BY MOLLY TEMPLETON
Geeks, Girls and
Garden Gnomes
Tales of love and independence
T
here’s a reason I Love You, Beth
Cooper (Ecco, $19.95), Larry
Doyle’s new novel, is such a self-
assured debut. Actually, there are a lot of
reasons: The man’s got a resume. He was
an Emmy-winning writer for The
Simpsons; had editor positions at Spy,
National Lampoon and New York; and cur-
rently contributes to The New Yorker and
writes Esquire’s “The Doyle Report” col-
umn. Busy fellow. Funny one, too.
I Love You, Beth Cooper follows one
hectic, madcap, violent, sexy, absurd night
in the life of Denis Cooverman, valedictori-
an of Buffalo Grove High School’s senior
class, who blurts out the book’s title phrase
during his valedictory speech. As it turns
out, Beth Cooper doesn’t seem to mind this.
Her home-from-the-Army boyfriend, on
the other hand, minds quite a bit.
Doyle’s book is much like the Cabriolet
Beth drives during much of the bizarre night
that follows graduation: Packed to the gills
with strange happenings and constantly
about to go off the road — though whether
this would be a good or a bad thing depends
on the given second. Each chapter begins
with a cartoon image of the constantly
abused Denis, while under his drooping face
is a quote from a film, emphasizing how
much I Love You, Beth Cooper has in com-
mon with teen comedies. Which is to say a
lot. It’s not other books featuring 18-year-old
protagonists that come to mind when you’re
reading Doyle’s novel (even if you read a lot
of those); it’s Can’t Hardly Wait and Sixteen
Candles and Rushmore and possibly even
films you’ve never seen (just the title of
Revenge of the Nerds is inevitably evoked).
Doyle’s characters are filled-out, familiar
stereotypes, from Denis’ over-literate bio
geek to his possibly gay best friend to Beth
Cooper, not exactly who Denis has always
imagined her to be — and no angel. But
then, Denis isn’t exactly who he thought he
was either. Lightning-paced and just shy of
laugh-out-loud funny, Doyle’s novel is like a
mash note to all those films that depicted
enjoyably unbelievable versions of adoles-
cence — except he almost makes you
believe.
The protagonist of Nick Mamatas’ Under
My Roof (Soft Skull Press, $12.95) is also too
smart for his own good though he’s a bit
younger. Twelve-year-old Herbert Weinberg
also has considerably larger problems than
girls and their violent boyfriends: His out-of-
work father has decided to build a nuclear
device in a garden gnome, set it on the lawn
and declare the family’s house the nation of
Weinbergia. Oh, and Herbert can read minds,
which comes in pretty handy when your
house is overrun with seceding hippie types
and the Army is camped outside. Mamatas’
satire, though it certainly has bite, is at times
surprisingly sweet, largely because Herbert is
such a winning character — an observant
only child whose telepathy has, whether he
likes it or not, made him wise beyond his
years (a scene in which Herbert picks the
image of internet porn out of a weatherman’s
head and immediately Googles it is pitch-
perfect). Under My Roof takes place in a not-
too-distant future where Canada is the
“White Menace,” the U.S. is embroiled in a
couple dozen wars and mini-marts are as
likely to break away from the country as
independent-minded individuals. Much of
the book’s charm comes in its smallest
details, which fill out Herbert’s unusual,
engaging story, and in Mamatas’ dead-on,
snippy commentary about everything from
ghostwriters to corporate promotion to adult
perceptions of kids. Though it may make you
snort with laughter before it makes you think,
Under My Roof has more heft than its small
spine might suggest.
ew
Suggested reading: Nick Mamatas’ blog post about a
freshman English class’s reaction to Under My Roof,
online at nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/953600.html
BOOK NOTES : Floyd Skloot reads from Patient 002, 7 pm 5/24, Knight Library, UO.
Edward T. Haslam reads from Dr. Mary’s Monkey, 7 pm 5/24, Tsunami Books. Suzanne
Collins reads from Gregor and the Code of Claw, 7 pm 5/24, Powell’s, Beaverton. Jack
Malebranche reads from Androphilia: Rejecting the Gay Identity, Reclaiming Masculinity,
7:30 pm 5/24, Powell’s on Hawthorne, Portland. Michael D. Yates reads from Cheap Motels
and a Hot Plate, 7:30 pm 5/29, Hilyard Community Center. Jennifer Belle reads from Little
Stalker, 7:30 pm 5/30, Powell’s on Burnside, Portland. Lauren Kessler reads from Dancing
With Rose: Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer’s, 7 pm 5/31, Knight Library, UO. Alissa
Lukara discusses and signs Riding Grace, 7 pm 5/31, Barnes & Noble. Keith Donohue reads
from The Stolen Child, 7 pm 5/31, Powell’s, Beaverton. Mark Lindquist reads from The King
of Methlehem, 7:30 pm 5/31, Powell’s on Hawthorne, Portland.
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