text:
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most fabulous high school musical.
Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan's collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won them both legions of faithful fans.
A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
An ALA Stonewall Honor Book
"Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a complete romp. [It is] so funny, rude and original that by the time flowers hit the stage, even the musical-averse will cheer." —The New York Times Book Review
★"Will have readers simultaneously laughing, crying and singing at the top of their lungs."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"It is such a good book. [Green and Levithan] are two of the best writers writing today." —NPR'sThe Roundtable
Product Details
|Penguin Young Readers Group
|Publication date:
|Sales rank:
|Product dimensions:
|5.82(w) x 8.58(h) x 1.21(d)
|930L (what's this?)
|Age Range:
|14 - 17 Years
About the Author
David Levithan is the Margaret A. Edwards Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of many novels including, Every Day and its sequel,Another Day; Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green); and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn). His novel Two Boys Kissing won a Lambda Literary Award. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Read an Excerpt
Featured Excerpt in the Penguin iPhone App
chapter one
When I was little, my dad used to tell me, "Will, you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." This seemed like a reasonably astute observation to me when I was eight, but it turns out to be incorrect on a few levels. To begin with, you cannot possibly pick your friends, or else I never would have ended up with Tiny Cooper.
Tiny Cooper is not the world's gayest person, and he is not the world's largest person, but I believe he may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large. Tiny has been my best friend since fifth grade, except for all last semester, when he was busy discovering the sheer scope of his own gayness, and I was busy having an actual honest-to-God Group of Friends for the first time in my life, who ended up Never Talking to Me Again due to two slight transgressions:
1. After some school-board member got all upset about gays in the locker room, I defended Tiny Cooper's right to be both gigantic (and, therefore, the best member of our shitty football team's offensive line) and gay in a letter to the school newspaper that I, stupidly, signed.
2. This guy in the Group of Friends named Clint was talking about the letter at lunch, and in the process of talking about it, he called me a bitchsquealer, and I didn't know what a bitchsquealer was, so I was like, "What do you mean?" And then he called me a bitchsquealer again, at which point I told Clint to fuck off and then took my tray and left.
Which I guess means that technically I left the Group of Friends, although it felt the other way around. Honestly, none of them ever seemed to like me, but they were around, which isn't nothing. And now they aren't around, leaving me utterly bereft of social peers.
Unless you count Tiny, that is. Which I suppose I must.
Andbutso a few weeks after we get back from Christmas break our junior year, I'm sitting in my Assigned Seat in precalc when Tiny waltzes in wearing his jersey tucked into his chinos, even though football season is long over. Every day, Tiny miraculously manages to wedge himself into the chair-desk beside mine in precalc, and every day, I am amazed he can do it.
So Tiny squeezes into his chair, I am duly amazed, and then he turns to me and he whispers really loudly because secretly he wants other people to hear, "I'm in love." I roll my eyes, because he falls in love every hour on the hour with some poor new boy. They all look the same: skinny and sweaty and tan, the last an abomination, because all February tans in Chicago are fake, and boys who fake tan—I don't care whether they're gay—are ridiculous.
"You're so cynical," Tiny says, waving his hand at me.
"I'm not cynical, Tiny," I answer. "I'm practical."
"You're a robot," he says. Tiny thinks that I am incapable of what humans call emotion because I have not cried since my seventh birthday, when I saw the movie All Dogs Go to Heaven. I suppose I should have known from the title that it wouldn't end merrily, but in my defense, I was seven. Anyway, I haven't cried since then. I don't really understand the point of crying. Also, I feel that crying is almost—like, aside from deaths of relatives or whatever—totally avoidable if you follow two very simple rules: 1. Don't care too much. 2. Shut up. Everything unfortunate that has ever happened to me has stemmed from failure to follow one of the rules.
"I know love is real because I feel it," Tiny says.
Apparently, class has started without our knowing, because Mr. Applebaum, who is ostensibly teaching us precalculus but is mostly teaching me that pain and suffering must be endured stoically, says, "You feel what, Tiny?"
"Love!" says Tiny. "I feel love." And everyone turns around and either laughs or groans at Tiny, and because I'm sitting next to him and he's my best and only friend, they're laughing and groaning at me, too, which is precisely why I would not choose Tiny Cooper as my friend. He draws too much attention. Also, he has a pathological inability to follow either of my two rules. And so he waltzes around, caring too much and ceaselessly talking, and then he's baffled when the world craps on him. And, of course, due to sheer proximity, this means the world craps on me, too.
After class, I'm staring into my locker, wondering how I managed to leave The Scarlet Letter at home, when Tiny comes up with his Gay-Straight Alliance friends Gary (who is gay) and Jane (who may or may not be—I've never asked), and Tiny says to me, "Apparently, everyone thinks I professed my love for you in precalc. Me in love with Will Grayson. Isn't that the silliest crap you ever heard?"
"Great," I say.
"People are just such idiots," Tiny says. "As if there's something wrong with being in love."
Gary groans then. If you could pick your friends, I'd consider Gary. Tiny got close with Gary and Jane and Gary's boyfriend, Nick, when he joined the GSA during my tenure as a member of the Group of Friends. I barely know Gary, since I've only been hanging around Tiny again for about two weeks, but he seems like the normalest person Tiny has ever befriended.
"There's a difference," Gary points out, "between being in love and announcing it in precalc." Tiny starts to talk and Gary cuts him off. "I mean, don't get me wrong. You have every right to love Zach."
"Billy," says Tiny.
"Wait, what happened to Zach?" I ask, because I could have sworn Tiny was in love with a Zach during precalc. But forty-seven minutes have passed since his proclamation, so maybe he's changed gears. Tiny has had about 3,900 boyfriends—half of them Internet-only.
Gary, who seems as flummoxed by the emergence of Billy as I am, leans against the lockers and bangs his head softly against the steel. "Tiny, you being a makeout whore is so not good for the cause."
I look way up at Tiny and say, "Can we quell the rumors of our love? It hurts my chances with the ladies."
"Calling them 'the ladies' doesn't help either," Jane tells me.
Tiny laughs. "But seriously," I tell him, "I always catch shit about it." Tiny looks at me seriously for once and nods a little.
"Although for the record," Gary says, "you could do worse than Will Grayson."
"And he has," I note.
Tiny spins in a balletic pirouette out into the middle of the hallway and, laughing, shouts, "Dear World, I am not hot for Will Grayson. But world, there's something else you should know about Will Grayson." And then he begins to sing, a Broadway baritone as big as his waist, "I can't live without him!"
People laugh and whoop and clap as Tiny continues the serenade while I walk off to English. It's a long walk, and it only gets longer when someone stops you and asks how it feels to be sodomized by Tiny Cooper, and how you find Tiny Cooper's "gay little pencil prick" behind his fat belly. I respond the way I always do: by looking down and walking straight and fast. I know they're kidding. I know part of knowing someone is being mean to them or whatever. Tiny always has some brilliant thing to say back, like, "For someone who theoretically doesn't want me, you sure spend a lot of time thinking and talking about my penis." Maybe that works for Tiny, but it never works for me. Shutting up works. Following the rules works. So I shut up, and I don't care, and I keep walking, and soon it's over.
The last time I said anything of note was the time I wrote the fricking letter to the editor about fricking Tiny Cooper and his fricking right to be a fricking star on our horrible football team. I don't regret writing the letter in the least, but I regret signing it. Signing it was a clear violation of the rule about shutting up, and look where it got me: alone on a Tuesday afternoon, staring at my black Chuck Taylors.
That night, not long after I order pizza for me and my parents, who are—as always—late at the hospital, Tiny Cooper calls me and, real quiet and fast, he blurts out, "Neutral Milk Hotel is supposedly playing a reunion show at the Hideout and it's totally not advertised and no one even knows about it and holy shit, Grayson, holy shit!"
"Holy shit!" I shout. One thing you can say for Tiny: whenever something awesome happens, Tiny is always the first to hear.
Now, I am not generally given over to excitement, but Neutral Milk Hotel sort of changed my life. They released this absolutely fantastic album called In the Aeroplane Over the Sea in 1998 and haven't been heard from since, purportedly because their lead singer lives in a cave in New Zealand. But anyway, he's a genius. "When?"
"Dunno. I just heard. I'm gonna call Jane, too. She likes them almost as much as you do. Okay, so now. Now. Let's go to the Hideout now."
"I'm literally on my way," I answer, opening the door to the garage.
I call my mom from the car. I tell her Neutral Milk Hotel is playing at the Hideout and she says, "Who? What? You're hiding out?" And then I hum a few bars of one of their songs and Mom says, "Oh, I know that song. It's on the mix you made me," and I say, "Right," and she says, "Well you have to be back by eleven," and I say, "Mom this is a historical event. History doesn't have a curfew," and she says, "Back by eleven," and I say, "Fine. Jesus," and then she has to go cut cancer out of someone.
Tiny Cooper lives in a mansion with the world's richest parents. I don't think either of his parents have jobs, but they are so disgustingly rich that Tiny Cooper doesn't even live in the mansion; he lives in the mansion's coach house, all by himself. He has three bedrooms in that motherfucker and a fridge that always has beer in it and his parents never bother him, and so we can sit there all day and play video game football and drink Miller Lite, except in point of fact Tiny hates video games and I hate drinking beer, so mostly all we ever do is play darts (he has a dartboard) and listen to music and talk and study. I've just started to say the T in Tiny when he comes running out of his room, one black leather loafer on and the other in his hand, shouting, "Go, Grayson, go go."
And everything goes perfectly on the way there. Traffic's not too bad on Sheridan, and I'm cornering the car like it's the Indy 500, and we're listening to my favorite NMH song, "Holland, 1945," and then onto Lake Shore Drive, the waves of Lake Michigan crashing against the boulders by the Drive, the windows cracked to get the car to defrost, the dirty, bracing, cold air rushing in, and I love the way Chicago smells—Chicago is brackish lake water and soot and sweat and grease and I love it, and I love this song, and Tiny's saying I love this song, and he's got the visor down so he can muss up his hair a little more expertly. That gets me to thinking that Neutral Milk Hotel is going to see me just as surely as I'm going to see them, so I give myself a once-over in the rearview. My face seems too square and my eyes too big, like I'm perpetually surprised, but there's nothing wrong with me that I can fix.
