Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
by Jesse Andrews

Another book I read this week was Jesse Andrews’ Me and Earl and The Dying Girl. It’s a problem novel concerning dealing with cancer and death. In this book, the main protagonist is Greg Gaines, who has discovered the secret to surviving in high school is to be so minimally engaged with any particular clique as to able to juggle multiple conflicting factions.  Of course, this means Greg really has practically no close attachments to anyone in his school.  All that comes to an awkward end when his mother informs him that a girl from his synagogue , Rachel Kushner, has been diagnosed with leukemia. Rachel and Greg had been friends several years ago, but had drifted apart in the intervening years.  Greg’s mom practically forces him to reconnect, and Greg does what he can to bring a smile to Rachel as she faces what eventually turns out to be terminal cancer.

Rachel learns that Greg and his only real friend, foul-mouthed  Earl, make movies.  Earl shares their movies with Rachel, without warning Greg. Funny escapade after funny escapade, Greg and Earl find themselves making a horrible mishmash of a movie for Rachel.  Greg practically stops going to classes and doing any homework in his efforts to make the movie of Rachel.  The final result is very near unwatchable, and by some train-wreck of circumstances, Greg and Earl are forced to present their tribute movie to the whole high school, which is itself a nightmare.

The book is incredibly funny, something I was not expecting in a book about cancer and death, but the author’s voice is very authentic in his trouble dealing with saying goodbye and his awkward realization that he barely knows the inner thoughts of his friend Earl.  The book is not so much about Rachel and dying, as it is about Greg and his maturation from lonely kid in the periphery to someone who would be able to take ownership in his life enough to write a book about his experiences. In the epilogue, the reader discovers that this whole book was written as a project to convince the University of Pittsburgh to let him in despite his poor grades his senior year.  The writing is at times hilarious and heartbreaking, full of profanity, wit, and gallows humor.  I really enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing the movie adaptation when it comes out on DVD.