{"id":9822,"date":"2025-09-05T21:25:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T21:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=9822"},"modified":"2025-09-06T00:29:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T00:29:05","slug":"the-controversy-begins-bring-it-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/the-controversy-begins-bring-it-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The Controversy Begins \u2026 BRING IT ON"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Read\u00ader,<\/p>\n

Ear\u00adly read\u00aders and review\u00aders have raved about Boda\u00adcious\u00adly True & Total\u00adly Awe\u00adsome <\/em>(to be pub\u00adlished Jan\u00adu\u00adary 20, 2026), but a recent review from a Gen Z review\u00ader made it clear there\u2019s a swath of young peo\u00adple out there who aren\u2019t going to get it.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019ve got news for those younger read\u00aders<\/span>: I didn\u2019t spend a decade writ\u00ading 1.25 mil\u00adlion words and 9 books for your gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion; I wrote Boda\u00adcious\u00adly<\/em> for my<\/em> gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion<\/strong>\u2014a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion whose child\u00adhood and teen expe\u00adri\u00adence has been scan\u00addalous\u00adly under\u00adrep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture; a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion that has con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly been ignored, mar\u00adgin\u00adal\u00adized and passed-over; a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion that was large\u00adly under par\u00adent\u00aded or out\u00adright unpar\u00adent\u00aded, who had to come home from school to an emp\u00adty house, who didn\u2019t have cell phones or the inter\u00adnet, who rode their bikes with\u00adout hel\u00admets and body armor, who drank out of hoses, who passed notes in school, and who had to fig\u00adure out most things them\u00adselves or through their friends.<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

First, the awe\u00adsome stuff<\/strong> review\u00aders have said about the nov\u00adel:<\/p>\n

One read\u00ader of the Advance Read\u00ading Copy remarked that the nov\u00adel \u201cfelt like step\u00adping into a mag\u00adi\u00adcal time machine<\/strong>\u2014and I didn\u2019t want to leave,\u201d while anoth\u00ader wrote, \u201c\u2026this is how it was in real life, the con\u00adfu\u00adsion, the explo\u00adration, the time we were no longer kids but not adults.\u201d Pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal reviews of Episode I<\/em> have been equal\u00adly lauda\u00adto\u00adry. BlueInk Review<\/em> (*Starred Review*) exclaims, \u201c\u2026it\u2019s so well writ\u00adten<\/strong>\u2026. As Ace him\u00adself might say, \u2018Awe\u00adsome, Dude.\u2019\u201d; Kirkus<\/em> calls it, \u201cA light-heart\u00aded, swift adven\u00adture\u2026,\u201d; and Diane Dono\u00advan, Senior Review\u00ader of Mid\u00adwest Book Review<\/em> says, \u201c\u2026the 1980s comes to life in a way few oth\u00ader nov\u00adels could achieve<\/strong>\u2026\u201d and that it \u201c\u2026sim\u00admers with dis\u00adcov\u00adery.\u201d<\/p>\n

For rea\u00adsons I won\u2019t get into here, I\u2019m not allowed to quote direct\u00adly from the crit\u00adi\u00adcal review by the Gen Z read\u00ader, but I\u2019ll tell you the gist. She gave it 2 out of 5 stars, point\u00ading out that the sex\u00adu\u00adal sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions made her \u201cuncomfortable\u201d\u2014even though the book descrip\u00adtion makes it very clear that there is a \u201csex\u00adu\u00adal awak\u00aden\u00ading\u201d and inti\u00admate teen rela\u00adtion\u00adships in the book.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the deal: she acknowl\u00adedges that 1) she could under\u00adstand how the book would appeal to mem\u00adbers of Gen X; 2) she read Boda\u00adcious\u00adly all the way to the end<\/em>\u2014some\u00adthing she wouldn\u2019t have done if she absolute\u00adly hat\u00aded it\u2014and 3) she had an emo\u00adtion\u00adal response to the work<\/em>, which is what I, as a nov\u00adel\u00adist, am sup\u00adposed to elic\u00adit in read\u00aders.<\/p>\n

Guess what?<\/em> NAILED IT.<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n\n\t\t