Book #72: "Close to Famous"

When I lived in Utah, I had two friends who were both named Mike, whose last names also started with the same letter, who were assigned to be roommates when they came to college. Mike #1 once told me this story about meeting Mike #2:

"So he came into the room, and we introduced ourselves the way you do: last names, hometowns, majors. When he found out I was an English major, he said, 'English, huh? Like...books and stuff?' I said yes. He said, 'So...do you think maybe sometime you could read to me?' I said, '...sure?' Then he said, 'I never learned to read.' Which he didn't tell me was a joke until several hours later."

It is much funnier if you know the two Mikes, and it is even funnier than that if you hear Mike #1 tell it. But I tell it here because, as I said in the beginning, I think I was born knowing how to read. I have absolutely no recollection of a time before I knew how to do that, and thus no frame of reference for someone who struggles with it.

But something I do understand is loving to cook, and also wanting to succeed at something you are not very good at. (And also pretending I am on TV, though usually I am giving my Oscar acceptance speech, not hosting my own cooking show. What? Like you've never practiced that.) And for that reason I love this character and this book.

Author: Joan Bauer

Potentially objectionable content: An abusive Elvis impersonator.