REPORT CARD for going bovine, by libba bray
bff charm: yay
swoonworthy scale: 5
talky talk: straight up
bonus factors: creutzfeldt-jakob, physics, road trip, save ferris
relationship status: summer love
going bovine, by libba bray
the deal:
Cameron’s a slacker, a stoner, and just wants to coast through life as seamlessly as possible. Unfortunately for him, he contracts Mad Cow disease, which besides making him persona non grata at the Red Cross blood drives, sort of hoses his plan to slide through life under the radar.
The fact that he is sent on a mission by a totally cute angel called Dulcie, and is told that he has to bring his hypochondriac, dwarf hospital roommate, Gonzo, with him on this adventure doesn’t exactly help Cam’s plans to lay low. But if he can manage to tie together an old Jazz player, a missing physicist, a Viking garden gnome and The World’s Most Popular Inuit Band, he may just save the world AND save himself.
bff charm: yay!
Okay, to be honest, for the first half of this book, I was totally NOT going to give Cameron this BFF necklace. I mean, I think I would rather have given the charm to my sixth grade BFF, who, for the next two years, led the school into a rousing chorus of telling me how ugly I was. Every day. Cameron was THAT lame.
I mean, I get it, Cam, high school sucks, and you’ve got a perfect twin sister AND one of your parents may be cheating on their spouse, but HELLO, that is no reason to be such a slacker! I mean, ALL of those things happened to Jessica Wakefield and do you think she just decided to sit around all day, smoke pot and whine about things? No! (plus, drugs can kill! just ask Regina Morrow in Sweet Valley High #40, On The Edge.) Jessica Wakefield decided to be awesome and have 105 boyfriends and drive around in her Spider Fiat, flipping her hair all day! Why can’t you be more like Jessica Wakefield, Cameron?
BUT. That said, once Cameron accepts his mission and starts opening his eyes to the awesome world surrounding him, he is 100% my BFF.
swoonworthy scale: 5
Okay, you guys, having a thing for an angel is A LITTLE WEIRD. Except that Dulcie, who’s sort of like Cam’s guardian angel/spirit guide/fashion icon is TOTALLY AWESOME. She’s cute and quirky and I love her!
Also, it’s kinda crazy to think about things like losing one’s virginity from a boy’s point of view. I just assumed they all Did It to Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).” Boys of the world, please do not tell me that this isn’t true.
talky talk: straight up
Going Bovine represents a pretty big departure for Libba Bray, who previously was known only for her (in my opinion, awesome) Victorian-era Gemma Doyle trilogy, in which most people talk all fancy-like, like my British fella does after he’s had too much to drink. This book is pretty much the opposite of those books: very modern and freshly-written. And Libba Bray doesn’t shy away from the foul language, which I, as someone who could have made a pirate blush at age 12, really appreciate. Kids say fuck. Deal.
bonus factors: creutzfeldt-jakob!
YOU GUYS. Cameron gets Mad Cow disease! Like, actually! Also, this leads me to a little segment called Erin’s Weird Mental Library of Trivia:
Did you know that there’s a very similar form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob called kuru? It was discovered in Papua, New Guinea by a team of cultural anthropologists, who were wondering why the women and children of the tribe seemed to be falling ill with a form of C-J, but the men were not. The answer? Well, the tribe were cannibals, and the men would usually receive what was considered the better cuts of meat – flesh from the thighs, arms, belly, etc. Women and children, however, were often reduced to cannibalizing the brain, spinal cord, and other areas where the evil prions that make up C-J are centered.
It was a pretty important discovery, and it’s what led to governments enforcing safer food-handling practices and the banning of t-bone steaks and marrow in infested areas.
You’re welcome.
bonus point: physics!
I LOVE PHYSICS. Seriously. My two cats are named Schrodinger and Heisenberg. That’s how much of a physics geek I am!
In Going Bovine, there’s a lot of discussion of worm holes, string theory, the theory of everything, the theory of nothing (and the theory of something in between). And while Libba Bray is no Stephen Hawking, she does manage to pack a bit of physics punch into this book, and totally makes it fun, even for people who don’t know why naming your cats Schrodinger and Heisenberg is endlessly funny.
bonus factor: road trip!
I really think I’d enjoy a road trip. I mean, they always sound SO FUN AND COOL in books – just setting out, seeing where the wind will take you, stopping in little towns to see the giant spoon collection, or whatever. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical companies have yet to invent a motion-sickness pill that doesn’t turn me into a drooling zombie incapable of simple word sounds, so for now, a road trip is out.
But I sure do like reading about them!
bonus factor: save ferris!
