Book Club Chooses Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau for first read. Please join us!

[aart]

I like how the characters grew/changed by the end. The only one who didn't was Mary Jane's dad, with his racist bigotry.

I thought Mary Janes mothers 'transformation' was rather unbelievable.

She also starts off kind of plain Jane in the beginning but blossoms from there.

Yes!

Question 2 if you accept my challenge: when did you realize adults/your parents were flawed and did not have all the answers?

Oh, at about 15 when I started spending summers with my hippie brother.
This book really pinged for me due to those summers.
Getting out of the bubbles of our young upbringing can really open our eyes.
Then I had kids and I began to see from their lenses....that only increases as I get older.

 

[Sally PB]

when did you realize adults/your parents were flawed and did not have all the answers?

Since my parents divorced when I was 6, I "knew" somehow that things weren't perfect in the adult world. My dad came across as very flawed in some respects. I tell people he "was facts smart and people dumb." It wasn't until I was in my late-twenties and he had passed away that I realized he had had a big influence on how I thought, even though I didn't live with him. I can understand some of his reasoning now that I have a few decades of life experience.

I thought Mary Janes mothers 'transformation' was rather unbelievable.

Uh, yeah. Me too. I could see it happening, eventually, but not that quickly or thoroughly.

Getting out of the bubbles of our young upbringing can really open our eyes.

Oh, my is this true!

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Since my parents divorced when I was 6, I "knew" somehow that things weren't perfect in the adult world. My dad came across as very flawed in some respects. I tell people he "was facts smart and people dumb." It wasn't until I was in my late-twenties and he had passed away that I realized he had had a big influence on how I thought, even though I didn't live with him. I can understand some of his reasoning now that I have a few decades of life experience.

Uh, yeah. Me too. I could see it happening, eventually, but not that quickly or thoroughly.

Oh, my is this true!

My parents divorced when i was about 18. My mom probably shared too much, but both parents were really great about not bad-mouthing each other, and Dad never missed his child support payments , etc. We often do holidays all together now, etc.

I can also agree with the critical reviews that said the book glossed over the real gritty issues like drug addiction, but I can see that someone Mary Jane's age might not really understand or see all of the ugly realities. The fact that she thought she might be a sex addict cracked me up.

 

[aart]

but I can see that someone Mary Jane's age might not really understand or see all of the ugly realities.

I had to keep remembering.... this is the voice of a naive teen.

The fact that she thought she might be a sex addict cracked me up.

Yes, what happens when parents don't clue kids into the realities of life, especially sex.

My parents were functional on the outside, yet highly dysfunctional.
Miserable yet stayed married.

 

[Sally PB]

I had to keep remembering.... this is the voice of a naive teen.

I was proud of Mary Jane when she asked her dad at their Country Club dinner about the club having black employees who were not allowed to join the club as members.

I think her mother asking if they could please not have this conversation at dinner was supposed to prepare the reader for her transformation at the end of the book...? I was hopeful that MJ's parents would divorce, actually.

I was thinking about this book while I was in the waiting room at the dentist's office last week. One of the songs over the sound system was Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is."

 

[aart]

I was proud of Mary Jane when she asked her dad at their Country Club dinner about the club having black employees who were not allowed to join the club as members.

That was great!

I think her mother asking if they could please not have this conversation at dinner was supposed to prepare the reader for her transformation at the end of the book...?

I saw it as part of her own denial, submission to her husband, and habit of not discussing difficult things.

Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is."

GREAT tune.....as is the rest of that album.

 

[Sally PB]

I saw it as part of her own denial, submission to her husband, and habit of not discussing difficult things.

Yeah, me too. But it also brought back memories of painful conversations at the dinner table when we kids would go visit our dad. I never said anything, because I didn't agree. But I sure wished we didn't have those conversations at dinner. No escape.

 

[aart]

Yeah, me too. But it also brought back memories of painful conversations at the dinner table when we kids would go visit our dad. I never said anything, because I didn't agree. But I sure wished we didn't have those conversations at dinner. No escape.

Thing is the dinner table is when everyone is together, so a good place for discussions if they are held in a reasonable fashion. Obviously that is not always(rarely?) the scenario.

 

[Sally PB]

Thing is the dinner table is when everyone is together, so a good place for discussions if they are held in a reasonable fashion. Obviously that is not always(rarely?) the scenario.

Oh, sure. It was the guilt trips I wish I could have escaped.

To be fair, there were good times at dinner too. Laughter and good food.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Loving this discussion! I was lucky as far as politics and social commentary goes. My dad was an ACLU member and legal aid attorney /administrator. We are definitely on the same page there with 3 out if 4 of my siblings. Mom started off pretty conservative, but is a democratic precinct leader now.