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Poor Rich

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Final Grade: 80/C

REVIEW: Puberty comes to Rich (don't call me Richie) Cameron and "cures" him of his asthma and allergies. Suddenly he's able to play basketball, join the swim team, and even participate in PE, all without the need to use his rescue inhaler constantly. But he still feels like an outcast, like no one likes him or understands him. The thing is, he really connects with people and understands them far better than he believes. He has a distinct lack of self-confidence.

As much as I wanted to connect with Rich, I just couldn't. He is so self-absorbed, trapped in his asthmatic-induced world, he can't see the impact he has on those around him. And, because the book is written in first person, his is the only voice, leaving no chance to connect with any of the other characters. In addition to that, the other characters move in and out of the scenes so quickly, it's hard to know much about them at all. The way the story is written, I felt like I was reading scenes that never seemed to connect or tell the whole story.

The part one of the book tells Rich's story of what he did after learning he wasn't as sick as he'd been before. While the dialogue is easy to read, there are some expressions and turns of phrases that just aren't current. For example, the basketball coach is trying to get the new kid, Edward, to play but Edward says he can't, he has to work after school. "Things change," he [the coach] says, Cagney to Edward G. Robinson. Um, huh? I thought of Cagney & Lacey at first (though that's still way outdated). But, no, this is a reference to James Cagney, who made a movie with Edward G. Robinson back in 1931 (yeah, I totally googled that one.).

The second half of the book is a collection of Rich's essays that he wrote while in therapy. That's when I decided this book was probably way too "literary" for me (plus, I felt like I was reading my students' essays. Uhg. Not ready for that yet.). Without a connection to any of the characters and a flat plot, this book was just not my style.

Rich Cameron is an unusual child, he suffers from such intense and varied allergies that he is extremely sheltered and heavily medicated. For example, even with the medication he cannot set foot inside a gymnasium without experiencing a severe reaction. He has never participated in anything in the area of physical activity but he is an extremely talented writer. His English teacher is taking advantage of his talents to have Rich tutor some of the other students in his creative writing class. Despite the workload, it is an advantage for Rich because it is his only productive social interaction and it includes helping girls.
Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, when Rich must walk across the gym floor he is astounded when he is able to do so without having to puff desperately on his inhaler. Furthermore, all of his other allergies have also vanished. This newfound freedom has disadvantages; he now is playing sports where he has absolutely no clue what he should do and he must come out of what was a predictable and comfortable shell.
The first segment of the book is Rich describing his life to date, even setting aside the allergies it has been most unusual. His father discovered that he was gay and divorced his mother to create a domestic partnership with another man that is a good friend to Rich. Rich's mother has remarried to a very homophobic man and his mother is a bit on the overprotective side. Rich is seeing an intelligent psychiatrist and there is a former nanny named Gia that provides the sex interest. Gia is only a few years older than Rich and is the one that explained the sexual world to him.
Without a doubt the best part of the book is the second section that is a set of short stories written by Rich. They cover some very sensitive themes, for example the first one is "The Pedophile Next Door", where the man that moved in next door largely kept to himself and all was peaceful until it was discovered that he was a registered sex offender. An appropriate title could have been "The Loneliness of the Sex Offender." It is a simple and sensitive story about someone trying to re-integrate into society and just be a person with a life. Another of these excellent stories is about Rich's near sexual encounter with Gia and has a great deal of understated sexual tension. If there is such a category as gentle erotica for teenage boys, then this story is in it. It seems that nearly every young boy, myself included, knew a girl a few years older that they regularly fantasized about being the opposite in their first sexual experience.

I was sent this book for an honest review. I must say I loved the book! The author Jean Blasiar certainly has a way with words. Details rang true, descriptions that did not bog down the wording. Dialogue that sounded genuine and a few embedded letters adding to the story.

With a hint of humor, and an interesting main character who is a recluse genius, he must venture off in the real world when his allergies clear up. Very interesting and page turning adventure. If you enjoyed stories like Rainman, crazy love, and such, you may like this kind of story. I certainty was entertained while educated and would read more of this author.