The Hideout is a dive bar made of wooden planks that's nestled between a factory and some Department of Transportation building. There's nothing swank about it, but there's a line out the door even though it's only seven. So I huddle in line for a while with Tiny until Gary and Possibly Gay Jane show up.
Jane's wearing a hand-scrawled Neutral Milk Hotel v-neck T-shirt under her open coat. Jane showed up in Tiny's life around the time I dropped out of it, so we don't really know each other. Still, I'd say she's currently about my fourth-best friend, and apparently she has good taste in music.
Waiting outside the Hideout in the face-scrunching cold, she says hi without looking at me, and I say hi back, and then she says, "This band is so completely brilliant," and I say, "I know."
This marks possibly the longest conversation I've ever had with Jane. I kick at the gravelly dirt a little and watch a miniature dust cloud encircle my foot and then I tell Jane how much I like "Holland, 1945," and she says, "I like their less accessible stuff. The polyphonic, noisy stuff." I just nod, in hopes that it appears I know what polyphonic means.
One thing about Tiny Cooper is that you can't whisper in his ear, even if you're reasonably tall like myself, because the motherfucker is six six, and so you have to tap his giant shoulder and then sort of motion with your head that you'd like to whisper into his ear, and then he leans down and you say, "Hey, is Jane the gay part of the Gay-Straight Alliance or the straight part?"
And Tiny leans down to my ear and whispers back, "Dunno. I think she had a boyfriend freshman year." I point out that Tiny Cooper had about 11,542 girlfriends freshman year, and then Tiny punches me in the arm in a way that he thinks is playful but actually causes permanent nerve damage.
Gary is rubbing Jane's arms up and down to keep her warm when finally the line starts to move. Then about five seconds later, we see this kid looking heartbroken, and he's precisely the kind of small-blond-tan guy Tiny Cooper would like, and so Tiny says, "What's wrong?" And then the kid answers, "It's over twenty-one only."
"You," I tell Tiny, stammering. "You bitchsquealer." I still don't know what it means, but it seems appropriate.
Tiny Cooper purses his lips and furrows his brow. He turns to Jane. "You got a fake ID?" Jane nods. Gary pipes up, "Me too," and I'm tensing my fists, my jaw locked, and I just want to scream, but instead I say, "Whatever, I'm going home," because I don't have a fake ID.
But then Tiny says real fast and real quiet, "Gary, hit me as hard as you can in the face when I'm showing my ID, and then, Grayson, you just walk behind me like you belong in the joint," and then no one says anything for a while, until Gary says, too loud, "Um, I don't really know how to hit." We're getting close to the bouncer, who has a large tattoo on his bald head, so Tiny just mumbles, "Yes you do. Just hit me hard."
I lag back a little, watching. Jane gives her ID to the bouncer. He shines a flashlight on it, glances up at her, and hands it back. Then it's Tiny's turn. I take a series of very quick, short breaths, because I read once that people with a lot of oxygen in their blood look calmer, and then I watch as Gary gets on his tiptoes and rears his arm back and wallops Tiny in the right eye. Tiny's head jerks back, and Gary screams, "Oh my God, ow ow, shit my hand," and the bouncer jumps up to grab Gary, and then Tiny Cooper turns his body to block the bouncer's view of me, and as Tiny turns, I walk into the bar like Tiny Cooper is my revolving door.
Once inside, I look back and see the bouncer holding Gary by the shoulders, and Gary grimacing while staring at his hand. Then Tiny puts a hand on the bouncer and says, "Dude, we were just fucking around. Good one though, Dwight." It takes me a minute to figure out that Gary is Dwight. Or Dwight is Gary.
The bouncer says, "He fucking hit you in the eye," and then Tiny says, "He owed me one," and then Tiny explains to the bouncer that both he and Gary/Dwight are members of the DePaul University football team, and that earlier in the weight room Tiny had spotted poorly or something. The bouncer says he played O-Line in high school, and then suddenly they're having a nice little chat while the bouncer glances at Gary's extrarordinarily fake ID, and then we are all four of us inside the Hideout, alone with Neutral Milk Hotel and a hundred strangers.
The people-sea surrounding the bar parts and Tiny gets a couple of beers and offers me one. I decline. "Why Dwight?" I ask. And Tiny says, "On his ID, he's Dwight David Eisenhower IV." And I say, "Where the frak did everyone get a fake ID anyway?" and then Tiny says, "There are places." I resolve to get one.
I say, "Actually, I will have a beer," mostly because I want something in my hand. Tiny hands me the one he's already started in on, and then I make my way up close to the stage without Tiny and without Gary and without Possibly Gay Jane. It's just me and the stage, which is only raised up about two feet in this joint, so if the lead singer of Neutral Milk Hotel is particularly short—like if he is three feet ten inches tall—I will soon be looking him straight in the eye. Other people move up to the stage, and soon the place is packed. I've been here before for all-ages shows, but it's never been like this—the beer that I haven't sipped and don't intend to sweating in my hand, the well-pierced, tattooed strangers all around me. Every last soul in the Hideout right now is cooler than anyone in the Group of Friends. These people don't think there's anything wrong with me—they don't even notice me. They assume I am one of them, which feels like the very summit of my high school career. Here I am, standing on an over-twenty-one night at the best bar in America's second city, getting ready to be among a couple hundred people who see the reunion show of the greatest no-name band of the last decade.
These four guys come out onstage, and while they don't bear a striking resemblance to the members of Neutral Milk Hotel, I tell myself that, whatever, I've only seen pictures on the web. But then they start playing. I'm not quite sure how to describe this band's music, except to say that it sounds like a hundred thousand weasels being dropped into a boiling ocean. And then the guy starts singing:
She used to love me, yeah
But now she hates
She used to screw me, bro
But now she dates
Other guys
Other guys
Barring a prefrontal lobotomy, there's absolutely no way that the lead singer of Neutral Milk Hotel would ever think, let alone write, let alone sing, such lyrics. And then I realize: I have waited outside in the cold gray-lit car-exhausted frigidity and caused the possible broken bones in Gary's hand to hear a band that is, manifestly, not Neutral Milk Hotel. And although he is nowhere amid the crowd of hushed and stunned NMH fans surrounding me, I immediately shout, "Damn you, Tiny Cooper!"
At the end of the song, my suspicions are confirmed when the lead singer says, to a reception of absolute silence, "Thank you! Thanks very much. NMH couldn't make it, but we're Ashland Avenue, and we're here to rock!" No, I think. You're Ashland Avenue and you're here to suck. Someone taps me on the shoulder then and I turn around and find myself staring at this unspeakably hot twenty-something girl with a labret piercing, flaming red hair, and boots up her calves. She says, askingly, "We thought Neutral Milk Hotel was playing?" and I look down and say, "Me—" I stammer for a second, and then say "too. I'm here for them, too."
The girl leans into my ear to shout above the atonal arrhythmic affront to decency that is Ashland Avenue. "Ashland Avenue is no Neutral Milk Hotel."
Something about the fullness of the room, or the strangeness of the stranger, has made me talkative, and I shout back, "Ashland Avenue is what they play to terrorists to make them talk." The girl smiles, and it's only now that I realize that she's conscious of the age difference. She asks me where I'm in school, and I say "Evanston," and she says, "High school?" And I say, "Yeah but don't tell the bartender," and she says, "I feel like a real pervert right now," and I say, "Why?" and she just laughs. I know the girl isn't really into me, but I still feel marginally pimping.
And then this huge hand settles on my shoulder, and I look down and see the middle school graduation ring he's worn on his pinkie ever since eighth grade and know immediately that it's Tiny. And to think, some idiots claim that the gays have fashion sense.
I turn around and Tiny Cooper is crying huge tears. One of Tiny Cooper's tears could drown a kitten. And I mouth WHAT'S WRONG because Ashland Avenue is sucking too loudly for him to hear me, and Tiny Cooper just hands me his phone and walks away. It's showing me Tiny's Facebook feed, zoomed in on a status update.
Zach is like the more i think about it the more i think y ruin a gr8 frendship? i still think tiny's awesum tho.
I push my way through a couple people to Tiny, and I pull down his shoulder and scream into his ear, "THAT'S PRETTY FUCKING BAD," and Tiny shouts back, "I GOT DUMPED BY STATUS UPDATE," and I answer, "YEAH, I NOTICED. I MEAN, HE COULD HAVE AT LEAST TEXTED. OR E-MAILED. OR SENT A PASSENGER PIGEON."
"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?" Tiny shouts in my ear, and I want to say, "Hopefully, go find a guy who knows there is no u in awesome," but I just shrug my shoulders and pat him firmly on the back, and guide him away from Ashland Avenue and toward the bar.
Which, as it turns out, is something of a mistake. Just before we get to the bar, I see Possibly Gay Jane hovering by a tall table. She tells me Gary has left in disgust. "It was a publicity ploy by Ashland Avenue, apparently," she says.
I say, "But no NMH fan would ever listen to this drivel."
Then Jane looks up at me all pouty and big-eyed and says, "My brother is the guitarist."
I feel like a total asshole and say, "Oh, sorry, dude."
And she says, "Christ, I'm kidding. If he were, I'd disown him." At some point during our four-second conversation I have managed to completely lose Tiny, which is no easy task, so I tell Jane about Tiny's great Facebook wall of dumpage, and she is still laughing when Tiny appears at our table with a round tray holding six shot glasses full of a greenish liquid. "I don't really drink," I remind Tiny, and he nods. He pushes a shot toward Jane, and Jane just shakes her head.
