It has been a few weeks since I have finished a book. For a while there I was on a role, but then college came... Moving and getting ready took a lot of time. But now that I am settled and have lots of free time in the mornings before class I have started reading again.
I wanted something light and easy. More for entertainment. I received this book for free from the Battle of the Books Grand Battle. I thought "hey its free, I will read it sometime". And I finally have.
This book incorporates one of my favorite musicals, Then Man of La Mancha. I discovered this musical a few years ago on the movie channels. I insistently fell in love with the characters, music, and plot. Spinning Out had the same affect.
Frenchy and his close friend Stewart decide to try out for their schools musical, which happens to be The Man of La Mancha. Frenchy assumes that it will be another one of their various pranks they have pulled over the four years of high school, but Stewart is serious this time.
As practice starts and the preformance comes closer Stewart become more and more serious. Frenchy starts to notice a change in his friend. He tries to convince Stewart to get help, but Stewart refusing says Don (Stewart's part in the play) is all he needs.
Frenchy is faced with many more things besides Stewarts craziness. He has found a girl, his mother who was recently widowed started dating a douche bag, he has to memorize his lines, and he has to deal with his grief over his fathers death. It seems as if his life is spinning out of control.
Telling you the end of the book would break the 12th commandment, so I guess if you want to find out you have to read the book!
Spinning Out takes in interesting look at the life of the sidekick. Stewart lands the lead role in the play Don Quixote, the crazy old man who charges windmills. Frenchy naturally takes the role of his sidekick best friend Sancho. As Stewart starts taking his role off stage and into real life, Frenchy must take up the responsibility of watching over his "master". Most books have a lovable, best friend character. Like Sam in Lord of the Rings or Ron in Harry Potter. These character often offer backup to the main character, act extremely loyal, and end up providing comic relief threw their silly actions or stupid mistakes. Unlike most book or stories however this book is about the sidekick. Frenchy is suppose to have Stewarts back. He is suppose to stand up for him. He is suppose to be there for him whenever Stewart needs it. But who stands up for Frenchy?
Besides it interesting its interesting look at the sidekick, this book offers relatiable, funny characters, an intriguing plot, and wonderful references to one of my favorite musicals. If you are look for a fun, but interesting book I would definitely recommend picking this one up.
Lindsey
Thanks for the nice review, Lindsey! I appreciate that you picked up on the "sidekick" aspect of the book. One of my purposes was to offer a retelling (in a very liberal sense) of the Quixote story through Sancho's eyes. Of course, it became much more than that, but it's one aspect of the story that often gets overlooked.
ReplyDelete--D Stahler