Blue Boy

First, in the interest of honesty, I must say straight out that Rakesh Satyal is my editor. If I hadn't liked Blue Boy I simply would not review it; but since I did like it, I don't see any harm in saying so, and why.Blue Boy is what is often called a "coming of age" story, about a boy's recognition and acceptance of his homosexuality. But this book, like the best of these, is so much more than that. Everyone who knows Satyal or works with him uses the same word to describe him: "brilliant." And this characterization is what distinguishes Blue Boy from so many similar stories. Satyal's voice is witty, sharp, somewhat cruel--the marks of a, dare I say it?--very masculine style.Satyal has achieved what he set out to do, as explained in his Q&A at the end of the book: write a "humorous" and "playful" account of growing up Indian (Punjabi)-American in Middle America (Cincinnati). The scenes in which Kiran, the protagonist, discovers the escalating pleasures of pornographic magazines, are hilarious, speaking to everyone, of any gender or sexual orientation, who has gone through this essential rite of passage. And the payoff, a puncturing of a lyrical, misty embrace of sensuality, with an honest, coarse and pithy sentence, is, well, brilliant.The hardest thing for a humorist to bring off is depicting serious emotion without spoiling the mood or sinking into sentimentality. Satyal manages this in an episode that truly made this reader laugh through her tears: the story of Kiran's dolls, Strawberry Shortcake and her sidekick, Blueberry Muffin. Anyone who's ever played with dolls knows there is a hierarchy. It's the acolyte, Blueberry, who meets a terrible fate, the incident made achingly poignant as Kiran acknowledges the sacrifice of the less valued one.While the author's focus on his Indian heritage and his "differences" from the American children give the book a unique flavor, it's important to stress, as other reviewers have said, that the story's appeal is universal. A middle-aged, white-bread, New York woman, I was drawn in and captivated from the beginning, made just uncomfortable enough by the acerbic humor, the critical but affectionate look at Punjabi culture and the meticulously observed descriptions of people's physical appearance to know I was reading the work of a master.

I don't think I've ever been compelled to review a book on Amazon before, but this was such a good story I feel the need to share. I downloaded it free for Kindle a couple of weeks ago and I'm very glad that I did!Blue Boy takes place over the span of a few months in the life of 12 year old Kiran Sharma, a 1st generation Indian boy living in Ohio who is growing up quickly and coming to terms with why he is so different from his classmates, who shun him. Kiran is a very bright, perceptive, funny character and once I was a few pages in I didn't want to stop reading. Kiran is stuck in that place between being a child and being a grown-up that I think everyone remembers as being complicated, and even painful at times. Kiran's desire for his parents' approval is sweet and sad. His only friend is his language teacher. He understands that he is different from his classmates, not only because of his skin but other, less tangible, reasons that he only starts to understand towards the middle/end of the book. This quote really struck me and sums up his loneliness perfectly: "There are so many unique qualities about me that I can't be put into one category. It reminds me of Venn diagrams, which Mrs. Nevins taught us about-those intersecting circles that represent different groups; when they overlap, the area that they both contain is something that they have in common. What happens when you are represented by so many circles that the area you take up is so minuscule no one else could possibly fit into it?"At times the childish thought process was, for me, laugh out loud funny (or at least giggle), as when Kiran makes a list of qualities that define the Hindu god Krishna, whom he believes he is the 10th incarnation of (1.) Blue skin; 2.) Show-off; 3.) Flutist; 4.) Butter eater; 5.) Girlfriend). He then uses this as a checklist to being more like Krishna, going so far as to sneakily buy a tub of Country Crock and eat it plain. Imagine his surprise when his skin actually began to turn blue!I would recommend this book highly- if you also got it when it was free and haven't read it yet, do so!

Right off the bat it is very well written. He is a great writer and the sentences are artfully and glossily written.Which may be part of the problem. While I was reading it I kept marvelling what a great writer he is. But in retrospect I just don't think the storyline was worth the flair given to the words. Essentially, in a twisted way admittedly, it could be an after-school TV special (outcast school boy is tormented by others for being different, but eventually gets some respect by doing an incredible talent show).The book is much better than this description and I don't want to say NO don't read it, but I had to force myself to get through it and only was pushed along because I was a tad captivated with the way Satyal pierced words and sentences together. For the story and the main character - just could not warm up to him that much. And I tried and at times I applauded what he did, but in the end would not go out of my way to recommend.Now after lauding the author's writing skills I have to take one step back and say that sometimes there was a bit too much flash in the writing. It was showy and a bit grandiose and just like the main character just a bit too much.So while reading I was caught in a dual mode of marvelling at the author's writing skills and at the same time wishing he would just tone it down at times and concentrate on the story-line. It would have been great to see other character's beyond the 'blue-boy' fleshed out a bit more. Instead we tended to have caricatures more often than depth.So caught been saying 'neat book' and 'kind of wish I didn't pick it up.Ever get that way?

One of the funniest and sweetest books I have ever read. I LOVED it.

read this while on the beach in Jamaica. Brilliantly and beautifully written, tells a heartwarming story of one child's struggle with sexuality and culture. highly recommended!