Tiny takes a shot, grimaces, and exhales. "Tastes like Satan's fire cock," Tiny says, and then pushes another shot in my direction. "Sounds delightful," I say, "but I'll pass."
"How can he just," Tiny yells, and then he takes a shot, "dump me," and another shot, "on his STATUS after I say I LOVE him," and another. "What is the goddamned world coming to?" Another. "I really do, Grayson. I know you think I'm full of shit, but I knew I loved him the moment we kissed. Goddamn it. What am I going to do?" And then he stifles a sob with the last shot.
Jane tugs on my shirtsleeve and leans in to me. I can feel her breath warm against my neck, and she says, "We're going to have a big frickin' problem when he starts feeling those shots," and I decide that Jane is right, and anyway, Ashland Avenue is terrible, so we need to leave the Hideout posthaste.
I turn to tell Tiny it's time to go, but he has disappeared. I glance back at Jane, who's looking toward the bar with a look of profound concern on her face. Shortly thereafter, Tiny Cooper returns. Only two shots this time, thank God.
"Drink with me," he says, and I shake my head, but then Jane pokes me in the back, and I realize that I have to take a bullet for Tiny. I dig into my pocket and hand Jane my car keys. The only sure way to prevent him from drinking the rest of the plutonium-green booze is to down one myself. So I grab the shot glass and Tiny says, "Aw, fuck him, anyway, Grayson. Fuck everybody," and I say, "I'll drink to that," and I do, and then it hits my tongue and it's like a burning Molotov cocktail—glass and all. I involuntarily spit the entire shot out onto Tiny Cooper's shirt.
"A monochrome Jackson Pollock," Jane says, and then tells Tiny, "We gotta bolt. This band is like a root canal sans painkiller."
Jane and I walk out together, figuring (correctly, as it turns out) that Tiny, wearing my shot of nuclear fallout, will follow us. Since I've failed at drinking both the alcoholic beverages Tiny bought me, Jane tosses the keys back to me in a high arc. I grab them and get behind the wheel after Jane climbs into the back. Tiny tumbles into the passenger seat. I start the car, and my date with massive aural disappointment comes to an end. But I hardly think about it on the way home because Tiny keeps going on about Zach. That's the thing about Tiny: his problems are so huge that yours can hide behind them.
"How can you just be so wrong about something?" Tiny is asking over the noisy screechiness of Jane's favorite (and my least favorite) NMH song. I'm cruising up Lake Shore and can hear Jane singing along in the back, a little off-key but closer than I'd be if I sang in front of people, which I don't, due to the Shutting Up Rule. And Tiny is saying, "If you can't trust your gut then what can you trust?" And I say, "You can trust that caring, as a rule, ends poorly," which is true. Caring doesn't sometimes lead to misery. It always does.
"My heart is broken," Tiny says, as if the thing has never happened before to him, as if it has never happened before to anyone. And maybe that's the problem: maybe each new breakup feels so radically new to Tiny that, in some way, it hasn't happened before. "And Yaw naht helping," he adds, which is when I notice he's slurring his words. Ten minutes from his house if we don't catch traffic, and then straight to bed.
But I can't drive as fast as Tiny can deteriorate. By the time I exit Lake Shore—six minutes to go—he's slurring his words and bawling, going on and on about Facebook and the death of polite society and whatever. Jane's got her hands, with fingernails painted black, kneading Tiny's elephantine shoulders, but he can't seem to stop crying, and I'm missing all the lights as Sheridan slowly unwinds before us, and the snot and tears mix until Tiny's T-shirt is just a wet mess. "How far?" Jane asks, and I say, "He lives off Central," and she says, "Jesus. Stay calm, Tiny. You just need to go to sleep, baby. Tomorrow makes everything a little better."
Finally, I turn into the alley and steer around the potholes until we get behind Tiny's coach house. I jump out of the car and push my seat forward so Jane can get out behind me. Then we walk around to the passenger seat. Jane opens the door, reaches across Tiny, manages through a miracle of dexterity to unfasten his seat belt, and then says, "All right, Tiny. Time for bed," and Tiny says, "I'm a fool," and then unleashes a sob that probably registers on the Richter scale in Kansas. But he gets up and weaves toward his back door. I follow, just to make sure he gets to bed all right, which turns out to be a good idea, because he doesn't get to bed all right.
Instead, about three steps into the living room, he stops dead in his tracks. He turns around and stares at me, his eyes squinting as if he's never seen me before and can't figure out why I'm in his house. Then he takes off his shirt. He's still looking at me quizzically when, sounding stone sober, he says, "Grayson, something needs to happen," and I say, "Huh?" And Tiny says, "Because otherwise what if we just end up like everybody at the Hideout?" And I'm about to say huh again, because those people were far cooler than our classmates and also far cooler than us, but then I know what he means. He means, What if we become grown-ups waiting for a band that's never coming back? I notice Tiny looking blankly at me, swaying back and forth like a skyscraper in the wind. And then he falls facefirst.
"Oh boy," Jane says behind me, and only then do I realize she's here. Tiny, his face buried in carpet, has taken to crying again. I look at Jane for a long time and a slow smile creeps over her face. Her whole face changes when she smiles—this eyebrow-lifting, perfect-teeth-showing, eye-crinkling smile I've either never seen or never noticed. She becomes pretty so suddenly that it's almost like a magic trick—but it's not like I want her or anything. Not to sound like a jerk, but Jane isn't really my type. Her hair's kinda disastrously curly and she mostly hangs out with guys. My type's a little girlier. And honestly, I don't even like my type of girl that much, let alone other types. Not that I'm asexual—I just find Romance Drama unbearable.
"Let's get him in bed," she says finally. "Can't have his parents find this in the morning."
I kneel down and tell Tiny to get up, but he just keeps crying and crying, so finally Jane and I get on his left side and roll him over onto his back. I step over him, and then reach down, getting a good grip under his armpit. Jane mimics me on his other side.
"One," says Jane, and I say, "Two," and she says, "Three," and grunts. But nothing happens. Jane is small—I can see her upper arm narrow as she flexes her muscles. And I can't lift my half of Tiny either, so we resolve to leave him there. By the time Jane places a blanket on top of Tiny and a pillow beneath his head, he's snoring.
We're about to leave when all of Tiny's snotting finally catches up with him, and he begins to make these hideous noises that sound like snoring, except more sinister, and also more wet. I lean down to his face and see that he's inhaling and exhaling these disgusting bubbly strands of snot from the last throes of his cryathon. There's so much of the stuff that I worry he'll choke.
"Tiny," I say. "You gotta get the snot outta your nose, man," but he doesn't stir. So I get down right by his eardrum and shout, "Tiny!" Nothing. Then Jane smacks him across the face, really rather hard. Nada. Just the awful, drowning-in-snot snoring.
And that is when I realize that Tiny Cooper cannot pick his nose, countering the second part of my dad's theorem. And shortly thereafter, with Jane looking on, I disprove the theorem entirely when I reach down and clear Tiny's airways of snot. In short: I cannot pick my friend; he cannot pick his nose; and I can—nay, I must—pick it for him.
chapter two
i am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me.
those seem to be the two choices. everything else is just killing time.
right now i'm walking through the kitchen to get to the back door.
mom: have some breakfast.
i do not eat breakfast. i never eat breakfast. i haven't eaten breakfast since i was able to walk out the back door without eating breakfast first.
mom: where are you going?
school, mom. you should try it some time.
mom: don't let your hair fall in your face like that - I can't see your eyes.
but you see, mom, that's the whole fucking point.
i feel bad for her - i do. a damn shame, really, that i had to have a mother. it can't be easy having me for a son. nothing can prepare someone for that kind of disappointment.
me: bye
i do not say 'good-bye.' i believe that's one of the bullshittiest words ever invented. it's not like you're given the choice to say 'bad-bye' or 'awful-bye' or 'couldn't-care-less-about-you-bye.' every time you leave, it's supposed to be a good one. well, i don't believe in that. i believe against that.
mom: have a good d—
the door kinda closes in the middle of her sentence, but it's not like i can't guess where it's going. she used to say 'see you!' until one morning i was so sick of it i told her, 'no, you don't.'
she tries, and that's what makes it so pathetic. i just want to say, 'i feel sorry for you, really i do.' but that might start a conversation, and a conversation might start a fight, and then i'd feel so guilty i might have to move away to portland or something.
i need coffee.
every morning i pray that the school bus will crash and we'll all die in a fiery wreck. then my mom will be able to sue the school bus company for never making school buses with seat belts, and she'll be able to get more money for my tragic death than i would've ever made in my tragic life. unless the lawyers from the school bus company can prove to the jury that i was guaranteed to be a fuckup. then they'd get away with buying my mom a used ford fiesta and calling it even.
maura isn't exactly waiting for me before school, but i know, and she knows i'll look for her where she is. we usually fall back on that so we can smirk at each other or something before we're marched off. it's like those people who become friends in prison even though they would never really talk to each other if they weren't in prison. that's what maura and i are like, i think.
me: give me some coffee.
maura: get your own fucking coffee.
then she hands me her XXL dunkin donuts crappaccino and i treat it like it's a big gulp. if i could afford my own coffee i swear i'd get it, but the way i see it is: her bladder isn't thinking i'm an asshole even if the rest of her organs do. it's been like this with me and maura for as long as I can remember, which is about a year. i guess i've known her a little longer than that, but maybe not. at some point last year, her gloom met my doom and she thought it was a good match. i'm not so sure, but at least i get coffee out of it.
derek and simon are coming over now, which is good because it's going to save me some time at lunch.
me: give me your math homework.
simon: sure. here.
what a friend.
the first bell rings. like all the bells in our fine institution of lower learning, it's not a bell at all, it's a long beep, like you're about to leave a voicemail saying you're having the suckiest day ever. and nobody's ever going to listen to it.
