Hummingbirds; A Review

Nope. Sorry, try again. But how rad would that be- if I really wrote a review of hummingbirds?!

"Yes, the quick moving little bird came up to my window and spoke to me in the early morning silence. But really, he was just hungry."

Awesome.


This is a review on Hummingbirds. THE NOVEL. By Joshua Gaylord.

COULD.NOT.PUT.IT.DOWN.

The end.

Loved it. Here are some quotes that I dog eared (but not really if the library asks, because I follow the library guidelines 100%!)

"They open a book to a page, and all they see are stupid little black ants marching across- until you begin to talk about it, and then you can hear the bombs going off in their heads. You make that writing dance. And their eyes get all lit up with burning."

"Adulthood feels like empty rooms with clocks ticking. It feels like being at home and suddenly becoming aware of the refrigerator when the motor shuts off. It feels like staring at the ceiling or straightening pictures or listening for the mailman."

This is the story of a man, Binhammer, English teacher/teen heartthrob extraordinaire, and a year in his life teaching at the Casey-Carmine School for Girls. Binhammer- who you can't help but love, and Ted Hughes, who you can't help but feel sorry for, meet their match with two young ladies- Dixie Doyle, who you just want to throttle, and Liz Warren, who I think I want to be friends with, or mother- I'm still not sure.

Gaylord's words kind of float along in your eyeballs, feeding you the story like fish food flakes- half dissolution, half absorption. His characters, even the annoying alliterative ones, stayed with me long after I closed the book, reminding me that they were there waiting for me to finish their story.

Ironically enough, Gaylord himself teaches at an Upper East Side Prep school. If teaching the elite is anything like this, I could happily work in this profession for the rest of my life.

His website states "Hummingbirds chronicles a year in the life of the Carmine-Casey School for Girls, a prep school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Part Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and part Virgin Suicides, the novel offers a dual perspective on the intimate, tempestuous and frequently incestuous private school community."

You can get it here or from your local library. And you should.

Now, if you'll excuse me....I have some page ironing to do.

XOXO,
J.Danger