One of the Guys [Paperback]

Robert Clark Young (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 22, 2000

This novel starts off with a bang and does not let up until the last page is turned. Miles Derry, a down-on-his-luck man who, in his sole pursuit to make his monthly child support payment, has taken on a string of dead-end and often seedy jobs. One night, while working at the Little Pink Bookstore, he comes across a stiff (in every sense of the word) who turns out to be a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. Deciding to take the chaplain's identity as a way out of his own miserable life, Miles burns the body--and his bridges--and reports for duty on the USS Warren Harding as it embarks for the Far East. The drama of his double-life at sea not only transforms him from a recovering alcoholic to a military man of the cloth, but he discovers he's married and a closet homosexual to boot. As the ship travels from Okinawa to the Philippines to Thailand he finds himself in murky waters, but it's certainly our pleasure as the author skillfully draws out the tension and humor inherent in the situation. Thanks to his own varied experiences, including a stint aboard a Navy ship, Young captures perfectly the tone and feel of life on a military tanker. The characters in the novel are at once real and colorful. As a chaplain, he deals with men at their most vulnerable. His inherent gentleness and empathy wins him respect, and the affection of the widow of the real chaplain.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An implausible plot hampers the credibility of this earnest but awkward debut novel. Recovering alcoholic and drug addict Miles Derry sees the opportunity to escape his seamy life by assuming the identity of a Navy chaplain who has died of a heart attack during a backroom sexual encounter in a San Diego adult bookstore. After torching the naked corpse, Derry dons the dead chaplain's uniform and ships off to sea on board the U.S.S. Warren Harding. Derry manages to convince the hard-boiled crew, who have never seen the new chaplain before, that he is their man of the cloth. His gentle spirit and willingness to listen to the men make up for his complete ignorance about the military. The only sailor who is suspicious is removed by another convenient heart attack. Derry, determined to act morally and compassionately in his new incarnation, hungers to be accepted as "one of the guys" and to prove his worth to the men who serve as stand-ins for his condemning father. Endlessly detailed descriptions of military life include an overload of technical acronyms and forays into the lurid sex markets of the Philippines, Derry manages to cut a noble figure, much in contrast to the man he's impersonating, who carried on affairs with other military chaplains and deceived his faithful wife. The impostor even becomes a naval war hero and finally gets the respect he's always craved, and when he meets the chaplain's widow (the beautiful Michelle, also a reformed alcoholic), their erotic and spiritual affinity wraps up the tale far too neatly. Some vivid characters may help readers overlook this graphically poetic book's improbable plot structure.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A debut novel built from a one-line premise: porn-shop worker finds dead Navy chaplain in a stall, assumes his identity, boards ship, let the fun begin. Miles Derry is a down-and-out, recovering drug user and alcoholic who mops the floor in a pornography arcade. His life has been a string of failures: he has disappointed his family, himself, and yearns for his daughter, Kari, who lives beyond his reach in the Midwest. On a fateful night, Miles finds the body of James Banquette, a Navy chaplain, toppled over in a stall, and notices a remarkable physical resemblance between himself and the expired cleric. The uniform also fits perfectly. So, after burning the shop and the body in it, Derry is off for the USS Warren Harding, bound for East Asia and filled with old salts, hard-asses, frightened recruits, you get the picture. (One lusty civilian math teacher, Robin in the tight shorts, adds spicy sexual intrigue.) The ship makes its way to the Philippines and, later, to Okinawa, both of them sexual emporia for the brazenly post-pubescent crew. Having witnessed a military mishap that incinerates a Philippine village and its inhabitants, Derry walks blandly through the tragedy of it all. He receives a homoerotic letter from a fellow priest, and begins a comforting correspondence with the widow Banquette, Michelle, who knows nothing of her husband's death. In an unlikely series of contrived events, Miles/James saves a life, is nominated for the Navy Cross, and finds possible, lasting love with Michelle. But through it allthe beatings, the sex, the acronyms peppering the textDerry is unmoved as a character. The possibly engaging dramas of the self (the assumed identity, the self as a role one plays, e.g.) are only vaguely explored. The opening situation is a clich (the priests gay) that provides entry to an unamusing recital of experiences odd, often brutal, and ultimately inert to the main character, if not to the reader. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060931892
• ISBN-13: 978-0060931896
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,185,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars seasick December 15, 2000

By diana nelson jones

Format:Hardcover

a fast, exciting, dramatic read with great characters, creative plot and plot twists. the author has an obvious sense of reality and an adherence to revealing truth, loving justice and believing in the real american way abroad, which is to protect and defend the weak and uphold good, old-fashioned virtues, which would include not abusing children in foreign lands. bravo to bob young for telling us truths we would never hear from the "proper" sources -- the authorities.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You Can't Just Read It On The Surface Level September 9, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

ONE OF THE GUYS is a deeply symbolic, satirical novel that I don't think can be read just on the surface level. This is a book that's for people who are interested in the MEANING of a work of literature, not just the surface stuff like the plot or the "vulgarity" of certain recorded speech. If the Massachusetts reader thinks that the "greatness" of a work of literature depends on having a low incidence of 4-letter words, then she should go back to reading romance novels and not bother her head with a serious work ever again. This book is beautifully written, studded with stunning passages. Does it contain documentary descriptions of naval officers? Who cares? The Florida reader sounds like the kind of guy who would read "Animal Farm" and think it was about horses and pigs! He doesn't seem to understand that in the genre of satire, hyperbole and irony are used in order to make the author's points. I don't think the characters in this book are supposed to represent naval officers, I think the author is trying to say something about humanity and human organizations. But I don't think you'll understand all of that if you just read it on the surface level like some empty-headed Tom Clancy novel or something. Just my opinion.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, somewhat profane look at the Navy October 6, 2002

By S. Doughty

Format:Hardcover

Robert Clark Young has written a throughly enjoyable book. Parts hilarious, parts sublime, often profane (of course one would expect profanity from sailors.....) in language and treatment of serious issues. While not monumemtal in scope, it never the less deals with the issues it touches upon with grace and style. While the premise sometimes stretches credibility, it does not do so to great extent. Never having been in the Navy, I probably did not enjoy it as much as one who has gone through the experience would. I recommend it.