Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Book 36 of my 2015 Reading Challenge
read from June 28 - July 3

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Summary (via Goodreads)

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.
Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.
Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.
And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

My Opinion

As always, I like to read the book before seeing the movie.  I loved the book but I also think it may be even better as a movie.  It's already written in the screenplay format, plus the visuals of the films they describe would add to the experience as well.

**Edit: I saw the movie.  I liked it but it was not at all what I expected...completely different experience from reading the book.

It was definitely a "just one more chapter...oh look I stayed up all night reading" book.  It's so awkward it's painful and realistic.  I read with a lump in my throat but not for the reason the title would suggest; it gave me an unexpected bad stinging in my armpits (book reference).

I learned new swear words as well - Fuckbiscuit and Fuckburglar.

A Few Quotes from the Book

"...here's the thing: I learned absolutely nothing from Rachel's leukemia. In fact, I probably became stupider about life because of the whole thing...This book contains precisely zero Important Life Lessons, or Little-Known Facts About Love, or sappy tear-jerking Moments When We Knew We Had Left Our Childhood Behind For Good, or whatever."

"My life had reached its highest point. I had no way of knowing that as soon as Mom walked in, the prime of my life was over. It had lasted about eight hours."

"Just to summarize: I lurched into Rachel's room like a zombie, freaking her out, then went in for a fist pound. It is impossible to be less smooth than Greg S. Gaines."

"I don't want to sound condescending, so I'm not going to say anything else, except that it is literally impossible to imagine a thing dumber than sports."