Customer Reviews

Doing It

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Last year many of us got to read the highly publicized and highly charged essay in The Guardian by British author Anne Fine about the new Melvin Burgess novel DOING IT. (If you haven't read the essay, Google "Guardian Anne Fine Doing It" and you'll find a link.) To put it mildly, Anne Fine was unable to find the appeal in DOING IT.

Reading Fine's attack, along with statements by other writers about Burgess's proported attempts to "push the envelope" by having the male, high school characters so candidly discussing issues of male sexuality, left me somewhat squeemish about the prospect of reading the book. I'd heard lots of "Wows," but not any "Really great story!"

DOING IT is, in fact, a really great story about three male high school friends and their obsessions about and relationships with females. It is well-written and compelling, fun and honest and occasionally heartwarming. Those three high school boys are a self conscious, vulnerable, and sensitive lot. And while I cannot necessarily see myself as any one of those three characters, I had friends in high school who were dead ringers.

To argue that normal high school boys don't spend a lot of time thinking about girls and girls' bodies would make my high school experience abnormal. (It could be argued that Richie's Picks began in the late 1960s when I kept a secret, hidden list, updated weekly, of the ten girls at school I'd most like to be with.) To argue that boys aren't fearful about their adequacy, that they don't worry about whether their bodies are normal, or that they don't say truly gross stuff on a regular basis is, of course, ridiculous. And to argue that boys won't go crazy over this book is something that even Ms. Fine didn't even have the...um...nerve to claim.

My point is this: DOING IT is a primo Growing Up Male book. High school and public YA librarians absolutely need to forget about Anne Fine's fears of DOING IT. Instead they need to read DOING IT and need to buy it for their collections whether or not it is their cup of T (as in testosterone).

I'm recommending this book for all high school and public library YA collections.

This book provides from a first person point of view the sexual awakenings of three high school boys. Dino is the popular one, who lusts after the equally popular Jackie, who spurns him for her much older boyfriend. When she finally relents and starts snogging him, she can't help but lead him to the point of doing it, and then disappoints him. Dino instead loses his virginity with the younger, but more experienced Zoe, who plays him like a violin before ultimately destroying him for two-timing Jackie. Ben is the quiet one that all the girls are interested in, but he never asks anyone out because he's secretly been seduced by Miss Young, his drama teacher, who provides him sex but cannot provide him the experience of a girl friend he really longs for. When he finally finds a way to his freedom, she disappears with no consequences, which seems unrealistic in this day and age (compare Thisbe Nissen's The Good People of New York, where the girl's affair with her teacher occurs about 20 years ago). Jonathan is the only one attracted to someone he actually likes as a person, but Deborah being overweight makes her the subject of teasing from his friends and he cannot overcome both the razzing and the odd sensation he has in his penis, which causes him impotence when it is time to go all the way. He finally gets this fixed by a kind woman doctor.

Surrounding all this is a social milieu that includes mobile phones but otherwise could be the era of the Knack with condoms.

I enjoyed Burgess's writing and accepted that I was reading a comic novel that was trying to be frank and sensational, but was also conventional and ultimately moral.

I recommend that parents read this book before allowing a person under the age of 18 to read it. It is an excellent novel with well written and recognizable characters. We all knew or were kids like these in high school. Do not let anyone fool you into thinking that this is a novel which only the current generation can relate. The things that are dscibed in this novel happen everyday and in fact are somewhat tame compared to the outlandish behavior that is descibed on the 6 o'clock news. All in all a very entertaining read

Melvin Burgess, Doing It (Henry Holt, 2004)

It took me two hundred seventy-nine days to read Doing It. While that's not a record overall, it's a record for any book that I've finished since 1999. (I plugged away at both Steven Rushforth's Pinkerton's Sister and Brian D'Amato's Beauty for longer--in the latter case, much longer--before finally defenestrating them.) The funny thing is, I read the final three-quarters of it in the space of a week; it just takes a long, long, long time to get going.

The story chronicles a year in the life of three friends, Dino, Ben, and Jonathon, in their quest to get laid. Dino has the hots for Jackie, the most desirable girl in school. Jackie is seeing someone else, but is flattered by Dino's attention. Ben is in the enviable (to everyone else) position of shagging the comely drama teacher, but has to keep it a secret from even his best mates. Jonathon, on the other hand, feels like a fifth wheel. Until, that is, the big party Dino throws at which to finally land Jackie... where everything goes *** over teakettle.