A tale really about all people, anyone can relate to the prose.
Recommended and reviewed by Ami Blackwelder, author of The Hunted of 2060
Hot Gossip Hot Reviews

Meet Richard "Rich" Cameron, an asthma and allergy-plagued youth content with the status quo, living the life of a typical teenage boy. "Typical," that is, if that also means your father is gay, your stepfather is homophobic, and your au pair is a drop dead gorgeous Miss October. But one thing Rich has going for himself is that he's adjusted to the changes he's had in his life, like his parents' divorce, and he's comfortable with his dad's gayness, getting along better with Brain, his dad's partner, than Steve, his stepfather. Poor Rich by the talented author Jean Blasiar is the genuinely warm and gently humorous coming-of-age story of Rich Cameron's acceptance of his father's homosexuality, and what happens to him when he outgrows his allergies, becomes more athletic, and tutors students after school in creative writing, finding that as he helps others, he, himself, grows as a person.

Poor Rich is told from the first person perspective of Rich, and as we read along, we get to know about him and share in the stress he experiences, the bullying and ostracizing he is often the victim of, and the happiness he feels at his successes, though even these moments are tempered with drawbacks. For instance, when the coach takes an interest in Rich because he has shown he can shoot free throws very well, and Rich becomes a member of the basketball team, which one might think is a good thing, Rich discovers that in many ways it isn't. He makes a friend, Larry, who is on the basketball team, and gets accepted a little bit more by the other guys, but he also ends up being put into the game at crucial times to get fouled so he can shoot free throws so his team can win the game. This means that he gets banged up and eventually suffers a collapsed lung.

Also, Janey Winslow, a pretty girl he has a crush on and has tutored before, doesn't think all of the changes Rich has undergone have been good. She believes his attitude has become worse, and he's getting too cocky. Trying to impress girls in general and Janey in particular was one of his main reasons for agreeing to be on the team, so when she acts like she doesn't want anything to do with him after he joins the team, it's a big disappointment to him.

Another example of what might be thought of as a thorn in a rose for Rich is when a story he writes about his life, his parent's divorce, and his eventual acceptance of his dad's gayness is bought by someone wanting to make a television program about it. You'd think that would be great, and at first Rich does think that, and he gets paid almost one hundred thousand dollars. But, then he learns that the script and it's title have been changed, and he hopes it will never be turned into a movie. The new title will be: "Mommy, What's a Homo?" So, at a moment that should have been one of the happiest times in his life, Rich is ticked off that his story and script have been made into something that embarrasses him, and isn't at all what he wanted it to be.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention in passing U2, Rich's pet parrot. U2 is a rock group I really like, and I saw them on their first tour of America, though the rock group and it's songs are not referenced in the novel apart from the name of the parrot. U2 is a sort of confidante of Rich's, and the parrot, along with his creative writing and tutoring and his growing athleticism, gives Rich an outlet for his stress and his pent-up emotions. There's even a picture of the parrot on the novel's cover, free from it's cage.

The novel is split into two distinct sections. I've gone into some of the highlights of the first section, which is my favorite of the two. The second section is composed of some of Rich's short stories that he says he found in the attic. I enjoyed reading them, they're all interesting and give additional insights into Rich's character and what motivates him. I just like the first section more, because it's more linear. Still, the second half is also worth reading, and both sections combined make Poor Rich a novel that I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes humorous and poignant coming-of-age novels. Check it out today!

I like Richie Cameron, the hero of Jean Blasiar's novel Poor Rich. I like his intelligence, his quick wit, and his precious sense of irony. I like his compassion, his honesty, and especially his--wisdom? Acumen? Understanding? I don't know what to call it, but whatever it is he has it in spades, and I just love that about him; so much so that I had to wonder if he could possibly be real, or conjured up by the mind of a gifted writer. But then, Richie Cameron is a gifted writer. Was this art or artifice?

In the first half of the book we are given a brief history of young Richie's life, and the precocious brilliance of Richie Cameron's narrative voice led me to suspect that he was conjured; but the simple literary genius of the second half of this little Chekhovian gem of a book convinced me that it was art, because young Richie Cameron stole my heart and made himself real to me, and I savored his delicious short stories, sketches, and revealing little vignettes like they were chocolate covered cherries, and I couldn't wait to pop another one into my mouth, and the book left me wanting more - which, lucky for us, Jean Blasiar is going to give us in Richer, her sequel to Poor Rich, which is to be published by Savant Books and Publications next year. I can't wait to get back into Richie Cameron's life!

By Orest Stocco, author of My Unborn Child.