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.
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Book Description
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 the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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 the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This one's a must read,
By Ann Werner (Southern California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: One of the Guys (Paperback)
I just finished reading "One Of The Guys" and have to say that I thought it was smashing. The little blurb on the front of the book describes it as a "service comedy" and I've read several comments by people saying how hard they laughed. To be quite honest, I didn't think of it as a comedy at all and only laughed once near the end but when I did I howled. I did, however, think that this story was full of irony and biting wit and those are the qualities that made it such a wonderful reading experience for me. There was so much truth in the story: the truth of human nature, the sad truths about the things humans do to other humans and then excuse those actions by dehumanizing the ones whom they abuse and the hopeful truth that even though a human being hits bottom there is always the possibility that he/she can begin anew and become a different person. Not quite the way Miles did it but as a metaphor it was the perfect plotline. And, contrary to what some extremist organizations would have us believe, I think it is important that people know about the terrible and unforgiveable things that are visited upon people in countries as poor as those cited as sex ports in the story. The only way to rid ourselves of immoralities is to look at them straight on and say that this isn't right and it has to stop. To stick our collective heads in the sand and pretend that such things don't exist is not only cowardly but it debases us all.I can understand why the Navy is upset by this book. It tells too much of a truth to be palatable to them. And to anyone who has ever had to deal with a 19 year old male, I say multiply that one young man by a ship's complement of 600 and try to imagine what you would get. I think, upon reflection, one would have to agree that you would get what is described in this book. To believe that the United States Military is what is portrayed in movies like Operation Petticoat is so naive as to be laughable. Perhaps in the real world things aren't quite as lax as described in this story but I would be willing to bet that Robert Young's account isn't too far off the mark. If I had to characterize One Of The Guys in one sentence, I would say that it is the story of a man who has been lost for all of his life who, despite running away from what is left of his life and discarding his identity, finds in himself the man he always wanted to be. This is one great story.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book by a new author,
By Peter Ashton (Britain) - See all my reviews
This review is from: One of the Guys (Hardcover)
Superb piece of modern American fiction, in the best traditions of the likes of early John Irving. The story suerbly develops the main (and subsidary) characters, and you really want to know what is going to happen at the end. It is both humourous, touching, bitter sweet, and yet has an edge and a newness to it, which makes it interesting
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Guise.,
By
This review is from: One of the Guys (Paperback)
This is a most unusual novel. You've got Miles Derry, who begins the book cleaning up the glory-hole video booths at a porn shop. He's an ex-addict, ex-drunk, a father of one child out of wednlock he has never really gotten to know, and has spent his whole life feeling like he is just not "One of the Guys." Well, in one of said booths is a dead naval chaplain, who bears more than enough of a passing resemblance to Miles that Miles can assume his identity. Shipping out with the Navy as a Chaplain, Miles has what I can only call a somewhat surreal journey, which, regardless of a few bumps along the way, kept my interest throughout.Despite some really foul language (even I was blushing at parts), and a few very tired stereotypes (gay priests yet again, anyone?), the book was very good, and I enjoyed it. It is cynical, and in places outright repulsive in the vivid prose used to describe what is going on about, around, and to our pseudo-chaplain. I also have no grasp at all on the US Navy and its workings, but imagine that Young's representations were extrapolated: driven to an extreme to really show the sides he wanted illustrated. I'm above the 49th parallel, though, so I found a lot of the Navy rules, regulations, and acronyms stupefying, making it much easier to walk this novel hand in hand with Miles. I caution against reading this book too seriously. I laughed a lot, when I wasn't swallowing a wince or a queasy feeling, and even though I'm finished, I still can't decide how I feel about Miles. It's a thought-provoking book, if you can get past the coarseness and gore. I'd reccommend it, just beware the sea-sickness.
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