One of the Guys: Difference between revisions
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{{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> |
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| name = One of the Guys |
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| translator = |
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| image = <!--prefer 1st edition--> |
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| country = [[United States]] |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
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| series = |
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| genre = [[Satirical]] [[novel]] |
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| publisher = [[HarperCollins]] |
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| release_date = 1999 |
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| media_type = Print ([[Hardback]] and [[Paperback]]) |
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| pages = 306 pp (first edition, hardback) |
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| isbn = ISBN 0-06-019365-4 (first edition, hardback) |
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| dewey= 813/.54 21 |
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| congress= PS3575.O83 O64 1999 |
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| oclc= 40395925 |
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'''''One of the Guys''''' is an earnestly [[satirical]] and [[picaresque novel]] by [[Robert Clark Young]], published in 1999, concerning the fantastical adventures of a man posing as a [[chaplain]] on a [[U.S. Navy]] ship whose crew goes berserk and terrorizes a number of ports in the Far East before the hopelessly alcoholic, sexed-up crew turns on itself in a paroxysm of [[Line-crossing ceremony|crossing the line]] mania, just as the gods are about to intervene by destroying the Subic Bay Naval Base through causing [[Mount Pinatubo]] to blow up. |
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==Literary significance and criticism== |
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Though predominantly a satire, the book also works on levels of [[symbol]]ism and [[allegory]]. The hero, Miles Derry, a recovering alcoholic who is attempting to improve his destitute condition by impersonating a gay Methodist chaplain, is an [[Existentialism|existential]] and self-actualizing figure who represents the [[American Dream]] of bettering oneself, no matter how ludicrous the means or the results. While the narrative tone manages to be humorous and realistic at the same time, Derry's journey itself can be said to be [[Surrealism|surreal]] as he strives to survive aboard a Navy ship that symbolizes the corruption of American institutions. In this sense, he is the heir to [[The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling|Tom Jones]] and [[Barry Lyndon]], and one of the few modern representations of the [[picaresque]] hero, whose roguishness, low birth, and survival by wits alone serve as ironic counterpoint to the real targets of the satire, the corrupt society and [[institutional abuses]] symbolized by the whirl of madness around him. |
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Despite the book's multiple layers, many critics and readers have enjoyed it on the level of a [[tall tale]]. Critic Josip Novakovich, who compared ''One of the Guys'' to ''[[A Confederacy of Dunces]]'', has said, "If you read the book in public, you will laugh so much and go through so many facial expressions that you'll run the risk of having the police called to check you out." |
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After the initial publication of ''One of the Guys'' by [[HarperCollins]] in 1999, the book was held before the U.S. Congress as obscene by the [[American Family Association]]. |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:One Of The Guys}} |
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[[Category:1999 novels]] |
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[[Category:American satirical novels]] |
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[[Category:Novels by Robert Clark Young]] |
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[[Category:Picaresque novels]] |
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[[Category:HarperCollins books]] |
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Revision as of 22:59, 17 May 2013
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