Book lives up to advance hype
On the cover of My Leaky Body by Julie Devaney ( Goose Lane, 22.95) there’s a quotation saying “One of the season’s most anticipated books.”
And this is against serious competition, such as, for instance J. K. Rowling’s first adult novel, to mention only one of the fall season’s most visible new books.
What makes My Leaky Body so exciting?
It’s coming out just when Medicare, as set up by Tommy Douglas, is under attack and, as most of us know, has been damaged in some ways and in some places.
Feminism, which has been underground for a while in some ways, too, appears here in a new and improved version to which almost everyone can relate.
Another reason for excitement seems to be the ongoing interest, if not passion, with which many people read about pain and danger successfully overcome in the face of considerable odds.
This would seem to originate in Neolithic times, if not earlier, and now usually appears as stories of disasters and severe medical problems.
This book reads as easily as most novels. Devaney is an excellent writer with a sense of humour — much needed in many episodes — and an ability to describe the most traumatic experiences without upsetting the reader.
This seems to be achieved by not dwelling on such matters as, for example, having 20 bowel movements in one day or having her face swell up with retained water into a barely recognizable moon- face.
Another reason such episodes do not disturb the reader as much as one would expect is the sheer pace of the narrative — while not breathless, one thing follows another quickly.
Another remarkable thing about this book is that, not far in the background, are the author’s supportive family and her equally supportive boyfriend ( later to be husband) Blair.
The latter is one of the most attractive of his kind, either in fact or fiction.
Yet another point of more than passing interest is that throughout this five- year trauma, Devaney keeps organizing protests and what used to be called conscious- raising events. Eventually she devises a oneperson show, in which she sits on a stretcher, dressed in a johnny- shirt and acts out the story of her leaky body.