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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
Product Description
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. |
| Customer Reviews: Read 425 more reviews…
 Ordinary September 7, 2008
Brittania Stewart (New York, New York USA)
I didn’t have a problem reading the book from beginning to end, however the storyline was a bit predictable. Everything just came together so perfect and in such a cutesy romantic fashion, that it made the book less enjoyable. The character development could have been better. Its always good to read a happy ending, but the book was too happy and a bit unrealistic, even the terminal illness thrown in didn’t seem to shake the characters up.
 topic very interesting June 7, 2008
duer (bellmore,ny)
This book was basically a filler for me. I was waiting for another book to come in the mail and this one came first. I was impressed. I have never really touched on the topic of HIV and i think this opened my eyes and created a real person in my mind and their feelings. Ending is predictable but i felt good about it. Days after finishing I kept thinking about the book.
 is that it? March 28, 2008
missellen (georgia, usa)
This story started out strong but was incredibly predictable. I kept reading because I thought it would get better. It didn’t. What bugged me the most was that Eddie was ready to kill the teenage hoodlum for throwing a bottle thru the window – yikes!!! The teenager was completely unredeemable to him, which was totally weird since Eddie did much worse in his lifetime (that’s putting it mildly), and he seemed redeemed. In fact, he had become a saint of sorts. And what about crazy church lady’s motives? That part of the story was weak and just did not make much sense.
I wanted Ava to continue doing hair – that was much more interesting than her ridiculously perfect romance. I gave it two stars because I did chuckle a few times, and some of the story was original and interesting. Sorry, Oprah, this was a dud.
A different kind of love story February 25, 2008
Mikeisha Best (Mitchellville, Maryland United States)
My cousin suggested that I read this novel a long time ago. When she told me what the title of the book was, I was immediately interested. First of all, it’s a lengthy title. Secondly, I was internally wondering, what does look like crazy on an ordinary day? I asked my cousin to give me a brief synopsis on the book, and she did, and I was even more interested after listening to the synopsis. After reading “What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day”, I was intrigued more so than anything. One critic said Pearl Cleage tells a story better than Terry McMillan. Terry McMillan? Really? I have read a plethora of books and not many authors can tell a story better than Terry McMillan, and honestly, Cleage didn’t even come close. However, the plot was brilliant. The story could have been executed better, though.
“What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day” is the story of Ava, a hairdresser living with AIDS who resides in Atlanta. She used to be a very promiscuous woman and decides that she wants to inform all of her sex partners of her diagnosis so they can get tested, too. The wife of one of her old sex partners reads the letter and comes to her salon and tells everyone that she has AIDS. Embarrassed, Ava decides to visit her sister, Joyce, in Idlewild, Michigan. While she is there, she meets Eddie, a Vietnam veteran and former murderer. Eddie is attracted to Ava, but shows her only subtly. Their relationship begins by the middle of the book. Pearl Cleage created one of the most beautiful literary love scenes I have ever read with these two people (when they have their first sexual encounter.) There are many subplots in this story. Joyce is the foster mother of a crack baby, Imani, and she does any and everything to keep her safe.
Collectively, this is a beautiful story and I highly recommend it. Cleage did a very nice job.
 ….. December 3, 2007
Ms Liz (Houston, TX USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am currently working my way thru this book right now. So far, I am really enjoying it. It is a down to earth, REAL telling of what this woman is going thru. So far, so good. I would def. recommend to a friend. |