i have no idea why anyone would want to become a teacher. i mean, you have to spend the day with a group of kids who either hate your guts or are kissing up to you to get a good grade. that has to get to you after a while, being surrounded by people who will never like you for any real reason. i'd feel bad for them if they weren't such sadists and losers. with the sadists, it's all about the power and the control. they teach so they can have an official reason to dominate other people. and the losers make up pretty much all the other teachers, from the ones who are too incompetent to do anything else to the ones who want to be their students' best friends because they never had friends when they were in high school. and there are the ones who honestly think we're going to remember a thing they say to us after final exams are over. right.
every now and then you get a teacher like mrs. grover, who's a sadistic loser. i mean, it can't be easy being a french teacher, because nobody really needs to know how to speak french anymore. and while she kisses the honors kids' derrieres, with standard kids she resents the fact that we're taking up her time. so she responds by giving us quizzes every day and giving us gay projects like 'design your own ride for euro disney' and then acting all surprised when i'm like 'yeah, my ride for euro disney is minnie using a baguette as a dildo to have some fun with mickey.' since i don't have any idea how to say 'dildo' in french (dildot?), i just say 'dildo' and she pretends to have no idea what i'm talking about and says that minnie and mickey eating baguettes isn't a ride. no doubt she gives me a check-minus for the day. i know i'm supposed to care, but really it's hard to imagine something i could care less about than my grade in french.
the only worthwhile thing i do all period - all morning, really - is write isaac, isaac, isaac in my notebook and then draw spider-man spelling it out in a web. which is completely lame, but whatever. it's not like i'm doing it to be cool.
i sit with derek and simon at lunch. the way it is with us, it's like we're sitting in a waiting room. every now and then we'll say something, but mostly we stick to our own chair-sized spaces. occasionally we'll read magazines. if someone comes over, we'll look up. but that doesn't happen often.
we ignore most of the people who walk by, even the ones we're supposed to lust after. it's not like derek and simon are into girls. basically, they like computers.
derek: do you think the X18 software will be released before summer?
simon: i read on trustmaster's blog that it might. That would be cool.
me: here's your homework back.
when i look at the guys and girls at the other tables, i wonder what they could possibly have to say to each other. they're all so boring and they're all trying to make up for it by talking louder. i'd rather just sit here and eat.
i have this ritual, that when it hits two o'clock i allow myself to get excited about leaving. it's like if i reach that point i can take the rest of the day off.
it happens in math, and maura is sitting next to me. she figured out in october what i was doing, so now every day at two she passes me a slip of paper with something on it. like 'congratulations' or 'can we go now?' or 'if this period doesn't end soon i am going to slit my own skull.' i know i should write her back, but mostly i nod. i think she wants us to go out on a date or something, and i don't know what to do about that.
everyone in our school has afterschool activities.
mine is going home.
sometimes i stop and board for a while in the park, but not in february, not in this witch-twat-frigid chicago suburb (known to locals as naperville). if i go out there now, i'll freeze my balls off. not that i'm putting them to any use whatsoever, but i still like to have them, just in case.
plus i've got better things to do than have the college dropouts tell me when i can ramp (usually about . . . never) and have the skatepunks from our school look down at me because i'm not cool enough to smoke and drink with them and i'm not cool enough to be straightedge. i'm no-edge as far as they're concerned. i stopped trying to be in their in-crowd-that-doesn't-admit-it's-an-in-crowd when i left ninth grade. it's not like boarding is my life or anything.
i like having the house to myself when i get home. i don't have to feel guilty about ignoring my mom if she's not around.
i head to the computer first and see if isaac's online. he's not, so i fix myself a cheese sandwich (i'm too lazy to grill it) and jerk off. it takes about ten minutes, but it's not like i'm timing it.
isaac's still not on when i get back. he's the only person on my 'buddy list,' which is the stupidest fucking name for a list. what are we, three years old?
me: hey, isaac, wanna be my buddy!?
isaac: sure, buddy! let's go fishin'!
isaac knows how stupid i find these things, and he finds them just as stupid as i do. like lol. now, if there's anything stupider than buddy lists, it's lol. if anyone ever uses lol with me, i rip my computer right out of the wall and smash it over the nearest head. i mean, it's not like anyone is laughing out loud about the things they lol. i think it should be spelled loll, like what a lobotomized person's tongue does. loll. loll. i can't think any more. loll. loll!
or ttyl. bitch, you're not actually talking. that would require actual vocal contact. or
(rofl! what? are you really rolling on the floor laughing? well, please stay down there a sec while I KICK YOUR ASS.)
i had to tell maura that my mom made me get rid of my instant messenger in order for her to stop popping up whenever i was trying to do something.
gothblood4567: 'sup?
finalwill: i'm working.
gothblood4567: on what?
finalwill: my suicide note. i can't figure out how to end it.
gothblood4567: lol
so i killed my screenname and resurrected myself under another. isaac's the only person who knows it, and it's going to stay that way.
i check my email and it's mostly spam. what i want to know is this: is there really someone in the whole world who gets an email from firstname.lastname@example.com, reads it, and says to himself, 'you know, what i really need to do is enlarge my penis 33%, and the way to do it would be to send $69.99 to that nice lady ilena at VIRILITY MAXIMUS CORP via this handy internet link!' if people are actually falling for that, it's not their dicks they should be worried about.
i have a friend request from some stranger on facebook and i delete it without looking at the profile because that doesn't seem natural. 'cause friendship should not be as easy as that. it's like people believe all you need to do is like the same bands in order to be soulmates. or books. omg . . . U like the outsiders 2 . . . it's like we're the same person! no we're not. it's like we have the same english teacher. there's a difference.
it's almost four and isaac's usually on by now. i do that stupid reward thing with my homework - it's like if i look up what date the mayans invented toothpicks, i can check to see if isaac's online yet. then if i read three more paragraphs about the importance of pottery in indigenous cultures, i can check my yahoo account. and finally if i finish answering all three of these questions and isaac isn't on yet, then i can jerk off again.
i'm only halfway through answering the first question, some bullshit about why mayan pyramids are so much cooler than egyptian ones, when i cheat and look at my buddy list and see that isaac's name is there. i'm about to think why hasn't he IM'ed me? when the box appears on the screen. like he's read my mind.
boundbydad: u there?
grayscale: yes!
boundbydad: J
grayscale: J x 100
boundbydad: i've been thinking about you all day
grayscale: ???
boundbydad: only good things
grayscale: that's too bad J
boundbydad: depends on what you think of as good JJ
it's been like this from the beginning. just being comfortable. i was a little freaked out at first by his screenname, but he quickly told me it was because his name was isaac, and ultimatelymydadchosetokillthegoatinsteadofme was too long to be a good screenname. he asked me about my old screenname, finalwill, and i told him my name was will, and that's how we started to get to know each other. we were in one of those lame chatrooms where it falls completely silent every ten seconds until someone goes 'anyone in here?' and other people are like 'yeah' 'yup' 'here!' without saying anything. we were supposed to be in a forum for this singer i used to like, but there wasn't much to say about him except which songs were better than the other songs. it was really boring, but it's how isaac and i met, so i guess we'll have to hire the singer to play at our wedding or something. (that is so not funny.)
soon we were swapping pictures and mp3s and telling each other about how everything pretty much sucked, but of course the ironic part was that while we were talking about it the world didn't suck as much. except, of course, for the part at the end when we had to return to the real world.
it is so unfair that he lives in ohio, because that should be close enough, but since neither of us drives and neither of us would ever in a million years say, 'hey, mom, do you want to drive me across indiana to see a boy?,' we're kind of stuck.
grayscale: i'm reading about the mayans.
boundbydad: angelou?
grayscale: ???
boundbydad: nevermind. we skipped the mayans. we only read 'american' history now.
grayscale: but aren't they in the americas?
boundbydad: not according to my school. **groans**
grayscale: so who did you almost kill today?
grayscale: and by 'kill,' i mean 'wish would disappear,' just in case this conversation is being monitored by administrators
boundbydad: potential body count of eleven. twelve if you count the cat.
grayscale: . . . or homeland security
grayscale: goddamn cat!
boundbydad: goddamn cat!
i haven't told anyone about isaac because it's none of their business. i love that he knows who everyone is but nobody knows who he is. if i had actual friends that i felt i could talk to, this might cause some conflict. but since right now there'd only need to be one car to take people to my funeral, i think it's okay.
eventually isaac has to go, because he isn't really supposed to be using the computer at the music store where he works. lucky for me that it doesn't seem to be a busy music store, and his boss is like a drug dealer or something and is always leaving isaac in charge while he goes out to 'meet some people.'
i step away from the computer and finish my homework quickly. then i go in the den and turn on law & order, since the only thing i can really count on in life is that whenever i turn on the tv there will be a law & order episode. this time it's the one with the guy who strangles blonde after blonde after blonde, and even though i'm pretty sure i've seen it like ten times already, i'm watching it like i don't know that the pretty reporter he's talking to is about to have the curtain cord around her neck. i don't watch that part, because it's really stupid, but once the police catch the guy and the trial's going on, they're all
lawyer: dude, the cord knocked this microscopic piece of skin off your hand while you were strangling her, and we ran it under the microscope and found out that you're totally fucked.
you gotta know he wishes he'd worn gloves, although the gloves probably would've left fibers, and he would've been totally fucked anyway. when that's all over, there's another episode i don't think i've seen before, until this celebrity runs over a baby in his hummer and i'm like, oh, it's the one where the celebrity runs over the baby in his hummer. i watch it anyway, because it's not like i have anything better to do. then mom comes home and finds me there and it's like we're a rerun, too.
mom: how was your day?
me: mom, i'm watching tv.
mom: will you be ready for dinner in fifteen minutes?
me: mom, i'm watching tv!
mom: well, set the table during the commercials.
me: FINE.
i totally don't get this - is there anything more boring and pathetic than setting the table when there are only two of you? i mean, with place mats and salad forks and everything. who is she kidding? i would give anything not to have to spend the next twenty minutes sitting across from her, because she doesn't believe in letting silence go. no, she has to fill it up with talk. i want to tell her that's what the voices in your head are for, to get you through all the silent parts. but she doesn't want to be with her thoughts unless she's saying them out loud.