It's the party where everything takes off, Burgess hits his stride, and the words start flowing. The lead-up to it, though, which is roughly the first seventy-five pages of the book, is painfully slow, even for obvious setup. I probably wouldn't blame you if you gave up during those seventy-five pages, but if you're contemplating a book-burning, I'll ask you to give it one more chance, because it really does get easier on the eyes once you get farther in. ***

According to Burgess, he wrote this, his third YA (young adult) book because, "I do believe that we have let young men down very badly in terms of the kinds of books written for them. This book is my go at trying to bring young male sexual culture into writing." I'm not sure I really buy the premise that teenage boys are lacking in representations of their "sexual culture," it may just be that they are located in film (from Porky's to American Pie to Superbad) rather than books. I'm pretty sure that one could make the reverse statement about teenage girls and film -- but whatever the case, one thing I have noticed as a casual reader of teen lit is that over the last ten years,YA authors and publishers have been increasingly heading for edgier and more controversial terrain.

This story definitely fits that mold, as it revolves around the sex lives of three 17-year-old boys in England and doesn't pull any punches when it comes to graphic language or description (albeit in British slang that American parents may not find as objectionable). It's not exactly breaking news that teenage boys are obsessed with sex, and what Burgess does here is try to give expression to that. While it does succeed in fits and starts, the story is more notable for how boring it generally is, and how soap-operaish the plotlines are, than it is for breaking any kind of new ground. The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the book is especially tedious as Burgess labors to set up Dino (incredibly handsome and dating the school babe), Ben (apparently hapless with the girls, but secretly having crazy sex with a 20-something drama teacher), and Jon (the loudmouth with a crush on a slightly chubby girl). After this tedious setup, the book finally gets going as Dino encounters increasing frustration in his attempt to lose his virginity, Ben encounters increasing distress as his secret sex life, and Jon encounters increasing distress as his attraction to the chubby girl.

Unfortunately there's just not that much that's interesting. Gee, guys have anxieties about sex too? Shocking! Guys talk and joke about sex all the time in great detail? Shocking! I guess it's nice that the main characters express a range of attitudes, from Dino's extreme horndog duplicity to Ben's implausibly maturity, to Jon's aching obsession with how others will perceive his relationship with chubby Debbie. Similarly, the women evoke a range of sexuality, from pretty Jackie's on-again, off-again desire to "do it" with Dino, to Debbie's good-natured good-time attitude, to the teacher's sick emotional and physical manipulation, to a fourth girl's utilitarian attitude. But too many of the characters sounds too much alike, and like many YA books, they are generally a touch too self-aware to be realistic.

Ultimately, the book just isn't interesting or good enough to warrant the controversy it seems to have sparked (at least in England). Perhaps the most telling verdict is that it was the basis for an ABC teen series that lasted all of one year.

I was fortunate enough to read this book while still in High school and it had a very profound effect on my views on sex especially sex amongst young people. This story centers around several young London high schoolers and their mindsets, feelings, and sexual experiences. Being from a southern Texas city in the US this book was a huge eyeopener for me as we were mostly educated that people simply didnt have sex at such a young age. Looking back in hindsight, I laugh at how naive I was. This book really opened my eyes to the fact that different cities and different parts of the world operate under different social norms. Also, many of the students even at my high school have many stories (as I found out years later) very similar to the ones told in this book yet I never operated in these social circles. I highly recommend this book for anyone as the story and writing is fantastic and while vulgar and graphic, the story may change your perspective or at least let you glimpse the reality of teenage sex.

I've been reading quite some YA books this past month, and despaired over the majority of them so far. Either they were pretentious, or condescending, or had a (dire) message/lesson, or read like adults trying far too hard to sound like teenagers, or were judgemental, or considered teens to all have a naturally low IQ. Some were even written by teenagers and sounded like strained hard feminists too old to remember anything before 35.

What a blast is Melvin Burgess compared! A fresh and original voice, a believable one, and one which drew me in with the first paragraph. I fell in love with all his male protagonists, one after the other and was enchantedly following their inner and outer battles. I couldn't put it down, kept giggling and laughing out loud, not just because of the shenanigans of those three boys, but also because they inevitably reminded me of similar occasions in my own youth.

Anne Fine has ranted over this one, and after reading her rant I was disquieted as to whether this would be a good read. People, forget Anne Fine, that lady has a problem, a serious one, whereas Burgess really hit the nail on the head and leaves us deeply caring for the three 17 y/o guys. Yes, they want to get laid, yes some of their thoughts are shallow, but only to be actively self-reflected on the turnaround. Every one of them comes over as a deep, thoughtful and sensitive personality who just happens to be young and exuberant and starting out. Ms. Fine do get over your prude repressedness please. Fast. Or shut up. Your rant was largely misplaced!

The Guardian alleges that girls would be off dating for years after reading this. Well, I am no girl anymore, but heck, I wished I was a teenager again and dating right there. Unlike what the Guardian says, the girls aren't talked down upon, all the boys are ultimately awash with respect the moment their little man isn't too talkative and they start thinking. And even when overcome by lust they aren't sordid or negative at all.

