Working Parts: A Novel - Softcover

Bledsoe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 187806794X ISBN 13: 9781878067944

Publisher: Seal Press, 1997

Synopsis

Lori Taylor is a top-notch bicycle mechanic and a smart woman with well-oiled charisma. And, she cannot read.
Her best fried Mickey is long on literacy but comes up short in matters of love. The two friends enter into a pact that leads to dangerous emotional territory. But as they negotiate the rough ride of personal growth, the mutual dream that drives them begins to unravel...
Working Parts is an exceptional novel that taps the essence of friendship and the potential unleashed when we face our most intense fears.

About this title

Review:

Working Parts examines the life of a smart, funny, accomplished woman who finally faces the hard truth that, at the age of 27, she cannot read. Lori Taylor makes a pact with her best friend, fellow bike mechanic Miguel, that she will learn to read if he, a virgin, learns to kiss. This book follows these best buddies, a lesbian and a straight man, as they confront then try to overcome their secret shames. Lucy Jane Bledsoe creates believable, lovable, well-rounded characters while examining important social issues of literacy, race, age, class, physical appearance, and bicycle maintenance.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A spirited, conversational narrative improves a somewhat predictable debut novel (after the story collection Sweat, 1995) featuring the irascible Lori Taylor, a lesbian bicycle mechanic struggling to overcome adult illiteracy. Against the sunny backdrop of Berkeley and San Francisco, 28- year-old Lori lives a carefree life repairing bikes during the day and then going on long, after-hours treks with Mickey, her coworker and best friend. Mickey, facially disfigured after a car accident when he was ten, got a large cash settlement for his loss, money he hopes to use now to open his own bike shop with Lori as partner--on one condition: that she agree to a pact with Mickey (who has to overcome his shyness with girls) that she learn how to read before they open their bike store. Lori, though, harbors no enthusiastic visions of a world opened up to her, nor does she consider reading anything more than a drudge. While sensitive to the subject of adult illiteracy, Bledsoe agreeably avoids either a patronizing or an overly tender approach: Lori is not a dismal failure, but someone who simply can't read. Her tutor is Deirdre Felix, a wealthy no-nonsense older woman recently capsized by a husband who has run off with his secretary. The two make a Mutt and Jeff pair- -Lori full of down-to-earth althleticism and Deirdre cultured and reserved--but they nevertheless create an odd alliance out of mutual need. Simultaneously, Lori begins an affair with Whitney, a young, sophisticated businesswoman, though the romance doomed to failure because it's built on a complex web of lies, an earmark of the secret life of the illiterate. Eventually, after much tedious work, Lori discovers the magic of words and becomes, quite proudly, a reader. A modest, straightforward debut whose likable characters and honest approach make up for the simple plotting. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Seal Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 187806794X
• ISBN 13: 9781878067944
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208