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“Originally published at http://rubys-books.blogspot.it/2012/02/book-review-ugly-to-start-with-by-john.html
Ruby's Books wrote this review Saturday, September 29, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This was a very interesting book. Set in the 70s, the story shows you different chapters from Jason's life, a teenager living in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
The stories are all strong and some are sad and filled with so much irony it was a little painful. Jason is living in a small town, where everyone knows everyone and where you're judged by the size of your house or the street you live in or some other simple things, like is you nod or wave to your neighbors every day.
The book touches a lot of difficult, touchy subjects, like racism, homosexuality, cancer, alcoholism, poverty, physical abuse, but Cummings manages to combine these subjects so well and even though you might cringe at some point, you're still intrigued and you still turn the page, wanting to know more.
There were moments in the book where I couldn't relate to Jason at all, like in Ugly to Start With, when he rejects a cat because she was ugly, the same cat that had stayed by his bed when he was sick. I couldn't empathize with him, but I somehow understood his reasons for rejecting her. Then there where the moments where I completely understood him, like in We Never Liked Them Anyway, where he tries to lash out at the boy who's been bullying him for a very long time and Jason does that when the boy was hurt.
I loved the open ending. It kind of gave me a sense that Jason has the ball now, he can make the big decision of whether or not he should leave Harpers Ferry and become an artist or stay in his hometown and see his dreams ruined. Though part of me wanted a firm ending, the certainty that Jason will in fact leave his hometown and continue his education, I can see how that ending is an interesting subject to talk about and debate.
All in all, the books was a good read. If you're not bothered by the occasional cursing, then you should read it.”
“Check out my review here: http://thepaige-turner.blogspot.com/2012/08/ugly-to-start-with-by-john-michael.html”
Paige Turner wrote this review Wednesday, August 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“In his analysis of this work, Philly.com’s reviewer Frank Wilson states that “To call John Michael Cummings’ Ugly From the Start a collection of short stories would be imprecise. It is really a suite of short stories adding up to a novel.” Whichever way you choose to see it--as a novel of episodic pacing or as a collection of short stories linked together--Ugly to Start With is an absorbing work. Set in historical, tourist-plagued Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, we follow the life of teenage Jason Stevens, beginning with “The World Around Us,” (a misadventure that introduces Jason’s desire to be an art student) and “Two Tunes,” where we meet Jason’s gruff, gun-collecting father. Seven more stories follow before the collection concludes with the sexually charged chapters of “Carter” and “The Scratchboard Project,” each which describe Jason’s first tentative sexual encounters with both a female classmate and a middle-aged man (here, Cummings choses to imply the action rather than blatantly “show” it). Using local detail and colorful characters, Ugly to Start With paints a portrait of life as only Jason Stevens knows it. In all, a good read for those who appreciate the methodical approach of psychological fiction.”
Liz Winn wrote this review Tuesday, July 3, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I'll be reading this again soon, so that's when I'll add a proper review of this. Until then, you can find a review of it on my blog: http://ramblingbookmarks.blogspot.com”
Marriah wrote this review Saturday, April 7, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Throughout this book, the one recurring thought I had was that I wanted to reach in and pull Jason out. I felt so sorry for this sweet boy growing up poor in such a hugely dysfunctional family. It often seemed like there was no one on his side - although he was his mother's favourite. Jason is like no one else he knows. He is artistic - soft. It takes almost the entire book before we realize that he is actually most like the one person in his life that he has the hardest time connecting with.
dana burgess wrote this review Thursday, March 22, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
ugly to start with is dark but compelling. Mr Cummings does a great job of drawing the reader into Jason's life and experiences. The first chapter change confused me, mostly because I was expecting continuity. Instead, the chapter breaks move the reader through time and circumstances. It was a startling shock the first time but once I knew to expect it, things got better. Many of the events of Jason's life are very disturbing and off putting but it's like a train wreck - I just couldn't quit reading.”
