What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Oprah's Book Club) [Paperback]

Pearl Cleage (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

In a remarkable debut novel that sizzles with sensuality, crackles with life-affirming energy and moves the reader to laughter and tears, author Pearl Cleage creates a world rich in character, human drama, and deep, compassionate understanding. After a decade of luxe living in Atlanta, Ava Johnson has returned to tiny Idlewild, Michigan -- her fabulous career and power plans smashed to bits on one dark truth: Ava has tested positive for HIV. Bur rather than a sorrowful end, her homecoming is a new beginning. Because, in the ten-plus years since she left, all the problems of the big city have invaded the sleepy community of her childhood. Because dear friends and family sorely need her help in the face of impending trouble and tragedy, and Ava cannot turn her back on them. And because, most importantly, Ava Johnson is inexplicabley and undeniably falling in love.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Oprah Book Club® Selection, September 1998: What makes Pearl Cleage's novel so damned enjoyable? At first glance, after all, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day seems pretty heavy going: HIV, suicide, sudden infant death syndrome, and drunk driving all figure prominently in the lives of narrator Ava Johnson and her older sister Joyce. It isn't long before crack addiction, domestic violence, and unwed motherhood have joined the list--so, where's the pleasure? The answer lies in the sharp and funny attitude Cleage brings to her depiction of one African American community in the troubled '90s. Ava Johnson, for example, might be HIV-positive, but she's refreshingly forthright about it: "Most of us got it from the boys. Which is, when you think about it, a pretty good argument for cutting men loose, but if I could work up a strong physical reaction to women, I would already be having sex with them. I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying I can't be a witness. Too many titties in one place to suit me."

Ada has spent the last 10 years living in Atlanta. When she discovers she's infected, she sells her hairdressing business and heads back to her childhood home of Idlewild, Michigan, to spend the summer with her recently widowed sister before moving on to San Francisco. Once there, however, she finds herself embroiled in big-city problems--drugs, violence, teen pregnancy, and an abandoned crack-addicted baby, to name just a few--in a small-town setting. Ava also meets Eddie Jefferson, a man with a past who just might change her mind about the imprudence of falling in love.

In less assured hands, such a catalog of disasters would make for maudlin, melodramatic reading indeed. But Cleage, an accomplished playwright, has a way both with characters and with language that lifts this tale above its movie-of-the-week tendencies. In Ava she has created a character who not only effortlessly carries the weight of the story but also provides entertaining commentary on African American life as she goes. Discussing the insular nature of the black community in Atlanta, she recalls, "I'd walk into a reception room and there'd be a room full of brothers, power-brokering their asses off, and I'd realize I'd seen them all naked. I'd watch them striding around, talking to each other in those phony-ass voices men use when they want to make it clear they got juice, and it was so depressing, all I'd want to do was go home and get drunk." Later, she describes the preacher's wife's hair as "pressed and hot-curled within an inch of its life.... Hardly anybody asks for that kind of hard press anymore. Sister seems to have missed the moment when we decided it was okay for the hair to move."

As the trials and tribulations pile on, the experiences of Cleage's characters prove to be universal: death, love, second chances. Ava's acerbic, smart-mouthed narrative keeps the story buoyant; by the time this endearingly imperfect heroine and her cohorts have negotiated the rocky road to a happy ending, readers will be sorry to see her go, even as they wish her well. --Alix Wilber

From Library Journal

In her first novel, Cleage, a playwright and essayist, focuses on an HIV-positive woman who seeks solace and refuge for the summer in her hometown with her widowed sister.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038079487X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380794874
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (441 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Out of all of Oprah's picks, February 11, 2002

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

I like this one the best. I know the blurb doesn't sound like much ... An African-American woman diagnosed with HIV goes home to visit big sister. Boy, do I have to tell you ... ignore the blurb and just dive into the book. This is one of the best reads I've read this year. It's not depressing at all ... it's the fighting spirit book that just keeps you upbeat. I remember telling my husband about this book and now, he's interested in reading it someday (after my mom reads it!).

Ava Johnson comes home to Michigan after living in Atlanta for 10 years or so ~~ this was just going to be a short stop on the way to San Francisco where she is determined to find a new life. Only, that plan falls to the wayside. Ava's older sister, Joyce is a warm-hearted woman struggling to find ways to educate young African-American girls about birth control, fight against her church's narrow-minded pastor and his wife who are out to stop anything that is not "Christian-like". And along the way, they rescue a crack baby, Imani and Ava falls in love with Eddie, an old friend of Joyce and her husband.

This is such a rivetting read. One that I highly recommend to everyone. It is written with brutal truth and humor ... and you find yourself rooting for Ava and her family as they set out to conquer the small corner of their world. It's wonderfully written to keep your interest snared ... and I am looking forward to read more of this author's work. This is not your typical depressing Oprah pick ... it's one of the best, uplifting book I've read in a long time!!

2-11-02

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Ordinary Book, February 22, 2000

By 

Leena - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

This is probably the only book I can remember ever reading that impressed me so much. This book paces itself so well, you almost seem to find a steady rhythm to it.

The story itself is truly reviting, but the author's ability take the reader by the hand and just lead them one step at a time through the story is absolutely incredible. I've never had any author do that to me before. Usually, you're so wrapped up in the plot and charaters and who did what, you speed through the book and finish it before you can catch your breath. Not with this book.

You follow the life of the main character, Ava Johnson, and all those whose lives touch hers and you feel yourself wanting the best for all of them. Yet you never feel the need to peek into the next chapter or "accidentally" glance at the last page of the book.

Pearl Cleage has moved to the top of my favorite author list and will be praised to anyone who will listen. I can't recomment this book enough!

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope-filled, I cared about the characters, January 16, 2000

By 

Pat Montgomery - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Oprah's Book Club) (Paperback)

I absolutely loved this book. Started it last night and finished this evening. Ava Johnson, HIV positive, comes home on a pit stop and becomes involved in her sister's life of helping young black women -- most teenage mothers. Uplifting, hopeful. Anyone who suggests this book is a waste of time or predictable is wrong! Yes, there are hints here and there of what is to come but the author's style and perspective makes you want to continue until the very end. Fortunately, the HIV positive diagnosis does not overwhelm the story. Rather, it makes you feel more alive and aware that we cannot waste our time on this earth. The characters, Ava and Eddie, give testimony to the fact that people can grow, learn and change through difficult situations -- HIV, Viet Nam. Joyce's character shows that there can be life after losing a wonderful partner. Absolutely worth every minute of my time.