Will Grayson, Will Grayson is the story of two teenagers named, yes indeed, Will Grayson: both live in the suburbs of Chicago, and end up meeting one night. Their story’s told in alternating chapters, with Green narrating from the point of view of one Will Grayson, and Levithan writing from the point of view of the other. One Will Grayson has two rules for himself: “1. Don’t care too much. 2. Shut up” (p 5). Obviously these are not the kind of rules that lead to a very fulfilling life, which this Will Grayson figures out as the story progresses. The other Will Grayson isn’t the happiest guy on the planet, either: he’s all bravado and distancing and denial; at one point he talks about how he doesn’t let himself wish for things because things never work out. One Will Grayson is best friends with Tiny Cooper, who is the opposite of tiny, both in size and in personality. Tiny is huge (he’s an offensive lineman) and loud and loudly gay; he’s written a musical about himself called Tiny Dancer and has talked the student council into giving him funding to put it on. Will has a conflicted relationship with Tiny: they’re friends, but Will often feels pushed around by him, or embarrassed by him, or overshadowed by him, or all of the above. The other Will, meanwhile, doesn’t really have any friends: just a pair of computer-geek guy semi-friends and a Goth girl friend who has a crush on him. He’s met a great guy online, but when they plan to meet in person, things don’t pan out. Which is when the paths of the two Will Graysons cross. The rest of the book is about love, truth, and Tiny Cooper’s musical, and it’s really satisfying, sweet and smart and fun.
I know my friend Kate had mentioned John Green before, and I’d been interested enough to put Paper Towns on my (never-ending) list of books I want to read, but I hadn’t actually gotten around to reading anything by him until now. David Levithan, meanwhile, is one of my favorite YA authors: I love how his books are queer/post-queer, and the way his characters look at/move through the world often really resonates with me. Generally speaking (though maybe less in this book, or less in his chapters of this book) there’s a lot of sweetness and charm and love and hope in his books, and city nights and breathless romance and closely observed detail and exuberance, and the combination of all those things gets me, every time. When Kate mentioned she was reading this, I knew I had to put it on hold at the library posthaste, and am glad I did. To give you a taste of the Will Graysons:
One Will Grayson: “She kisses like a sweet devouring, and I don’t know where to touch her because I want all of her. I want to touch her knees and her hips and her stomach and her back and her everything, but we’re encased in all these clothes, so we’re just two marshmallows bumping against each other, and she smiles at me while still kissing because she knows how ridiculous it is, too” (p 190).
The other Will Grayson: “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” (p 24).
Nitpicky complaints: 1) There’s a whole bit about a (fictional) band with a song called “Annus Miribalis.” One character does point out to another that the band’s name is not so smart—the band’s called the Maybe Dead Cats, and the whole idea of Schrödinger’s cat is that the cat’s both alive and dead, no “maybe” about it. So maybe the band can’t spell either. But it made me wonder if, rather, the author and his copy editor couldn’t spell. 2) One of the high schools in the book has a “Gay-Straight Alliance.” If my high school managed to have a “Gay-Straight-Bi Alliance” ten years ago, surely some of them have branched out now to names involving more than just a dichotomy? LGBTQ + straight allies? OK, OK, I guess that’s sort of a mouthful. 3) Hm, going back to point number one: copy editing and proofreading are important. Dutton/Penguin, do you need some help? I know a good freelancer! It is jarring when you have weltschmerz and weltzschermz in the same paragraph. Also embarrassing when the acknowledgments section mentions “the Penguin publishling company.”
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