“Short stories aren’t the same as novels. And literary shorts aren't even as simple as stories. They start somewhere after the beginning of the tale and end before the conclusion—at least, the ones I enjoy best do that, leaving the reader chasing after something precious, haunted by the need to catch up then hauntingly breathless as words run out.
Sheila Deeth wrote this review Tuesday, March 13, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
John Michael Cummings’ Ugly to Start With is a set of literary stories that works just as well as a novel. Think Olive Kitteridge, or better still Kermit Moyer’s The Chester Chronicles. The stories have been published in various journals before, so you know from the start the writing will be good. But together they form a powerfully evocative novel of a young man’s coming-of-age in the wrong part of 1970s Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Washington D.C., only sixty-five miles away, might as well be on the moon, as might the gated community where Jason’s grandfather lives, or the ramshackle squalor of an African American town next door. A poor boy in an increasingly affluent city, a small boy in a world of the muscled and strong, an artist where finer sensibilities are generally despised, Jason’s struggles to fit in and find friendship play over a backdrop of junkyard, mountain and town, where the passage of time really does change things and people, and death is just a part of life, whether of cat or friend or family.
As I read the later stories in this collection I found myself thinking of Beethoven’s symphonies. Okay, it's a strange analogy I suppose, but I remember that feeling of a perfect ending, that moment when you want to pause and take breath and think “Wow,” but the music plays on, to another wow, to another, until the end. A friend tried to teach me musical appreciation and said Beethoven’s 'problem' was he didn’t know how to end, but it’s also part of what makes his music unique.
In John Michael Cummings’ stories I found the same feeling—the end of a scene, the indrawn breath, the “Wow,” but the story’s not done. I almost wished there were chapter divisions, or blank lines (perhaps there were and I missed them on my kindle) or some other separator so I could pause for longer. But I read on to another Wow, and on.
Recurring characters become vivid and real. The world shrinks and expands. Washington and dreams of art draw closer. And this collection of stories ends with one final “Wow” and the feeling I’ve just read a classic.
It’s billed as young adult but I don’t suppose I’m young, so can’t it be for all of us?
Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this novel from the author in exchange for my honest review.
”
“http://bookfare.blogspot.com/2012/02/ugly-to-start-with-john-michael.html”
Shelley Workinger wrote this review Friday, February 24, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“UGLY TO START WITH tells the story of a teenage boy, Jason Stevens whose life is anything but comfortable. His family is not well-off, not unlike many of the people around them in Harbors Ferry. Jason is sometimes treated unfairly by those around him. His mother is kind and guiding, but his father is eccentric and callous towards Jason.
Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Friday, February 10, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The author has made Jason a vivid character. You see his curiosity lead him into new and even foreign experiences where he stays for the excitement. He learns the hard truths from the imperfections of others about life itself. He is smart enough to realize he is not much better than his abusers when he does to them or others what was done to him. I enjoyed this book immensely, yet cringed at Jason’s sometimes harsh reality. At other times it was like being there with him through my own upbringing. By the end I felt sure that Jason would find his way in life.
I love short stories and writing them myself. I enjoy the challenge of compacting all that is needed to tell one. Through this collection of short stories, John Michael Cummings has a well written and memorable novel.
This book is not for everyone because of some risky subjects. A good read for adults.
~ Author and Illustrator JD Holiday
http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/review-of-ugly-to-start-with-by-john.html”
“"Someday I'll fly like the bird I can not see. Someday I'll love like the heart I can not feel. Someday I'll smile like the face I have not seen."
LaToya H wrote this review Thursday, February 2, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This is a series of short stories in which the author went into great detail about the characters and the setting, but there was no plot. The story is well written and is more of a window into Jason's emotions, his thoughts and life.I really feel like the reader will experience the levels of who Jason is and who he can become. I wanted to know more about what happened to Jason and felt like the ending left me hanging with more questions. That said, this book touches on many subjects of sexuality, race, abuse, fidelity, love and family, which anyone can find something they can relate to in this book. I found myself feeling sad and angry for Jason, when he said that his father wanted his mother to get rid of him.....what child should have to ever hear that? Disturbingly realistic and emotionally raw this collection of short stories was an insightful read.”
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