Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Revised Edition)

I can listen to almost anything on audio book, but I had to stop this one part way through. So, I thought it was possibly because it wasn't read well. I got the book from the library and tried to read it. Nope, it still sucked! I couldn't finish it and am amazed anyone ever has. I can't believe it has won awards. Since I'm an adult and not a teen (I love most teen books and read them daily), I decided to ask my 15 year old boy, who is an avid reader, to read it. He didn't finish it either.
The characters aren't likable or believable. The story-line is slow and really difficult to get into. It is not well written and there is excessive swearing (I get that this is the character and normally I can look over it if it flows with the character but I didn't feel that this was the case).
I would not recommend this book to anyone and was happy that I didn't pay money for it.

I am shocked at how the book is being promoted. It is being likened to The Fault in Our Stars, a powerful, beautiful book about 3 characters who just happen to have cancer. TFIOS targets middle school girls, so I expected Me and Earl to be appropriate for middle school girls, as well.

Parents and Teachers: Me and Earl is NOT appropriate for middle school girls. Promoters of this book need to make it clear that it is not similar to TFIOS. As a middle school teacher who works hard to inspire her students to read, I purchase many Young Adult books. I purchased copies of Me and Earl for my classroom library believing that "my girls" would fall in love this. I had to pull these from my library.

Greg Gains has high school all figured out. The school is comprised of various cliques, and a student's social status within the school is determined by which clique they are in. As anyone who has gone through high school can imagine, finding your place within that enigmatic social structure can be quite the challenge. Greg has a simple solution. Rather than exhausting himself with the search for the perfect clan, Greg doesn't belong to any of them. By keeping a low profile, he avoids any of the complications that come with a social life.

With all that in mind, you may wonder how Greg manages this life of self-imposed solitude. The truth is that he isn't actually the loner that he seems to be. Greg has only one real friend, Earl. The two boys bonded over a love for classic films and spend their spare time crafting movies of their own. With a dysfunctional family to deal with at home, Earl has little time or interest in finding other friends. This makes him an optimal companion for the introverted Greg.

Greg seems destined to escape high school unscathed, but the titular dying girl comes along and changes everything. Rachel and Greg had the kind of awkward young love that was doomed from the start. He only ended up dating her because he was too peculiar to score the girl he truly desired. That was a while ago. His master plan of not belonging to any group meant limited interaction with people other than Earl. . . especially an ex girlfriend. Now that his mom has dropped the bombshell that Rachel has cancer, Greg feels obligated to reconnect and somehow cheer her up. There's only one problem. Befriending the campus's resident dying girl threatens the anonymity that Greg has desperately tried to achieve.

In Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, author Jesse Andrews defies the conventions of the teen romance genre with satirical wit and emotional heft. Any expectations that I had as I began the novel were immediately negated. Greg narrates the story with the kind of self deprecating humor that is both amusing and genuine. The story itself is not uncommon. It is the way that Andrews plays with our preconceptions of the story that makes the novel so compelling. While other books like The Fault in Our Stars use a cancer story to maximize dramatic and sentimental effect, this novel takes a more nuanced and realistic approach. In a genre that usually tries to inject some kind of deeper meaning into the narrative, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl dares to take situations at face value. By embracing the mundane nature of everyday life, the book is ultimately elevated to a remarkable commentary on death.

It's not as good as "The Fault in our Stars," but I liked it. "Me, and Earl and the Dying Girl" is more funny than sad. Its male narrator, funny guy Greg, is a senior in high school when his mother makes him hang out with Rachel, a boring girl who is dying of leukemia. This pretty much ruins Greg's life. Earl, Greg's sidekick, is hilarious. Confession: I did become teary-eyed at the end.

I was so excited to receive this book, couldn’t put it down. Read the book first before watching the movie. This was a fun read, and aesthetically pleasing on my bookshelf.

This book was pretty bad. It's all about a whiny, superficial high school kid who really has no redeeming qualities or self-growth. Stereotypes are abundant, where kids are categorized as jocks, goths, theater kids, and gangbangers. The principal is described as "an angry black man," there's a "surly Syrian," and things are called "gay." It was a fast read and it truly did remind me of being in high school, but not in a good way. It was so superficial - full of racist, sexist, homophobic quips. I read the book in its entirety so I can tell everyone at book club how much I hated it - ha! I do not recommend. How did this become a movie and a best seller?!?

Set in Pittsburgh, we have Greg Gaines, an amatuer film maker and normal high school senior who does all in his power to fly under the radar. Greg’s old friend from hebrew school, Rachel Kushner, was diagnosed with acute leukemia earlier that year. At his Mom’s request, Greg reluctantly agrees that he will go and visit Rachel with his best friend Earl Jackson. As Rachel’s health rapidly deteriorates, Greg and Earl decide to secretly create a film documenting her life.

As the three friendships evolve, I found myself disliking the author’s selfish main character Greg but really enjoying Earl’s character because he is a true friend to Rachel, despite coming from a more difficult family background. For example, instead of being mindful about Rachel, Greg acts like she is a burden which completely stains some parts of the book for me. Also, during Rachel’s final weeks, Earl tells Rachel about the film, which made Greg really upset because he only cares about the movie being good, but Earl just wanted to make Rachel happy in her final weeks.

This book deserves 4 stars because it has an intriguing storyline, characters you grow to care about and some you may dislike and a predictable but satisfying ending. This is an enjoyable realistic fiction novel with some mature themes, suited for younger teens around 12-15 years old. Overall, I recommend this book and I hope you found my review helpful.

Admittedly, I pursued this book after inadvertently encountering the trailer for the movie, the thought then being that I'd read the book and subsequently enjoy the movie. Unfortunately, the book (which is always better than the movie, right?), wasn't even as good as the trailer, which leaves me a bit lost, except to return the book and hope the next owner enjoys it more than did I. For older, crankier readers such as myself, I thought the character development was shallow, the humor never seemed really to connect, and the emotion was unengaging. But I treat my books well, so there will be a used book in excellent condition available at Powell's shortly...

I had watched the film and had very high hopes for this book. This is one of the rare cases the film is better than the book. First off, Greg is a completely unlikable character. He's very selfish and unsympathetic. There's nothing to root for. The ending actually was actually pretty decent and redeemed Greg a small bit, but not enough. Overall, it was a disappointment and I wouldn't recommend it.

I have a confession: I was not much of a fan of The Fault in Our Stars. Of course, I liked this book better. And it's entertaining that in at least a couple of instances, author Jesse Andrews seems to be taking a few shots at that book. What I liked better about this one: more obnoxious high school bad behavior, which, if you've hung around high schoolers, is realistic. Also, both have sad stuff, but this one skips much of the deep dialogue and super well thought out - beyond the capacity of your typical teenage banter that I could simply not believe from TFiOS. But enough about that one - about this one: Greg Gaines's mom guilts him into spending time with a girl he'd once been sort of friends with. He is up to the task, which ends up involving his odd super inappropriate friend Earl, making movies, hanging out, talking about girl body parts, and trying unsuccessfully to deal with the situation of the Dying Girl's illness. Reading about a certain film that the boys became obsessed with compelled me to look up the movie (still debating whether to watch it) and definitely got sucked into the story. Worst of the book: level of inappropriateness - high, best: seemed believably sad and angst filled for outsider high school kids of today, plus, pulled few punches on the issue of super sad unfair illnesses of youth. Similar: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.