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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Jesse Andrews

Start date: July 1, 2015

Finish date: July 31, 2015

Discussion: Stand Alone

Why we're reading this: It won the poll for the stand alone BOTM
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* Stand Alone- Maybe Meant to Be
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What Members Thought

Nov 17, 2013 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: pbrc-tower-challenge, tower-team-challenge-b, young-adult, read-in-2014

At the beginning of Jessie Andrew's Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, first-person narrator Greg Gaines warns you that this won't be your typical coming of age story in which he learns a valuable lesson from befriending a dying girl. Instead, Gaines argues that he's learned nothing from the experience and, as he consistently points out during the narrative, he doesn't know why anyone would necessarily want or need to read about the experience.

Gaines sees himself as the master of the social world that At the beginning of Jessie Andrew's Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, first-person narrator Greg Gaines warns you that this won't be your typical coming of age story in which he learns a valuable lesson from befriending a dying girl. Instead, Gaines argues that he's learned nothing from the experience and, as he consistently points out during the narrative, he doesn't know why anyone would necessarily want or need to read about the experience.

Gaines sees himself as the master of the social world that is high school. By not identifying himself with one particular group or clique, Greg believes he can rise above and float from group to group. His only friend is Earl, a fellow outcast whose home situation isn't exactly ideal. The two share a tentative, though secret, friendship on the basis that they both enjoy more sophisticated movies than their peers and that they have created a few movies of their own.

At his mother's prodding, Greg resumes his friendship with Rachel, a girl he knew from synagogue classes and who is now dying from leukemia. Greg has the ability to make her laugh (mostly by using self-deprecating humor) and Rachel's mother hopes that Greg will cheer Rachel up and help her find a reason to endure the pain and challenges of chemotherapy.

One afternoon after getting inadvertently high, Greg brings Earl along to visit Rachel and the news gets out about their movies. Rachel wants to see them and while Greg is reluctant to share, Earl is willing to slip them to her without Greg's knowledge -- well, at least for a little while. Like his book that he's writing, Greg doesn't see why or how anyone (beyond his parents) would be interested in their movies, since according to him, they all suck.

Greg's recounting of his friendship with Rachel and Earl as well as his senior year takes on not only first-person narration, but also bullet points and scripts. And while Greg may not realize what he's doing by attempting to hold the world at arm's length, Rachel and Earl do and repeatedly attempt to get him to engage more with those around him and stop being so hard on himself and others.

The world inhabited by Greg, Earl and Rachel is one that feels absolutely authentic. And while Greg warns us that he (and we) won't learn anything from the experience, ultimately he (and we) do. Jesse Andrews has created a group of memorable, compelling characters in this book and I'll be honest -- I had a lump in my throat as I read the final chapters of this book.

It's books like this one that show just how authors can take the conventions of the young adult genre and tweak them just a bit to make them something new, refreshing and memorable. Greg is a compelling, entertaining voice and one that will remain with you once you've finished reading the book. And while Greg says there is nothing to learn from his experience, don't be shocked if you actually do take away some new insights and thoughts.

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Jul 13, 2015 Kelly rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-botm

I'm not entirely sure how to review this one. I'm not entirely sure I should be admitting to reading this one. It's fairly profane. Despite that, it made me laugh. Out loud. More than once. So that is something. Still, I probably would demote my 3 star rating to 2.5 if I could.

The main character, Greg Gaines, is like a more socially acceptable version of Napoleon Dynamite. Just as weird in his own way, but more able to fit in. His friend Earl can use the f-word in ways I never knew were possible I'm not entirely sure how to review this one. I'm not entirely sure I should be admitting to reading this one. It's fairly profane. Despite that, it made me laugh. Out loud. More than once. So that is something. Still, I probably would demote my 3 star rating to 2.5 if I could.

The main character, Greg Gaines, is like a more socially acceptable version of Napoleon Dynamite. Just as weird in his own way, but more able to fit in. His friend Earl can use the f-word in ways I never knew were possible. And yet Earl is surprisingly articulate and is probably the voice of wisdom in this story. He at least somewhat understands what life is about. Or at least understands what he needs to do to have a better life.

I liked how Greg would name things, events in his life. And these names would be capitalized when he talks about them. Like "Excessive Modesty Hour", when he was trying to deflect a compliment, or "Hot Girls Who Are Also Sympathetic Good-Hearted People and Will Not Intentionally Destroy Your Life (HGWAASGHPAWNIDYL)" to describe what group a pretty girl belongs to. Funny. Greg is intelligent, and you can tell he is smart by the way he describes most of the events in the book. But then there's all the swearing and "Gross-Out Mode" conversations in which Earl and Greg try to gross each other out by talking grossly about various body parts. You get the idea. Gross.

Which brings me to another point...I don't understand why teenagers think they need to use the f-word so much to get themselves through high school. If you are a teenager and you are reading this review, I have 2 things to say to you:
1. Congratulations for getting this far and not giving up on this review.
2. Excessively using the f-word does not make you cool. Ever. In fact, it may be keeping you from making lasting relationships with people who will matter to you in your life long after high school. (Soap box over)

So basically, it's a story about a kid who knows a girl dying of cancer. Quirky. Interesting. Worth the read if you can stomach the profanity.

Update, July 30, 2015: I have been thinking about my rating of this book since I read it and I feel like I gave it too high a rating. But I couldn't put my finger on it exactly. I still agree with everything I wrote previously. But then, while reading Paper Towns by John Green, I realized what my issue is with this book. The author, Mr. Andrews, has a copy-cat style of writing. It feels to me like he is trying to write a John Green book. Sound like Mr. Green in his own way. So, maybe that is why parts of it were funny to me. But the longer this book sits with me the more I think about how overall I didn't really enjoy it as much as my previous review allowed. So I'm downgrading my rating from 3 stars to 2. I still think a 2.5 rating would be the most appropriate for this book. ...more

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Jun 28, 2012 ╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥ rated it it was ok

Shelves: source-library, read-in-2013, 2-stars, genre-young-adult, genre-contemporary

Really did not like this book much. The cover is gorgeous and is what really drew me to the book in the first place. The story itself, was under-developed and really sloppy. The narrator's slew constant of "Man, this book sucks so much, I don't even know why you're reading it" was really ridiculous. Honestly, it just kept reminding me how poorly written the book actually was.

The book wasn't completely without its charm. There were funny moments and touching moments. It definitely succeeded in se ...more

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May 16, 2013 Lauren rated it liked it

Kind of amusing in an irreverent (profane) way, but the characters were not very well developed or likable... if it weren't for Greg's unique voice, this would be a pretty forgettable book. ...more

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Jul 30, 2015 Marcia rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

This was a really sarcastic and wonderfully funny book capturing the awkward hilarity of high school tribes. yes, there's cancer and there's death, dying and crying...and that's life and life sucks, whether you're stuck with the plague of cancer or the suck city of high school. The audio book was a little weird with the different voices, but Greg's voice was on point. ...more

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