One of the Guys (Paperback)

by Robert Clark Young (Author)

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 an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; First Edition Thus edition (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060931892
• ISBN-13: 978-0060931896
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #609,545 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's a must read, May 5, 2001

By	Ann Werner (Southern California) - See all my reviews

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.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 for the symbols at your door, 7 for the 7 stars in the sky, July 16, 2002

By	Henry Moon (Paris) - See all my reviews

In what initially seems a downbeat first chapter we meet Miles, the 33 year-old protagonist, who's down. Down on life, down on his father, whose ever-diminishing expectations Miles fails faithfully to live up to, down on his luck. The only salutary note is his daughter, conceived out of wedlock, raised out of sight but not out of mind. Miles is the only living character we meet in this first chapter. A beginning Sartre or Camus would have loved.

And throughout the story (which has been fully detailed in past reviews) we witness the fleshing out of the hollow man - his character develops as he "grows into" the shoes of the dead chaplain he replaces. As his worries of being found out, of not knowing the drill, the acronyms and the Methodist Sunday service are gradually allayed, Miles comed to terms with the lunacy of what he's witnessing at first hand: seamen whose emotional growth is institutionally stunted yet who surge into town on 24-hour liberty passes like testosterone terminators.

The prose is as sparse and apposite as only someone who has (reportedly) received 600 rejections could make it. The author's "take" on every situation seems exemplary. Not one superfluous adjective can be found hiding behind the locker; Young's kit and caboodle are laid out proudly pristine for inspection. It beggars belief that someone who can write like this could have trouble finding a backer.

Perhaps he multi-layered nature of the book is a clue to this. I read it straight through, pausing only to attend to bodily needs, then stupidly lent my copy to a friend. In the month following I mulled over the story, the satire and the symbols and now need a re-read to slake my thirst. It's very rare to find a first novel as complete, as competent and as compelling as this one. Two-thirds of the way through, you sense Miles is taking control of his own destiny and the surge of real pleasure you feel sets you turning the pages faster as the denouement approaches.

OOTG is RCY's first published novel. If he follows the lead of his namesake and mentor NPY, his second will be an all-time masterpiece.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relax, Enjoy and Laugh!, July 31, 2000

By	Navyvet "navyvet" (Griswold, Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One of the Guys (Hardcover)

I spent six years in the Navy as a Submarine sailor and this book brings back the dark humor so common among military personnel and members of other large institutions. A word of caution to those who are looking too deeply into the book...it's meant to be funny and cynical. Don't read it as an accurate description of military life because it is not. The book has characters whose personalities seem familiar ie. the wacky officers on the ship! So read it with your tongue firmly in your cheek and remember it's all in good fun!