It's not just all fun and laughs either, Ben is in a quite abusive relationship with his teacher, Dino needs to grow aware of what he needs to value in a relationship, and his talk with his father is dealt with in a delicate way. Jonathon, ah no, I won't spoil this for you, but there's also a moment of absolute courage for him.

The writing itself is brilliant, each of the characters achieves his own voice and most of the time it feels perfectly right. The only thing I would criticize is that I would have seen them all a year or so younger than 17, but that's a neglectable complaint. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I was laughing out loud often, I felt with every one of them and I was sorry to arrive at the end of it.

I can only advise everyone to give this book a chance, it is absolutely nothing it was accused of.

Burgess' novel grabbed me from the moment I picked it up. This author's voice is incredible. Authentic. Funny. Edgy. Irreverent.

When I say "I couldn't put it down," I mean it. I was glued to the couch and read his book from start to finish, and was sorry when it was done. I laughed, I gasped in horror, I bit my nails with worry. Not many novels do that for me.

The book shares the mindset and voice of the incredible British TV show SKINS. So much so that I was convinced Burgess was a co-creator of the series, but this seems not to be. Like SKINS, DOING IT follows the lives of a group of Brit teens as they obsess about themselves and about sex, as they lean on their friends, and muddle through life dealing with some serious issues as well. Parental infidelity. Adult manipulation. Character scarring events. Self esteem. Heartache.

You can't help but be drawn in by the shocking language, and brutally frank thoughts. So honest. So spot on. And, I might add, not at all vicarious. This book isn't one of those stupid shocker tales. It's brilliant and witty. And it shows how teens really are, at least at times.

This is a book to share among friends, so please do! Because of the content, you might not find it on a library shelf or in a classroom, even though it so deserves to be there. Seek this title out, devour it, and enjoy!

I found this book incredibly funny and it really brought me back to High School. My childhood best friend gave me the book last year and I finally got a chance to read it this holiday weekend and I couldn't put it down. It was a funny, lighthearted, easy read.

Let me preface this by saying - this book was incredibly awkward to read in public (as in, while in the break room at work) due to not only the title, but also the content. Regardless of said awkwardness, Doing It is a really fun read and almost too realistic at times.

Meet Dino, Jonathon and Ben - three juniors in high school. Like most 17 year old boys, they only have one thing on their mind - sex. Dino, a stock male who knows he looks good, likes Jackie - the hottest girl in school. Jackie, however, is so over high school boys and their immature ways - that is, until curiosity gets the best of her. Jonathon is good friends with Deborah, a sweet girl in his class, and that's it, he'll diligently remind you. Because Deborah, you see, is a bit overweight, so clearly he'll never be caught with her. That is, of course, until things get a bit crazy at a house party. And Ben - Ben has a secret of his own, one that can't get out, because if it does it'll ruin not just his life, but the life of the other person involved as well. The other female involved. The other older female who may be crazy involved. And thus starts Doing It, a book that follows the three boys through highs and lows, parties and breakups, mistakes and take backs. And, ultimately, through them not quite becoming mature enough to be men, but getting exactly what they're after.

Doing It isn't for the faint of heart - as the title suggests, it's rather racy and very graphic. But, that just adds to its charm, in a way. Melvin Burgess has a way of writing these private moments in incredibly raw and blunt ways. Just like guys are. As an author, he doesn't hold back. He wants it to be like you're in a locker room overhearing these three guys talk about girls. It's truthful. And because of that, clearly, as a female, I hated all three of them.

Okay, not really hated - they all had their charm, which, again, was what I really liked about the book. For instance, Dino is awful. He's the alpha; he's chauvinistic around women and macho around his friends. He's the most graphic of the bunch, constantly making sexual innuendoes and judging every girl by her looks (which, most 17 year old guys do). However, he's also sensitive. As he learns that his parents are having marital problems, you see a different side of him - the real side he hides from his friends. And although I thought the marital problems subplot was pointless at first, I realized how important it really was. It was necessarily in order to develop Dino's character, bring life to it. Jonathon keeps battling with himself regarding Deborah. Should he like her because she's great, or should he not because his friends think she's fat. And Ben, well, Ben learns that thinking with your brain is a bit smarter than thinking with...other body parts. In the end, he was my favorite character. He was smart, helpful.

What I liked most was that the end didn't bring magic and happiness. Sure, some characters changed for the better - learning from their situations, but some ended up right where they started. And that's what usually happens, doesn't it?

I liked Doing It because it really was a realistic portrayal of high school - how horrid it truly is at times. And the British slang (as Burgess is a British writer), just made it better. It's a book that should be given to high school guys, although I'm sure many teachers might disagree. Sure, there are graphic sexual scenes and horrid language, but there's also a bit of heart. And sometimes, guys really need that (heart, that is).