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All the Ugly and Wonderful Things


"A powerful, provocative debut ... Intelligent, honest, and unsentimental." - ...
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Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

Created: 09/10/17

Replies: 11

Posted Sep. 10, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

Wavy's cousin Amy narrates much of Wavy's story, but very little of her own. How do you think she chooses what to reveal and what to hide? Why do you think she might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?


Posted Oct. 02, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jenniferj

Join Date: 09/30/17

Posts: 59

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

While Amy certainly faced issues in her own family such as divorce and homosexuality, they were no where near as extreme as what Wavy faced. Living in her secure suburban world, drug addiction, food hoarding at night, and murder, are far more colorful to discuss and most likely well out of the norm of her immediate community. In addition, many times people use the pain of others as a distraction from confronting their own issues.


Posted Oct. 02, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ScribblingScribe

Join Date: 02/29/16

Posts: 189

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

Sometimes it's too hard to narrate your own life. Plus I think Amy bore some of the responsibility for how Wavy's life turned out. She was a child and could not have done much to change things, but I think she recognized that Wavy's life should have been different. Her own life was more typical. Wavy's was uncommon. It was a better story.


Posted Oct. 15, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mal

Join Date: 09/09/13

Posts: 164

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

Wavy's story is a jaw dropper. I believe Amy admired Wavy in the way Wavy rose from her circumstances. No doubt Amy will enjoy telling Wavy's story because it is exciting and it is a far cry from her well guarded cocoon life and upbringing not to mention a dose of envy for Wavy's well deserved happy ending. Amy's life is a speck compared to Wavy's, of course she'd want to tell others.


Posted Oct. 17, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
MarieA

Join Date: 10/12/11

Posts: 256

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

Wavy's story is a much more exciting and unpredictable story to tell than Amy's. Wavy's story is a tale from "the wild side."


Posted Oct. 17, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Peggy H

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 272

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

She may think Wavy's story is more exciting and different, even in today's world. I also find nit view Amy as an important character, more as a character between Brenda and the rest of the family. I also viewed it one of several views, and the opening picture of Wavy.


Posted Oct. 19, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jackiew

Join Date: 04/26/17

Posts: 3

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

While Amy appears like a normal child and teenager most of the time, the author allows us to see that she is also a conflicted character. Her parents are not happily married, her mother is domineering, and she has lesbian leanings early on. Perhaps her first crush was her cousin, Wavy. She is fascinated with Wavy's overt behavior because she is not capable of fully expressing herself in that household. Although we don't know this for sure, we can surmise that her life is routine and unfulfilling, and becomes much more exciting, and she is fully engaged, when Wavy comes to visit.


Posted Oct. 19, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
pennyp

Join Date: 03/22/12

Posts: 353

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

I agree with the others, Wavy's story was definitely more exciting.


Posted Oct. 20, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alisonf

Join Date: 01/31/13

Posts: 110

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

No doubt her story was more interesting and distracted from her own issues but Wavy emboldened her too to be more true to herself and may have helped her own story to be one with a better outcome.


Posted Oct. 22, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
debrals

Join Date: 11/28/11

Posts: 39

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

I agree with the others that say that Wavy's story was more exciting for Amy to write about. It many ways Amy thought that Wavy was exotically different. Amy really did not know everything that was going on in Wavy's life. Amy thought her life was boring compared to her cousins.


Posted Oct. 26, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
amberb

Join Date: 07/28/11

Posts: 96

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

I think that Amy was intrigued by Wavy from the very beginning, and that she cared for her. Also, by telling a story, we tend to understand it better ourselves, so perhaps that may have been part of what Amy wanted to accomplish as well.


Posted Nov. 01, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
celiap

Join Date: 07/27/17

Posts: 57

RE: Why do you think Amy might prefer telling Wavy's story to her own?

Amy does not want to concentrate on her own troubles. Thoughts of Wavy are more romantic to her.


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