do it empty handed, so I needed something... anything. I found this book on the shelf in my parents' garage. It had an "O" on it, denoting that it was an Oprah book. I generally have a fairly strict No-Oprah-Books policy, but these were desperate times, people. I had to go to the DMV!!! Long story short - this book just did not tickle my fancy. I rememb
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Jan 17, 2010
Margaret
rated it:
This is not a book I would normally read. But I have to say it is well written, the characters are well-formed and it's engaging. The story is from a young woman who grew up in Idlewild, Michigan an idyllic town on the shores of the lake. It talks about how she couldn't wait to escape but when she faces challenges, she can't wait to get back there. She and her sister have their own share of challenges back in Idlewild.
For fiction, it hit on a lot of issues with today's youth and c More...
For fiction, it hit on a lot of issues with today's youth and c More...
Jan 09, 2009
Chrisiant
rated it:
This was the first book I read from the lists for "National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month".
There is something to this idea: reading fiction geared towards AA folks, you encountered bits of culture that are assumed understood. Things like the hopelessness, joblessness and violence that plagues northern urban ghettos, what crackheads are like, the primacy of hair and how fraught with meaning it is, experience with social services, fru More...
There is something to this idea: reading fiction geared towards AA folks, you encountered bits of culture that are assumed understood. Things like the hopelessness, joblessness and violence that plagues northern urban ghettos, what crackheads are like, the primacy of hair and how fraught with meaning it is, experience with social services, fru More...
Nov 22, 2008
Lisa
rated it:
Ava, a thirty-something hairdresser living in Atlanta, is diagonosed with AIDS and flees back home to live with her sister in a small northern Michicigan town. Ava, her sister Joyce, and her earthy friend Eddie take in a baby girl whose teenage mother flees town after she is diagnosed with AIDS. As they try to do what’s right, the backlash of a poor, drug-dealing family, and the Reverend’s family fight them. I fell in love with Joyce, Ava, and Eddie. It’s a great story of trying to do right
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Mar 24, 2009
Becca
rated it:
I chose this book because it looked like an easy, was on Oprah's book list (not a bad source), and had an usual format - this, the entire book is a series of daily diary entries over the course of one summer. It took me about 60 pages to really get into the book, but once I did, the characters were so intense I could not stop reading. I practically wanted to marry one character, push another over a bridge, and cry and laugh with others still. This book will take you on a roller coaster ride,
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Dec 12, 2008
Andrea
rated it:
I remember when the AIDS scare started. I was in H.S. I remember when we asked people how they got the virus as it that could mitigate the disease in some way. I think exploring these attitudes in this format is a wonderful idea. I think we can apply those lessions to religion (currently), as well as other places. A charming book. It is easy to read and moves rather quickly. The characters are well developed and the book is a whole story rather that the book being a prelude to a rant at t
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Sep 20, 2011
Tai
rated it:
In “What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day” Pearl Cleage creates this 1st person narrative to touch on critical topics in America and those that weigh heavy in the African-American community. Her writing style creates a strong bond between her characters and the reader. I was moved and felt a great connection to Ava, the main character, in her determination to flee the ignorant community in Atlanta because her positive HIV status and reclaim herself. This book has the many parts of a good rea
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Sep 18, 2011
I love how this book depicts how it is possible for someone with a terminal disease such as HIV to survive and live a life full of love and things that many would think is not possible to find and achieve and obtain having this condition. I also like how this story was written, and how through the diction and description, you get a feel for the culture of the characters. You can definitely witness the character of Ava grow throughout the novel and gain an understanding of herself. This was a ver
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Mar 20, 2011
Adra
rated it: 
Reading this novel I was excited for two reasons. First, this is the first book I've ever read from Oprah's book club. Secondly, this book is the bomb! The way that this book was wrote made me feel as if Cleage was sitting directly next to me having girl talk. Currently residing in Michigan for over 14 years, I appreciated how she broke down the history of Idlewild, Michigan.
More importantly, she truly made me feel the pain of Ava. What happended to poor Ava going to Atlanta to live More...
More importantly, she truly made me feel the pain of Ava. What happended to poor Ava going to Atlanta to live More...
Mar 31, 2009
Andrea
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I read this book on the beach one summer and maybe the surroundings made it easier for me to enjoy this book as much as I did. This was one of those books that I just didn't want to end. The characters were so entertaining and real, I wanted to make them my friends and have them in my daily life forever. I loved the richness of the language and the sassiness of some of the stronger women. Although looking back I remember the contemporary issues discussed in the book, that is not what stands ou
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Jan 26, 2010
Brittany
rated it:
How I Came To Read This Book: I was having a grown-up moment at Chapters and purchased this book based on the Oprah recommendation, no joke. I was probably 14 at the time.
The Plot: Ava has lived a luxe life in the big city – Atlanta – but the past ten years of her existence come to a crashing halt when she tests positive for HIV. She returns home to her tiny hometown of Idlewild, Michigan and all the inescapably bad things about city life have invaded this town. Beyond trying to aid More...
The Plot: Ava has lived a luxe life in the big city – Atlanta – but the past ten years of her existence come to a crashing halt when she tests positive for HIV. She returns home to her tiny hometown of Idlewild, Michigan and all the inescapably bad things about city life have invaded this town. Beyond trying to aid More...
Sep 30, 2007
Anne
rated it:
After living life in the Atlanta fast-lane, Ava discovers she is HIV-positive. She packs up her hairdressing salon and heads home to hide-out with her older sister before making her way to San Francisco. Instead of a time-out, she finds herself organizing her sister's church outreach program to assist young mothers, raising an abandoned crack baby, and against her better judgment - falling in love with Eddie - a dreadlocked vegetarian with all the patience in the world. This book is filled with
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Sep 12, 2007
Ashley
rated it:
I liked this book for a few different reasons.
First - you can tell they based this book way back when the AIDS epedemic was first coming in because nowadays everyone knows about it and is not as ignorant as they were in the book. True - it was a lot more common because ppl were so dumb to it and I think the book might have gone a little too far with the whole disease. I was surprised to find that she started talking about it in like the third sentence or so or at least in the first More...
First - you can tell they based this book way back when the AIDS epedemic was first coming in because nowadays everyone knows about it and is not as ignorant as they were in the book. True - it was a lot more common because ppl were so dumb to it and I think the book might have gone a little too far with the whole disease. I was surprised to find that she started talking about it in like the third sentence or so or at least in the first More...
Jun 23, 2008
Nikita T.
rated it:
I've been hearing a lot about her as well as this book so I couldn't wait to get into it. Well, it didn't take me very long; I was quickly drawn in. It's a fantastic story about an HIV positive woman who grows tired of Atlanta (primarily due to the way in which her community treated her) and decides to move to San Francisco, where she believes she will be more accepted. She decides to first spend the summer with her sister, recently widowed, in the small town of Idlewild in Michigan. [Spoiler se
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Sep 07, 2011
Heather
rated it:
There are a lot of reasons to like this book -- it's well written, has great style, interesting characters, and a hopeful message. But the reason I love it and reread it regularly is because it's about hair -- women's hair and what it means and the relationship women have with the people who touch their hair. And there's other stuff too -- you know, a plot and action and drama and romance. But the parts that always move me or make me think are the parts about hair.
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