Set in the 1980's, Dirty One follows a pack of adolescent characters who live in the acid–drenched, suburban town known as Leominster, Massachusetts—the plastics capital of America, as well as the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed.
In the story, "From Kissing", a sixth–grader named Butch has his first homosexual tongue kiss during a monster truck show and, after a bout of the flu, he is convinced he has somehow contracted AIDS.
With "Curls and Curls", nine–year–old Lee hates his kinky, brown head of hair and is seemingly obssessed with magic, casting spells to unfurl his evil tresses.
In "A Snow Day", eleven–year–old Cassidy longs to be the next mega–watt, teen pop star, but is forced to deal with her crazy classmates, her gay father, and her dog that continually vomits in the driveway.
"Do It" follows a tween named Denise as she seeks her first sexual experience with a boyfriend who can never remain erect. Denise strives for high school greatness while her gay best friend is crowned king of all local paper routes.
These selections join five more, constructing the remarkable world of Dirty One.
I must admit that I am not much of a short story reader so for me to read several at one sitting means that the stories must be very special. Michael Graves in his collection of stories, “Dirty One”, has not only written some special stories, he has written something wonderful—a group of stories that are so sharp that they bite the reader and do not let him go. The prose is strong which is interesting as it is also poetic and this is one of the most original pieces of literature that I have read in a very long time. Here is pop culture in story form and with all o the reality that needs to be there and the originality of the writing clearly marks the reality of Michael Graves.
Graves write about teens and tweens on the edge of society—the marginalized adolescents and pre-adolescents of the 1980’s, the rejects and the throw-aways but they are honest and tell things like they are. Our teens live in Leominster, Massachusetts, a suburban town that is the plastic capital of America. We are with the guys—Philip, Milo, Butch, Otis, Martin, Doug, Lee and the others and we watch them grow and come into their own. What I found to be so good is that the adventures are identifiable with the way many of us grew up—the details may be different but the emotions are the same. Try to think back and remember the first time you had another guy’s tongue in your mouth and you will see what I mean.
The grittiness of the stories that is written about in sublime prose is what makes the book so important or me. I would have expected more direct English and not the lovely language here. The contrast is what shows the talent of Michael Graves and I bet he can write some very powerful poetry.
I have had people say that I always give good reviews and there is some truth in that. If something I read does not merit a good review, I do not post it. There is, my mind, no point in making someone who has written from their heart, feel badly by giving them a bad review. In the case of Michael Graves, though, I join a bunch of respected writers who have also praised this book—Michael Lowenthal, Chris Rice, Paul Lisicky and Brian Bouldrey. It feels good to be is such esteemed company and I have also been lucky enough to have reviewed them more than once. I have a very strong feeling that “Dirty One” is going to be an important and widely read book this year. Michael Graves gives us something that he can be very proud of. (And yes I know that I ended a sentence in a preposition).