mom: if i get lucky tonight, maybe we'll have a few more dollars for the car fund.
me: you really don't need to do that.
mom: don't be silly. it gives me a reason to go to girls' poker night.
i really wish she would stop it. she feels worse about me not having a car than i do. i mean, i'm not one of those jerks who thinks that as soon as you turn seventeen it's your god-given american right to have a brand-new chevrolet in the driveway. i know what our situation is, and i know she doesn't like that i have to work weekends at cvs in order to afford the things we need to pick up at cvs. having her constantly sad about it doesn't make me feel better. and of course there's another reason for her to go play poker besides the money. she needs more friends.
she asks me if i took my pills before i ran off this morning and i tell her, yeah, wouldn't i be drowning myself in the bathtub if i hadn't? she doesn't like that, so i'm all like 'joke, joke' and i make a mental note that moms aren't the best audience for medication humor. i decide not to get her that world's greatest mom of a depressive fuckup sweatshirt for mother's day like i'd been planning. (okay, there's not really a sweatshirt like that, but if there was, it would have kittens
. on it, putting their paws in sockets.)
truth is, thinking about depression depresses the shit out of me, so i go back into the den and watch some more law & order. isaac's never back at his computer until eight, so i wait until then. maura calls me but i don't have the energy to say anything to her except what's happening on law & order, and she hates it when i do that. so i let the voicemail pick up.
me: this is will. why the fuck are you calling me? leave a message and maybe i'll call you back. [BEEP]
maura: hey, loser. i'm so bored i'm calling you. i figured if you weren't doing anything i could bear your children. oh, well. i guess i'll just go call joseph and ask him to do me in the manger and begat another holy child.
by the time i care, it's almost eight. and even then, i don't care enough to call her back. we have this thing about calling each other back, in that we don't do it very much. instead i head to the computer and it's like i turn into a little girl who's just seen her first rainbow. i get all giddy and nervous and hopeful and despairing and i tell myself not to look obsessively at my buddy list, but it might as well be projected onto the insides of my eyelids. at 8:05 his name pops up, and i start to count. i only get to twelve before his IM pops up.
boundbydad: greetings!
grayscale: and salutations!
boundbydad: so glad u're here.
grayscale: so glad to be here
boundbydad: work today = lamest! day! ever! this girl tried to shoplift and wasn't even subtle about it. i used to have some sympathy for shoplifters
boundbydad: but now i just want to see them behind bars. i told her to put it back and she acted all 'put what back?' until i reached into her pocket and took the disc out. and what does she say to that? 'oh.'
grayscale: not even 'sorry'?
boundbydad: not even.
grayscale: girls suck.
boundbydad: and boys are angels? J
we go on like this for about an hour. i wish we could talk on the phone, but his parents won't let him have a cell and i know my mom sometimes checks my phone log when i'm in the shower. this is nice, though. it's the only part of my day when the time actually seems worth it.
we spend our usual ten minutes saying good-bye.
boundbydad: i really should go.
grayscale: me too.
boundbydad: but i don't want to.
grayscale: me neither.
boundbydad: tomorrow?
grayscale: tomorrow!
boundbydad: i wish you.
grayscale: i wish you, too.
this is dangerous because as a rule i don't let myself wish for things. too many times when i was a kid, i would put my hands together or squinch my eyes shut and i would devote myself fully to hoping for something. i even thought that there were some places in my room that were better for wishing than others - under the bed was okay, but on the bed wasn't; the bottom of the closet would do, as long as my shoebox of baseball cards was in my lap. never, ever at my desk, but always with the sock drawer open. nobody had told me these rules - i'd figured them out for myself. i could spend hours setting up a particular wish - and every single time, i'd be met with a resounding wall of complete indifference. whether it was for a pet hamster or for my mom to stop crying - the sock drawer would be open and i would be sitting behind my toy chest with three action figures in one hand and a matchbox car in the other. i never hoped for everything to get better - only for one thing to get better. and it never did. so eventually i gave up. i give up every single day.
but not with isaac. it scares me sometimes. wishing it to work.
later that night i get an email from him.
i feel like my life is so scattered right now. like it's all these small pieces of paper and someone's turned on the fan. but talking to you makes me feel like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. like things could actually make sense. you completely unscatter me, and i appreciate that so much.
Customer Reviews
Average Review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
I'm a 16 year old sophomore. would I suggest this book to an adult? No Would I suggest this book to a teenager? You're damn right I would. Will Grayson, Will Grayson was by far, THE best book I have ever read. It was funny, it was touching, and it had very relatable topics. I couldn't put the book down, by chapter 2 I was hooked. "Im constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me. Those seem to be the two choices. Everything else is just killing time" The 'famous' quote written by David Levithan was all it took for me to want to read this. Every time I finished a chapter I was dying to know what would happen next. Every time I put the book down, I would think about it and come up with my own scenarios. one word, amazing. Anyways, I think anyone between the ages of 14 - 21 should read this book. I'm not saying anyone whose not in that age limit wouldn't like it. But I do think it will appeal to them more. Nevertheless, best book I've ever read. I guarantee you will love it.
Some reviewers have called WG,WG "disturbing" and "risky," or have commented on how mature the material is. Some have even expressed regret over buying it, unaware that it would be so blatant in some of its dealings with sex, pornography, and depression. THIS IS A WORK OF LITERATURE! As such, it deals with themes that might be considered offensive. D.H Lawrence wrote about astoundingly offensive things in novels such as "Lady Chatterly's Lover" (how many times does he use the "c" word?). "The Catcher in the Rye" dealt just as frankly with the idea of teenage sexuality as WG, WG does. Even Bronte's "Jane Eyre" was a social shocker in its time. So should authors be expected to steer clear from any content deemed "socially unacceptable/offensive"? Did Lawrence or Salinger or Bronte? No. Authors face these issues head-on, with the courage, insight, and tenacity that many others lack. They reveal to us (the general populace) the very basis of human nature--and sometimes that includes uncovering the seedy underbelly of humanity. WG,WG is a fantastic novel. It's beautifully written, thought-provoking, and it stays with you long after you've physically abandoned it. John Green and David Levithan are tender, insightful, and oh-so gut-wrenchingly real as the two Will Graysons. I strongly recommend this novel to anyone who has a heart for truth and a yearning to tap into (and hopefully understand a little bit better) the "miracle of human consciousness." DFTBA.
I've been a fan of John Green for a few years now, and this book did not disappoint. Both characters were made so fully that they could have been actual people. There's a lot of cussing and talk about sex, but that's just what makes Will Grayson, Will Grayson: Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I haven't been a fan of David Levithan, I heard about his book Boy Meets Boy and didn't read it, but after Will Grayson, Will Grayson I'll be looking for more of his books.
WG, WG is a solid compelling read with a few nice turns and surprises and if I was a kid in high school, I would have been so glad to find this book. I would have thought that it was written on a young readers level, not a high school level though. I picked it up after it appeared on a couple of 'best of the year' lists. The bigger question I have as writer who has covered similar territory, is just what makes this book a YA or Teen book? Is it the dumbed down language and grammar mixed with the double spaced large font? Seriously, that seems to be about it. As a bookseller who had to guide parents to books for their kids, the only reason to separate out these titles was that they were appropriate in more than just the difficulty of the vocabulary. A parent, one would think, could go into the Teen section and be secure that they would be the equivalent of a PG film. This doesn't appear to be the case. In the YA books I've read, there have been scenes of kids describing how they prepare to masturbate. In the book, "Hero," an underage boy is outside a bar cruising for sex with men coming out of the bar. In WG, WG they indulge in underage drinking, they get into bars with fake ID's and become falling down drunk. They apparently can walk into a porno store and not have the clerk even care that they are obviously under age. The kids come and go as they will at all hours, driving across the state and back and the parents are pretty much fine with anything they do. The boys describe what sex is pretty explicitly every other breath with references to their obvious arousal just about as often. The only thing that doesn't happen is actual explicit sex. They kiss, they get to second base and then it fades to black. So my point is: What exactly is the point? You've written a book that has high value concepts and kids doing mature things as they explore their coming of age, but it's delivered in a neutered, titillating format of dumb vocabulary and bad grammar for no apparent reason. It's not bending to some rules of 'appropriateness' for kids, aside from outright sex, and it's not shying away from depicting kids doing what many kids do.so why not actually write it on a mature level with a legitimate vocabulary and good grammar and maybe even strive to make it a really meaningful piece of art that they will carry with them like they might Catcher in the Rye? The only reason it's written in a style for simpletons is because the authors are choosing to write it that way. Maybe its so that it can be found by teens easier? So that teens won't be bummed at having to work through a book with a lot of 'big' words? Because it's currently easy for authors cash in on the Teen scene? So that the teen buying it can say, 'hey mom, it's a teen book, how 'dirty' can it be?' And no WG, WG, isn't dirty, but it if it was a movie with that dialog, it would be a R rated film and with the homosexual activity between minors that's in it, it would probably be slapped with a NC-17 as many gay themed movies have that depict male on male heavy petting. Looking at it in that light, WG, WG, seems like an 'idea draft' for what could be a great book. Instead it's a good hearted, inconsequential gay fantasy on (what was once) a middle school reading level with a lot of f-bombs thrown in.
I absolutely loved this book. It was an extremely fun read! The writing was beautiful in this book. Both John Green and David Levithan, despite their different writing styles, did a great job writing about both of the Will Graysons. There were times when I laughed so hard that I cried, and others when I felt so bad for the main character that I almost cried. The humor was great, and their writing styles topped it all off. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who even considered reading it for a second. At first I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this book, but even though it was not the usual genre I read, it was great.
I loved Will Grayson, Will Grayson!!! I have read quite a few of John Green's novels, including The Fault In Our Stars, and love his style of writing; it is very real. Will Grayson, Will Grayson was really spunky, fun, and real and was a pleasure to read!! I woyld definitely recommend this novel to teenage readers who love realistic fiction :)
After reading Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars, this one was a little lacking for me.
