Working Parts: A Novel [Paperback]

Bledsoe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 1997

An engaging debut novel about two individuals who challenge themselves and each other through friendship, commitment, reading, and sport

Lesbian cyclist Lori Taylor is an exceedingly likable, top-notch bike mechanic. She's a smart woman with an embarrassing secret: she can't read. Her best friend Mickey, also a bike mechanic, is long on literacy but he often comes up short on love. In Lucy Jane Bledsoe's first novel, the two friends enter into a pact that leads each of them into dangerous emotional territory. As they negotiate the rough ride of personal growth and strained friendship, the mutual dream that drove them to the pact begins to unravel. Set at breakneck speed, Working Parts dazzles with its vibrant prose, memorable characters, and snappy dialogue. Bledsoe's increasing number of fans will eagerly welcome this fully realized story.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Working Parts examines the life of a smart, funny, accomplished woman who finally faces the hard truth that, at the age of 27, she cannot read. Lori Taylor makes a pact with her best friend, fellow bike mechanic Miguel, that she will learn to read if he, a virgin, learns to kiss. This book follows these best buddies, a lesbian and a straight man, as they confront then try to overcome their secret shames. Lucy Jane Bledsoe creates believable, lovable, well-rounded characters while examining important social issues of literacy, race, age, class, physical appearance, and bicycle maintenance.

From Library Journal

The title of Bledsoe's first adult novel (following a story collection, Sweat, LJ 10/1/95, and a YA novel, The Big Bike Race, Holiday House, 1995) refers to a mechanic's ordered universe, a self-assured lesbian's sense of women's bodies, and reading, which, like cycling, opens up new worlds. Lori, a brash, likable bike mechanic who can't read, compares coming out as a new reader to coming out as a lesbian, with initial fear giving way to the exhilaration of discovering a community. With humor and sympathy, Bledsoe conveys how hostile the world of books and print looks to an illiterate person. It is not entirely credible that someone with as much self-knowledge as Lori is described as having would act as self-destructively as she does, but this minor quibble does not diminish the pleasure of reading Bledsoe's novel. In addition to its appeal as fiction, this book is important reading for anyone interested in adult literacy. Recommended for all collections.?Ina Rimpau, Newark P.L. N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (March 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 187806794X
• ISBN-13: 978-1878067944
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,158,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lucy Jane Bledsoe is the author of many novels, including the Spring 2010 "The Big Bang Symphony: a novel of Antarctica." She loves good food, wilderness, friends, and all felines and sea mammals. She's been to Antarctica three time and stayed in all three American stations, as well as in field camps where scientists are studying penguins, the Big Bang, and climate change. She believes novels should engage the mind and the heart.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a highly enjoyable read, April 12, 2003

By 

"janevaningen" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Working Parts: A Novel (Paperback)

Lori is a likeable protagonist who uses sarcasm, charm and wit to try to woo people over and distract them from the fact that she can't read. When her friend Mickey, who works with her in a bike shop, wants to open his own shop with her, she decides it's time to learn to read. Along the way, she meets Pam, a sexy librarian, Deidre Felix, the 60-something tutor who's getting a divorce, and Whitney, the professional lesbian whom Lori starts a relationship with. Though the novel drags its feet a little bit in the middle, overall it's an enjoyable, insightful read that explores relationships, friendships and class issues. It's also an interesting concept for a writer to write a novel about someone who has trouble reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tender and honest, November 26, 2002

By 

Franci R. McMahon "kestrel" (Montana United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Working Parts: A Novel (Paperback)

Lucy Jane Bledsoe reviewed my first novel which made me take notice when Working Parts was published. I'm not a bike freak or a sports nut, but I [am] dyslexic and what I found between her pages was powerful stuff. The emotions surrounding her charachter's inability to read were wonderfully portrayed. Her teacher caring enough to find the key was very moving. This is an excellent novel. I look forward to her next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just lesbian reading!, September 26, 2001

By 

Amy Knutson (Mukilteo, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Working Parts: A Novel (Paperback)

I read this book because I knew Lucy's name from a group bike trip we took during our high school years and was curious, but I was not disappointed in it's content. If you pass on this book because it is a "lesbian" novel, you are missing out. This is the story of a strong woman who is improving her life. Funny also - an excellent, entertaining story!