Pulling Against

I have been anxious for some time to write a blog post about a recent review of "Looking After Joey." In its entirety this review reads, "I thought this would be a comedy of errors, what I got was a dissertation on existentialism. Interesting book." The tone is unenthusiastic and the reviewer gave just three stars, but I love this review. It makes me proud of "Looking After Joey," because the truth is that "Joey" is both a comedy and, well, not quite a dissertation, I hope, but a rumination on time, loss and the need for love. And the two overlap. Some of the biggest laughs point to truths about ageing and connection and what we owe one another. And some of the more wistful moments suddenly explode in laughter. I myself would tear up when I read over the Joey and Doug scene in which the former is trying to decide whether or not to stay in this world. And yet one can't help but chuckle because Joey's dilemma is precipitated by... Well, I won't give away any more of a spoiler than I already have. But that scene shuttles back and forth many times between tears and laughs. Different emotions pull against each other all the time in "Joey." I think it's natural. (Speculative fiction allows for this in a way realism may not.) Our worries, losses, anxieties and failures have their poetry. Often jokes are part of that poetry. Jokes are how we make those things okay. And when we do succeed, when we connect, well, of course that is poetic, too. I think all this is why the reviewer quoted above, while having their expectations frustrated, also had to conclude, "Interesting book." I second that emotion! (And I still maintain that "Joey" is a beach book! Pick up a copy along with your suntan lotion!)