Will Grayson Will Grayson is told alternatively between two different Will Grayson's. They meet in a very unlikely situation that sets off a thunderstorm of events that change the characters' lives. This is definitely one of John Green's and David Levithan's best work, I love it so much, I would recommend it to any teen.
I've not yetbread this book, but I am shocked to read judgmental reviews of it, saying you will not read any more of this author's work? John Green is fabulous and inspirational and unrelentingly reliable if one seeks a great work of art. I urge those of you who didn't like this one to give him another chance; it's the least you can do.
I read this from cover to cover without stopping. I loved reading this book!
I'm staring hard at my copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson waiting on some from of genius to strike. Every once in a while you'll read a book and it will be exactly what your heart and soul needed. It will speak to a part of yourself that you have bottled up, a part that you force into silence. Not every book can have this effect on you; if it did you would be the tattered remains of yourself instad of the whole that you are. Every once in a while there will be a book that will ever so gently force you into seeing the world a little bit differently. Will Grayson, Will Grayson was that book for me. This book is the story of two teenage boys, both named Will Grayson, and how they cross paths one cold night in Chicago. The two Will Grayson's lives are then linked, as they end up sharing in the story of one very large, very gay teenager named Tiny Cooper. This book, this story of lives and how they become intertwined, is the story of what it means to grow up. It is the story of loving yourself and loving others, for exactly who they are. My book club of three read Will Grayson, Will Grayson kind of on a whim, and it is now in my top three books that we have read. I just messaged my friends in book club and asked them to share one truth that they learned from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and this is our list: 1. "When things break, it's not the actual breaking that prevents them from getting back together again. It's because a little piece gets lost- the two remaining ends couldn't fit together even if they wanted to. The whole shape has changed."2. Sometimes, the only way to heal is to accept how you're feeling, and accept that it's okay. You can't wish away your problems.3. Your best friend may be completely opposite of you.4. Being open-minded is important, otherwise you might miss the opportunity of a great friendship.5. Sometimes, you have to work hard to get what you want, but you should NEVER change who you are to get it. I could keep going. I could flip through the pages of Will Grayson, Will Grayson and find nuggets of truth hidden between lines of perfectly wrought teen angst. Instead, I'm going to talk to you about characters. They were so real. When I finished the book, I hugged it to my chest because there was this feeling, like a "the show must go on" feeling that told me those characters and their lives would continue, even though I closed the book. Will Grayson 1: "Caring doesn't sometimes lead to misery. It always does." Will Grayson 2: "i am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me." Jane: "Some people have lives; some people have music." Tiny Cooper: "Nothing's wrong. Every thing's right. Things couldn't be righter. Things could be less tired. They could be less busy. They could be less caffeinated. But they couldn't be righter." I'm sitting here, still staring at my copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, still trying to do this book justice, and I just don't know if it is possible. Here is what I can say about Will Grayson (one and two), about Tiny Cooper and Jane and Gideon, about loving yourself and not being afraid to love others: This book is one of those books that I would call life-changing. It's the type of book that causes you to see the world a little bit differently. It's the kind of book you walk away from changed. Now, go buy it from your local bookstore, or a Barnes and Noble, or even on amazon. Just go buy it.
John Green's books never cease to amaze me, and this one was just as great as his others. I highly recomend this.
I am a big fan of John Green, but I have to admit that this one was a huge time waster. There was not much of a hooking or intriguing plot. In fact, there wasn't much of a plot at all. Most of it was things to happen in between the important parts. Kind of random. Things could have gone better.
This was one of those books that I wanted to keep reading even after it was over. I wanted to hear Tiny's story and find out what happens to the Will Graysons. That being sad, the ending was pretty darn perfect (in its fictionally realistic way). There were so many good values taught through this book and the characters are just so well developed. I also appreciated the writing style that projected the two Will Graysons and I just stuck with this story from beginning to end. This was the first book by John Green I have read and I might read some more, David Levithan is who drew me in and I have an appreciation for his ability to co author amazing literature.
I love this book so much. Ive read John Green before and he is amazing. This book is heartfelt. It shows you the true meaning of life and that theres always that one person out there that can just make your day. It brought me tears and laughter. I reccomend this book.
BTBN-Buy This Book Now! It'll have you laughing out loud at this crude, pure humor.
I really liked this novel. I found that I really enjoyed John Green. I've heard a lot about him and I figured I'd give him a try, the fact that I found a novel by him and my favorite author was simply icing on the cake. I'm always nervous to start a David Levithan novel because you never know if it going to change your life. This book was not earth shattering but it was still an extremely interesting read and made me smile. The characters were outrageous. Tiny was hilarious and irritating at the same time. I wanted to hug him and punch him. Will Grayson (1st Will Grayson) was an interesting guy. I found him annoying yet lovable and realistic. will grayson(2nd Will Grayson) was an interesting read. You don't get the characters when they are in the middle of everything. You get a character who is struggling with the onset of depression but never the character who has it and is just living with it. I found myself really entertained with this novel. I am definitely glad that I read this novel and I will definitely look into John Green
Co-written with David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a hilarious romp featuring love, teenage drama, Tiny Cooper and the most epically gay musical you'll ever encounter. Written in alternating perspectives, each chapter explores the life of a Will Grayson. Eventually, their lives converge in a strange twist of fate and just how this meeting irrevocably impacts each of the Will's lives for the better. What's most outstanding about this book, the brilliant concept aside, is the collaborative success of David and John's writing. Each in a distinctive voice uses their Will to narrate in a very believable and impactful way. John's WG is caught up in finding himself amidst being overshadowed by his very charismatic friend. He is the average teen whose motivations are steeped in typical teenage problems. In short, he's so easy to connect with because we've all been there and done that. Levithan's WG, on the other hand, is more of a broken soul. He struggles with depression and his self awareness makes him antagonistic, at best. As raw as this WG is, he's also blatantly honest and as a reader, you find yourself rooting for him to overcome all the crap that permeates his life. About the only thing both WG's share is their struggle to find and understand first love. Because as much as Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about growing up and finding yourself, at its core, it's a novel about love --- finding love, falling in love, platonic love, familial love and self love. In our increasingly accepting society, there's still a sad shortage of strong and relatable GLBT characters so I have to applaud Levithan and Green for making Tiny Cooper and one of the WG's so amazing. This just adds fuel to the awesomeness that is this book. Will Grayson, Will Grayson overall is raw, honest and funny. It can be offensive at times, but that just lends to its charm and adds to the freshness of its edgy, yet beautiful message. For this reason, it may not be a book that everyone can enjoy but it's a book that everyone should read because you'll be thinking about it long after you've turned the last page.
Yes, the book was decent and well written, but it just didn't hit my 'wow' spot. Good for a small read, but not for reading multiple times.
I honestly loved this book
Although Will Grayson, Will Grayson may not seem like a well written book, the story writing is very nice. As I began to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson I did not expect it to be very interesting, just a teenager with a conflict like every other book for teenagers out there. But as I read further the writing style helped me understand the characters more. The beginning the book was a little confusing. As I read each chapter I saw that this character had two totally different conflicts, and I wondered why this was so confusing. After reading the book a little bit more I realized that it was two character with different points of view, altering between each chapter. Not knowing that did make the book hard to read, but once I figured that out I understood the book a bit more. For me it was just confusing to know which Will Grayson was talking in that chapter. I did like how every chapter was alternated between different points of view instead of the same person talking the whole time. Although this book could be confusing at sometimes I did like the plot. Two people with the exact same name meeting in an unlikely place. Then they both become a part of each other's lives but they never really talk to each other. I like how it was not as cliché as other books where the two main characters with the same names meet and they become best friends. I was a bit surprised though by the level of maturity. It included a lot of cussing and talking about drugs and it got a little to personal with the characters sometimes. I don't think the language in the book would appeal to adults, but I think that it is ok for mature teenagers and they won't mind. It was very interesting to hear these characters different points of views. Both went to a different school, had different friends, and had different things that they were going through. One was having girl problems while the other was having guy problems. Both characters had a conflict where they did not have a lot of friends and struggled with finding friends. A lot of the book revolved around the original Will Grayson's friend Tiny, who was creating a play. I think the play helped add humor to the book, which I liked. The original Will Grayson was friends with Tiny and once the other Will Grayson came into the story Tiny focused more on him. That is how the other Will Grayson was brought into the story. I liked the message the book was trying to spread. Everybody is different, and everyone is going through different things. Personally, I could not relate to the characters in the book. They are all in high school, and their situations are not like anything I have done before. So personally, for me I was not very connected to the book. I don't typically like these types of books, but I do like John Green and I enjoy his books. Overall, I did enjoy this book. It had a good story line, was not boring throughout, and had a great writing style. This book can be a little mature at some points, so I think the book is ideal for 14-19-year-olds. Although the writing style was a little confusing at the begging once you got used to it was fine. The book also spread a great message.
Although Will Grayson, Will Grayson may not seem like a well written book, the story writing is very nice. As I began to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson I did not expect it to be very interesting, just a teenager with a conflict like every other book for teenagers out there. But as I read further the writing style helped me understand the characters more. The beginning the book was a little confusing. As I read each chapter I saw that this character had two totally different conflicts, and I wondered why this was so confusing. After reading the book a little bit more I realized that it was two character with different points of view, altering between each chapter. Not knowing that did make the book hard to read, but once I figured that out I understood the book a bit more. For me it was just confusing to know which Will Grayson was talking in that chapter. I did like how every chapter was alternated between different points of view instead of the same person talking the whole time. Although this book could be confusing at sometimes I did like the plot. Two people with the exact same name meeting in an unlikely place. Then they both become a part of each other's lives but they never really talk to each other. I like how it was not as cliché as other books where the two main characters with the same names meet and they become best friends. I was a bit surprised though by the level of maturity. It included a lot of cussing and talking about drugs and it got a little to personal with the characters sometimes. I don't think the language in the book would appeal to adults, but I think that it is ok for mature teenagers and they won't mind. It was very interesting to hear these characters different points of views. Both went to a different school, had different friends, and had different things that they were going through. One was having girl problems while the other was having guy problems. Both characters had a conflict where they did not have a lot of friends and struggled with finding friends. A lot of the book revolved around the original Will Grayson's friend Tiny, who was creating a play. I think the play helped add humor to the book, which I liked. The original Will Grayson was friends with Tiny and once the other Will Grayson came into the story Tiny focused more on him. That is how the other Will Grayson was brought into the story. I liked the message the book was trying to spread. Everybody is different, and everyone is going through different things. Personally, I could not relate to the characters in the book. They are all in high school, and their situations are not like anything I have done before. So personally, for me I was not very connected to the book. I don't typically like these types of books, but I do like John Green and I enjoy his books. Overall, I did enjoy this book. It had a good story line, was not boring throughout, and had a great writing style. This book can be a little mature at some points, so I think the book is ideal for 14-19-year-olds. Although the writing style was a little confusing at the begging once you got used to it was fine. The book also spread a great message.
What if you met someone who had the same name as you? And what if your best friend, Tiny Cooper (who ¿¿is not the world¿s gayest person, and he is not the world¿s largest person, but I believe he may be the world¿s largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world¿s gayest person who is really, really large¿) is writing a musical about his life, in which you have a starring role? And what if said best friend started dating the guy who has the same name as you?Welcome to the world of Will Grayson (and Will Grayson), two different boys with the same name who happen to meet each other in a Chicago porn shop (long story ¿). A world of bad fake IDs, great bands (and crappy bands), friendship, musical theatre, and figuring out if you really LIKE this girl (0r guy) or just like her (him). Written in alternating chapters from the points of view of both Will Graysons by authors John Green (Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines) and David Levithan (Nick & Norah¿s Infinite Playlist, Boy Meets Boy), this is a funny but ultimately serious look at what love really means.
Green and Leviathan write convincingly from the voice of each titular Will Grayson. The high-school story is both funny and on a search for emotional truth. Green manages to make his manic pixie dream girl (Tiny) flawed from the beginning. I really wish The Maybe Dead Cats were real. And, knowing The Nerdfighters, they will be shortly.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson is the newest book by young adult author John Green, and it¿s co-written with David Levithan. The book is about two characters, both named Will Grayson, who meet up for the first time randomly one night. It follows both of their lives ¿ when they are apart, and when their lives intersect. This is about all the book jacket tells you about the story, and that description really leaves a lot out. For instance, you would have no idea that one of the main themes of the book is homosexuality, and it also deals with depression.We are first introduced to Will Grayson #1, a teenager who gets by in life by abiding by the rules of ¿shutting up and not caring.¿ His best friend Tiny Cooper is literally huge and fabulously gay, and is in many ways the opposite of Will. Will Grayson #2, however, is moody, depressed, and secretly gay. All of their lives change one night when Will Grayson #1 and Tiny go into Chicago to see a concert and Will Grayson #2 goes into Chicago to meet his online lover Isaac. Once all of their lives intersect, things are never the same for any of them.In general Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a really good, intriguing book, and its biggest strength is that the authors seem to truly understand the adolescent mind. From the description you could think of a lot of stereotypical characters: the extremely gay, always in the spotlight friend, the depressed and moody Will Grayson. But there is so much more to them than just these simple definitions. The characters have real depth to them and the situations are realistic. It¿s the type of book that you can¿t stop reading because you want to know what happens next. And ultimately it has a good message to carry with you in life.One of the only problems with the novel may be that because the characters are so real and so faulty, it¿s hard to like any of them. Will Grayson #1 is infuriating because he refuses to care about things or people in his life for most of the novel. Will Grayson #2 is downright mean sometimes, and Tiny Cooper is annoyingly self-centered; the type of guy that goes through dozens of boyfriends and is convinced he is completely heartbroken every time. The only truly likable character is Jane, and while she certainly has her faults as well you like her anyway. The others¿ maybe by the end you like them, but it¿s certainly hard to get started.Another huge plus to this book is the format that it is written in. Every chapter alternates between Will Graysons as the narrator. Odd chapters are Will Grayson #1, even chapters are Will Grayson #2. This could certainly be confusing, but the characters are so different that you can usually tell right away who¿s talking, even if you don¿t look at the chapter. This is partly due to the fact that John Green wrote all of the odd chapters and David Levithan wrote the even chapters, and their writing styles are slightly different. Also, Will Grayson #2 writes in all lowercase, and instead of using quotation marks for speech he writes the character¿s name and a colon, like in a script.The only other small negative that I have is the ending of the book. The whole time it¿s building up to this big surprise ending, and the ending certainly is a surprise, but it¿s slightly confusing. You¿re left wondering, ¿What exactly just happened?¿ And that¿s not exactly the most satisfying way to end a book. They traded explanation for suspense, and I could¿ve used just a little more explanation for the ending. Maybe someone can explain it to me, but I was a little confused, though it was still touching.


text:
As we continue to fill the earth with billions of people, it's important that we monitor the environment and in particular the oceans. Doing so is quite a difficult and expensive task though, due to the size of the oceans and the amount of resources it takes to setup a monitoring buoy or other such systems floating on the waves.
As usual, a cheap solution to ocean monitoring has been developed with the aid of technology. Liquid Robotics have developed a completely autonomous robot known as Wave Glider to carry out such tasks.
The unmanned maritime vehicle draws all the power it needs from the sun and sea. Its upper section floats on the surface of the water and looks like a surfboard covered in solar panels. 22 feet below the surface is a separate section of the robot attached by a cable to the board above and consisting of several wings. They bob up and down in the relatively still water as the board above moves with the waves, and in so doing generates energy.
The Wave Glider is a connected device meaning it can transmit data via satellite anywhere in the world. If you have a web browser and an Internet connection it's also possible to login and control the robot remotely.
The key benefit of the Wave Glider is its ability to travel anywhere without need of refuelling, combined with remote control and on-board sensor systems allowing 24/7 monitoring capabilities. And as they are inexpensive, it's possible to deploy tens or even hundreds of Wave Gliders in order to collect data about large areas of an ocean over a long period of time.
Liquid Robotics believe the Wave Gliders abilities extend to many different fields. They have plans to offer them up for helping with search and rescue, port and harbor security, fisheries management, pollution detection, and marine mammal observation to name but a few.
More at Liquid Robotics, via Make and Bloomberg

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Liad Wagman
- Associate Professor of Economics
Liad Wagman is Associate Professor of Economics at the IIT Stuart School of Business in Chicago.
Dr. Wagman works on topics in the areas of Information Economics, Industrial Organization, and Entrepreneurial Finance, studying issues of information utilization and trade, innovation, e-commerce, and privacy. Wagman is a recipient of the Sigma Xi University Research Award, the Bauer Family Excellence in Teaching Award, the Yahoo! Labs Research and Engagement Award, and has been selected into Poets & Quants 2015 Top 40 Business School Faculty Under 40. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, a research fellow at the Duke University Computer Science Department, a research fellow at the Duke University Social Sciences Research Institute, a recipient of the Program for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences Fellowship, a recipient of the Educational and Research Initiative Award, and a recipient of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Outstanding Paper Award.
Dr. Wagman's work is published in academic journals including the RAND Journal of Economics, the American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, the Journal of Corporate Finance, and Marketing Science.
Ph.D., Duke University, Economics
M.A., Duke University, Economics
M.S., Stanford University, Computer Science
B.S., B.A., University of North Carolina, Computer Science and Mathematics
Research Interests
Industrial Organization
Applied Microeconomic Theory
Electronic Commerce
Game Theory and Mechanism Design
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
M.S. Computational Decision Science and Operations Research (IIT College of Science)


text:
From India:
Are insulin resistance and more insulin related to getting exercise and occasional hunger and cravings for food?
Insulin has a number of effects related to the central nervous system. There does remain a question as to whether insulin does increase appetite.
Original posting 11 Aug 2008
Posted to Other and Type 2
|Return to the Top of This Page
Last Updated: (none)
This Internet site provides information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your own health or the health of your child, you should always consult with a physician or other health care professional.
This site is published by T-1 Today, Inc. (d/b/a Children with Diabetes), a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, which is responsible for its contents. Our mission is to provide education and support to families living with type 1 diabetes.
By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Legal Notice, and Privacy Policy.
© Children with Diabetes, Inc. 1995-2018. Comments and Feedback.


text:
Coumadin® (Warfarin)
This recipe is safe for Coumadin (warfarin) users.
This recipe contains cheese and some of those who are lactose intolerant may be able to tolerate it.
This is a low sodium recipe.
GERD / Acid Reflux
No specific GERD triggers.
Gluten Sensitivity
This recipe is NOT safe for those who are sensitive to gluten.
"Everyone is guilty at one time or another of throwing out questions that beg to be ignored, but mothers seem to have a market on the supply. "Do you want a spanking or do you want to go to bed?" "Don't you want to save some of the pizza for your brother?" "Wasn't there any change?"
-Erma Bombeck, Homemaker
I saw this idea on a menu a few years back and have been thinking about what a great idea it is. Not the same old pizza crust and really healthy. As with a lot of recipes I mull on them a lot and take some time to do the research.
This turned out really great. You can use this for any pizza that you normally make and it adds a wonderful flavor and texture.
There are so many different kinds of squash it's almost like having to take a high school biology test. I know them all because growing up I was one of those weird kids that actually liked squash.
The squash in this recipe is shaped like a big green acorn. As the squash ages the skin turns a mottled orange yellow color so choose those that are more green than yellow. It should be firm with no dark or gray spots and tapping it should result in a sound that is hollow not dull. This recipe is a variation of one that I had growing up my dad loved acorn squash cooked this way.
