Pure Sunshine (Push) [Paperback]

Brian James (Author)

Book Description

Series: Push | Publication Date: February 1, 2002

A spellbinding trip of a novel about three friend breaking apart in their quest to stave off boredom and sameness.

It's not about the drugs. It's not about the girls or the fights or the fading streetlights. It's about two nights that weren't going to be different from the rest, but then took a turn. It's about trying to find out who you are and who your real friends are. It's about everything being the same, the same, the same. It's about nothing being the same again. It's about Brendon, WIll, and Kevin -- three friends on different paths -- and the weekend that put them to the test.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This compact, first-person confessional by debut novelist James is an acid trip. Literally. Teenage Brendon good student, eccentric dresser, shy around girls trips regularly with his friends Kevin and Will. The story covers 48 hours of their lives as they wander the streets of Philadelphia, after scoring some tabs of "pure sunshine" ("a sheet of California acid [with] little yellow suns illustrated on each tab") from their dealer. As the others revel in excess, Brendon begins to feel alienated from his clique and disillusioned with the path he's been taking. "I could feel the ghosts in my spine," he says. "Kicking and whining. I couldn't keep it up much longer. I headed to the park and toward the promise of recovery. Had to detox." James's airy, hallucinogenic imagery and nonjudgmental portraits of teenage behavior will appeal to fans of Melvin Burgess and Chris Lynch. "We emerged from that candlelit extravagance like nuclear holocaust survivors from their backyard bomb shelter. The pupils of our eyes were in full eclipse." There's not much of a conclusion Brendon finally talks to the girl he likes, figures his conflicts with his friends will blow over, and decides to take a long walk. Unlike Smack, there is no clear anti-drug message, either. Instead, readers may close the novel with the uncanny feeling that they've just come down off a couple tabs of acid. Ages 13-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 10-Up The story follows Brendon through two days that include an LSD trip where he engages in impish behavior and giggles with his buddies and an outing gone wrong in a garish club. The required day of school is sandwiched in between. The teen's fear of talking to a girl he really wants to connect with rings poignant as he muses: "I used to think that I could pass through life in a fantasy, that if I did enough drugs and dreamed hard enough then I could leave this hellish world on a permanent psychedelic holiday." He wanders with his friends, characters who are appropriately developed, through excellent descriptions of the streets of Philadelphia. Brendon learns: "-how carried away I'd gotten as tends to happen when the highs and the drugs exceed pleasure and become motivations-bring you to the extremes of fun and leave you down and bored and disinterested in the things that suck. But I guess you gotta be part of some of the things that suck if you are going to ever enjoy the highs again." Language is raw and gritty, but true to Brendon's voice. The conclusion may not be grounded in reality, but sustains the mood and plot created. Although the subject of drugs may appeal to reluctant readers, they may find Brendon's journeys too meandering and philosophical. The style and subject matter may appeal to teens who liked Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (MTV, 1999) and Melvin Burgess's Smack (Holt, 1998).
Debbie Stewart, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 159 pages
• Publisher: Push (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439279895
• ISBN-13: 978-0439279895
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #693,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I grew up outside of Philadelphia, a town I portrayed all my thoughts and feelings about in Pure Sunshine and the short story Filthadelphia. When I was eighteen, I moved to New York City where I stayed for ten years. You can read about my impressions of that city in both Tomorrow, Maybe and Thief. For the suburban experiences of my life, check out Perfect World and Dirty Liar.

Needless to say, ten years in Manhattan is more than enough. It was time to pack up and head for the peace and quiet of the middle of nowhere. Alas, I ended up in the Woodstock area of upstate New York. An area aptly portrayed in my book Zombie Blondes.

My fascination with writing started in childhood with the notion of making up stories. I loved action figures as a kid. Actually, I still do and still collect them. But as a child, I would set up my entire bedroom like the stage for one epic story that I would play out for days. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the basis for what I do now. I was also a stuffed animal kid. I had dozens and they all had names and they all personalities. Basically, they were characters. Writing isn't very different than playing. It's just a grown up way of doing it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Go Ask Brendan, September 14, 2002

By 

Lillian Patterson "Post-Postmodern Angster" (Big Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pure Sunshine (Push) (Paperback)

The editorial review on this website states that this book doesn't have much of a conclusion. I think that's funny. Neither does life, at least not until you die. In real life, our problems don't often end with everything being resolved and dramatic music playing in the background. If we were to really spend a day inside the mind of a 16 year old boy, his thoughts might seem disjointed and rambling and meaningless at times. If he suddenly got a startling revelation about life, it might not seem like a "startling revelation." It might be as simple as talking to someone and finding that there's more to life than drugs and parties. Maybe he knew that all along. Maybe he needed to hear it anyway. This book has a lot to say, you just have to look for it, because it's not going to preach at you.