As soon as the kids and teachers at Cam’s school find out that he’s been Bad Burgered, they totally rally around him! And my best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s cousin knows this guy who knows this kid who’s going out with the girl that saw Cameron pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.
casting call:
jesse eisenberg as cameron
Who else but sweet, lovable, adorkable, Not-Michael-Cera Jesse Eisenberg for slacker, stoner, kinda awesome Cameron?
kbell as dulcie
Kristen Bell is probably too old to play Dulcie, but I was coming up short on a tiny, punk rock blonde girl who Tells It Like It Is.
?? as Gonzo
Someone find me a Latino dwarf actor, please!! I can’t BELIEVE there isn’t a search feature for this kind of thing on imdb.com. How do the casting agents get anything done?
relationship: summer love
I really enjoyed reading this book. I mean, I didn’t Learn A Big Life Lesson or anything (other than “living your life is a good idea; being a slacker sucks,” but I had already learned that from pretty much every teen movie ever made), but Libba Bray kept me laughing, and guessing, and caring. At the end, I knew it was time to move on, but I also knew that when I got back to real life, I’d have tons of juicy stories to tell!
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
THANK YOU for reviewing this book, erin. after hearing libba bray talk about it at the TBF panel, i was like, “um, wow. ok? wait, really? and there’s no victorian magickery in this book? well hmm. maybe i should check it out.” and now i definitely will!
i’m really impressed that she took as risk as a writer and went all “and now for something completely different!” the whole thing sounds absolutely crazytoons.
also any FYA movie version of a book that casts jesse eisenberg is a book i need to get my hands on. and i mean that in a suggestive way. towards jesse. not the book. i typically refrain from molesting books themselves.
p.s. i think Erin’s Weird Mental Library of Trivia should be a regular feature on FYA. i am all about getting smarter.
Thank you Erin! I already love Libba Bray, but I HAVE to read this book!
I agree with Sarah about the mental library of trivia! We’re gonna learn this year!
holy cow (sorry) this sounds like a good book! the physics, the road trip, kbell as a punky angel, the weird disease — sign me up! AND we were just talking about kuru at work today. oh, and i have a joke for you, courtesy of my little brother:
heisenberg is driving down the road and gets pulled over by the cop. the cop comes to the window and says, “sir, do you know how fast you were going” and heisenberg says …
wait for it
…
“no, but i knew exactly where i was!”
This is the first time I’ve come across your blog, but I love your review style, so I’ve added you to my Google Reader subscriptions. I just picked up Going Bovine at the library, and I’m really excited to read it. Thanks for the review!
Natalie @ Mindful Musings
As someone who sees Erin regularly, I intend to take full advantage of this awesome bonus by borrowing Going Bovine. It sounds most fantastic! Plus I am heartily pro-road trip.
hey hey, meredith! Is that the only advantage to seeing me regularly? What about my sparkling wit? AND MY NEEDY BEHAVIOR??
HA, Meghan, that made me snort water. I love nerd jokes! Here’s one:
There are only 10 types of people in this world: those who read binary and those who don’t.
Sarah, you hit the nail on the head for me when you wrote of Libba Bray’s bravery in writing this (also when you talked about Jesse Eisenberg, but I will warn you to step off my man) – I found it really gutsy to come out with something completely different from her previous novels. Like, TOTALLY different. Way to go, Libba!
Welcome, Natalie! We’re pleased to have you reading!
Jenny, do not wish for Erin’s Weird Mental Library of Trivia, or I’ll start telling you about female spotted hyenas and their genitalia.
ok, so i finally got my pants in gear and read this book, and yeah, it’s totally crazytown! i agree with yr summer love relationship status, erin, cos this book didn’t make a huge impact on me at all, but i definitely enjoyed it while it lasted. there were a few times when i was like, “ok, libba, ENOUGH POP CULTURE JOKES” but overall, it was fun in a “i just spun around 100 times and now i’m dizzy and laughing on the ground” kind of way (but without, like, the nausea).
I really enjoyed this book! Libba Bray’s dialogue was spot-on, so impressive when writing teenage boys. I just thought this was super fun and quite well-written.
I just had a 60+ year old recommend this book to me! I felt like I lost a lot of my YA street cred for not having read it yet :/
Ooh, I just now saw you reviewed this like almost two years ago! I freaking LOVE Going Bovine. It is so supremely weird and full of strange, WTF things and I’m crazy about it. I put it in the same category as The True Meaning of Smek Day, which you absolutely HAVE to read. HAVE to. It’s by far my favorite book of the year. Yay for Going Bovine, which was what led me to preorder Beauty Queens!
I just finished this book and felt compelled to comment. I liked it a lot. I though it had sort of a Slaughterhouse Five vibe to it. Which, to me, is a good thing. I’m going to have to read some more Libba Bray, even if it’s nothing like this.