Yellow squash (what I called summer squash growing up) is one of my favorites. I love the soups made with it (see Spring Bisque) and the roasted parmesan squash but my favorite is simply sliced into rounds and steamed. Look for medium sized squash no more than about eight inches long. Larger ones are tougher and dry. The skin should be unblemished.
I love zucchini too. In fact, the vegetables I served on opening night in my restaurant were slices of yellow squash and zucchini steamed with a little bit of marjoram butter. I had one diner who came to the kitchen to ask how this was prepared. When I told him that the vegetables were simply steamed he wouldn't believe me and insisted that we had used white wine or some other secret ingredient. The rules for choosing zukes are the same as with yellow squash small to medium size and unblemished skin.
There are dozens of other types of squash (hopefully I can cover them in the next book) but one that I love is the pattypan or scallop squash. You may have seen these in the market. The yellow ones look like small flattened summer squash and the green ones like little zucchinis. They are great steamed and served as a side dish. Because they are small they are sweet and tender. Just a bit of herbed butter and you're good to go.
Servings = 1 | Serving size =1 crust
Cooking Time = 30 Minutes
This recipe can be multiplied by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
This recipe does not make very good leftovers.
|1 large
|1/2 ounce
|grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
|1/2 tsp
|dried oregano
|1/2 tsp
|dried marjoram
|fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
|1 Tbsp
|whole wheat flour
|1 medium
|zucchini (grated)
Preheat the oven to 325° F.
Place the egg, parmesan, oregano, marjoram and pepper in a mixing bowl. Whisk together well.
Add the zucchini and fold into the egg mixture until well blended. Sprinkle the flour over the top and fold into the zucchini mixture.
Place the mixture on a non-stick cookie sheet (or a piece of aluminum foil thats been sprayed lightly with olive oil). Pat down into a thin round shape about 9 inches in diameter (the size of an individual pizza).
Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly before adding pizza toppings.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size = 1 crust
Servings = 1
Amount Per Serving
|Calories 185
|Calories from Fat 81
|% Daily Value
|Total Fat 9g
|Saturated Fat 4g
|Monounsaturated Fat 3g
|Trans Fat 0g
|Cholesterol 221mg
|Sodium 314mg
|Total Carbohydrates 13g
|Dietary Fiber 3g
|Sugars 4g
|Protein 15g
|Vitamin A 15%
|Vitamin C 56%
|Calcium 23%
|Iron 13%
|Vitamin K 13 mcg
|Potassium 634 mg
|Magnesium 56 mg


text:
Cherry and Almond LoafJanuary 28, 2013
Homemade Dijon MustardJanuary 20, 2013
After much research I found a recipe for homemade German mustard and just had to tweak it for my version of a Dijon mustard. Dijon is the mustard most often used in gourmet recipes and making it at home will save money and guarantee quality plus you'll always know what is in it. Making your own condiments just couldn't be easier when you start with a tried and true recipe. There's lots of room to adapt this recipe to your particular tastes, so play around with it and make it your own. You might like to try tarragon vinegar or regular granulated white sugar, maybe some onion juice or garlic powder. I like to use this mustard in my homemade mayonnaise for some real zip.
How to Make Sauerkraut in a JarJanuary 18, 2013
I have a new batch of sauerkraut that will be ready next week, probably Thursday. Easy Peasy method: just shred cabbage on a mandolin, add salt (3 Tbsp per 5 pounds of cabbage), bruise the salted cabbage with your hands and pack it really, really tight into a jar. You want the juice to float above the cabbage at least 1 inch. Place another jar inside to hold the cabbage under the juice…or use giant glass marbles (sterilized of-course). Set it on your counter on a plate with a tea-towel covering. Wait 10 or 12 days and voila, old world "sauerkraut"! Refrigerate to stop fermenting. Will keep in frig up to a month or longer.
Homemade Papaya Jam Over Fluffy PancakesJanuary 10, 2013
Papaya is available nearly year round here in Puerto Rico. Unlike Hawaiian varieties, Caribbean papaya tend to be large…2 pounds or more is not uncommon. It's a versatile fruit that can be used in all its stages of ripeness.
Drizzle lime juice over slices of fresh ripe papaya for a cool and refreshing breakfast…so good and loaded with vitamins and minerals. Over fluffy pancakes papaya jam is to die for. Green papaya makes a terrific chutney as piquant as you dare and even a pickled salad Filipino style. A popular dish in the Polynesian South Pacific is lo'i lesi. Its a papaya filled with coconut milk, a little cinnamon and raw sugar. Then it is wrapped in banana leaves and baked in an umu (underground oven). What a treat! Like pudding. Polynesians also use shredded green papaya to tenderize lamb, beef, giant clams, octopus and conch.
This jam is even better with a few of the seeds thrown in. The seeds become tender and have a slight peppery flavor when cooked. They add a little more character to the jam, at least in appearance.
Ginger and Starfruit JamNovember 15, 2012
Hurricane Sandy did a number on some of the beaches in Rincon, taking away the sand right down to the bedrock in some areas. My friend, Judy, lost several beautiful fan-palms on the beach side of her home leaving an eight foot drop off. Fortunately the rest of the property was intact and the fruit trees were unharmed. Judy had one starfruit tree loaded with fruit so I brought home about 10 pounds of fruit for chutney and this jam.
Tropical fruits are very sweet when ripe with delicate flavors and its important not to overcook them or add ingredients that will overpower their intrinsic flavors. A couple tablespoons of fresh grated ginger was all that was needed to turn a batch of starfruit into a jam with just a hint of sparkle. Starfruit tastes like a strawberry with apple tones and has the texture of watermelon or ripe pear depending upon the ripeness.
Snowmen with Paper Mache Clay – Weekend projectNovember 14, 2012
Puerto Ricans are mad about snowmen…who knew! I suppose its a novelty for those who haven't seen nor experienced real snow. I had lots of requests last year for snowmen so I made these little ornaments from 1-1/2 inch and 2 inch styrofoam balls with paper mache clay to form the noses, eyes, buttons and hats. They're sitting on cork platforms with paper mache clay filler so they'll sit by themselves on a mantel. Red and green pipe cleaners were used for the scarves and ear muffs. The cap and scarf on the snowman to the far right was made of stretchy T-shirt fabric.
Paper mache clay is one of my favorite mediums for crafting. Its used in place of paper mache (paper strips and paste) over an armiture. It's simply toilet paper soaked in water, squeezed dry then shredded fine in a food processor. Joint compound, homemade white glue, flour, bleach and gylcerin was whirled with the shredded paper until a smooth dough was achieved.
Noni Leaf Tea – Detoxes and Boosts ImmunityOctober 28, 2012
Noni grows throughout the South Pacific and Caribbean islands. For centuries the natives used the leaves of the noni plant for medicinal purposes. Today the fruit and its juice are more commonly known, though I can't understand why that stinky stuff would appeal to anyone. The leaves, however, are pleasantly fragrant when dried and steeped for an herbal tea. It really tastes like another green tea. Noni Leaf Tea is naturally caffeine-free and to quote http://nutritionwithsonia.com :
"Studies have shown the leaf to be the most nutrient-rich part of the plant, containing health promoting nutrients including phyto-chemicals, antioxidants and bio-flavonoids. Rich in a number of vitamins and minerals – phosphorus, iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, vitamin K1, niacin and more. Noni leaf is rich in plant sterols, protein, glycosides, and anthraquinones.
The leaf has many benefits when taken regularly – will protect us from toxins and pollutants, encourages the body to detox, helps prevent the premature onset of age-related diseases, boosts our immune defences, reduces our risk of developing cancer, aids in better digestion and assimilation, helps to cleanse our intestinal system in a very mild way, reduces inflammation and eases pain, has mild anti-bacterial properties, and helps to maintain normal blood sugar levels."
Chicken and Mushrooms over Sauteed PolentaOctober 4, 2012
Living alone and cooking for one it seems there are always leftovers. This dish was just a spur of the moment concoction thrown together with leftover polenta slices, a paillard of chicken breast, some mushrooms and a handful of baby spinach leaves. It ended up being a tasty main that I will downsize for a starter dish the next time friends come for dinner.
The polenta was seasoned with Rosemary Salt, butter and grated parmigiano then poured into a mini loaf pan and refrigerated overnight. The next day it popped right out of the pan and was super easy to slice 1/2-inch thick. I sauteed the slices in nutty brown butter until they turned golden brown.
If you'd like a list of ingredients and more specific information leave me a comment below.
Lime Pound Cake with Agave Nectar and Agave Marshmallow FluffOctober 3, 2012
Have you heard the saying, "40 is the old side of young and 50 is the young side of old?" Well Martha's son is visiting from Connecticut and turned 50 on Monday so we all met at the Cofresi Resort to wish him Happy Birthday. Wendell is also a diabetic and fond of agave for sweetening his drinks and desserts. We had to have a cake of-course and Martha asked me to do the honors of baking Wendell a cake with agave nectar.
This lime pound cake is made with 1/2 cup agave nectar instead of 1 cup of granulated refined sugar. Everyone enjoyed the cake which was luscious with the zest and juice of a large lime. I think the agave allowed the lime to really sparkle.


text:
Executive Suites at The Rosebank
Spacious, Trendy & Relaxing
4 Executive Suites
The 4 Executive Suites in Johannesburg's The Rosebank hotel are spacious, trendy and designed for total comfort and relaxation. Each room is 53m² in size and offers an elegantly furnished lounge; sofa seating and a big screen television that provides the ideal environment for entertaining or holding meetings, without compromising the privacy of your bedroom. Dressed in the finest crisp white linen, the king size bed in the suite is specially designed to provide quality rest and renewal of body and mind. Provision of an executive work station and chair allows guests to catch up on the day's paperwork while the two armchairs provide seating for guests to relax and unwind after a busy day in Johannesburg.
The Executive Suites are fully equipped with a mini-bar, air-conditioning, in-room laptop friendly safe, WiFi, satellite TV and hairdryer.