First, this book isn't going to scream at you and tell you not to use drugs. It's going to show you what happens when you use drugs, what it feels like to trip on acid, and how it doesn't let you escape your problems. It's going to show you that when you come down off the high, life is still there. You can't escape it. You have to find a reason to live, something that will remain when the drugs wear off.

So the book rambles a lot. So many of the thoughts seem unrelated to the story. If we're honest woith ourselves, that's what it's like inside our heads sometimes. In real life, we're not always likeable. Things aren't always black and white. We don't always do what's good for us. And some people who use drugs don't die. That's how they can look back on their lives now, and reach out to people who may not want to be preached at.

I think the best argument against using drugs is not "they can kill you." Most people know that, and they use drugs anyway. I think the best argument against using drugs is that they don't really help you escape your problems. When you're coming down off the high and you're puking and you're alone, you need a reason to live, not a way to escape life.

So where is the hope? Where is the revelation? At the end of the story, when the drugs are wearing off and life is still there, so is a friend. A friend who listens, who cares, and who accepts Brendan for who he is. A friend who wants to be around Brendan even though he's covered in vomit. A friend who tells him that "The boy inside wasn't mud and ... and all things crazy as far as she could see. Sure some of that was there because it always is, but it's one and the same with the good." Is he going to date this girl? Is he going to stop using drugs? We don't know. As with life, there's always more to be written. We only know that at the end, Brendan has found something that is helping him heal "slowly and evenly and with expert care. Better than drugs that don't work in the long run." And so there you have it. Redemption, there for the taking.

Hey, I told you it wasn't a startling revelation. And we don't know if he'll take the redemption. But we know that there's hope, and sometimes that's everything. This book isn't for everyone, but it is for someone, and that's why I'm glad it's here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Trip!, February 12, 2002

By 

"cara338" (Bethany, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pure Sunshine (Push) (Paperback)

Pure Sunshine by Brian James is a Young Adult novel chronicling two days in the life of an arrogant young teenager named Brendan. His world revolves around his friends, a group of boys who love to stir up trouble and indulge in acid and pot. One night, during a bad trip, Brendan discovers that the friends he has based his identity upon are not really his friends at all. The plot structure of the novel is unconventional, and its resolution quirky, but Brian James's prose is almost surreal at times and always engaging, making Pure Sunshine a delightful and worthwhile read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Euphoria and the Pain, September 18, 2006

By 

Jonathan Stephens "Jonathan Stephens" (Huntington Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pure Sunshine (Push) (Paperback)

"I was flushing the evil out....It was a good feeling knowing even though I might not be able to sleep, at least I'd feel clean."

17 year old Brendan and his friends Will and Kevin are the dregs of school society, the outcast, the fringe. Now they're in for a night of memories. After throwning back some Acid, they've hit the streets of Philly to enjoy themselves when the Pure Sunshine kicks in. The best and worst part about Sunshine is it makes everything else boring. It takes Brendan past all the normal experiences to where he can't enjoy anything anymore because of his desire for the next hit.

That's where Sunshine leaves him---at a place where the real and surreal mix together and separate in a way that leaves real life not worth as much as induced life. In the middle of a midnight trip, Brendan and the guys visit Sally, the downtown girl, so they can relax safely and enjoy their high. With so many girls that Brendan wishes he could take things deeper with, their night with Sally awakens a spark in him for something more. Not necessarily with Sally. Or any specific girl. But with something. For once, he feels his void.

Brian James' PURE SUNSHINE delves into the euphoria and pain people experience when addicted to LSD. While the details of the high can be intriguing at times, a sense of arc and story are strangely missing all the way through. The story is more a realization that drugs may not be everything Brendan's made them out to be. Thatâ(tm)s the only thing that can bring him back to the point he can enjoy reality again, give him a chance with the girl he's always wanted, and get him to a place he can feel clean for the first time in a long time.

Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens