Cushla
McKinney reviews Blue eyed boy, Hand In The Fire and
So Much For That.
BLUE EYED BOY
Joanne Harris
Doubleday, $38.99, pbk
Joanne Harris' Blue eyed boy is, quite literally, a
world away from that of Chocolat.
Welcome to badguysrock.com, a cyberspace community where
wannabes can post their fantasies of crime and evil to an
appreciative audience of fellow dispossessed, angry or
dysfunctional fellow travellers.
Created by and controlled by B. B., the blue-eyed boy of the
title, the website is a place for confession and revelation
in complete anonymity. There are no names, although B. B.
knows exactly who its members are, and no rules.
If any exist, B. B. keeps them to himself.
The novel unfolds as a combination of restricted diary
entries and public posts, controlled and revealed by B. B.
Born with synaesthesia, for him words have tastes and smells
that constantly threaten to trigger paralysing migraines,
forcing him to shield himself from reality behind his iPod
and computer.
At 42, he still lives with his controlling and abusive mother
- he is the precious and sole surviving of her three sons -
and it is only in the virtual world of badguysrock.com that
he can find escape.
Or so it seems.
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