DIARY OF A MAD GEN Y ER by Marcus Dino is one of the most delightful reads I’ve had in a long time. It is a bit hard to classify as it could be intended for Young Adults, but would probably be a good read for anyone from the middle grades through adult age ranges. The main character is a creative and imaginative twenty-five-year-old actress named “Fifi” Larouche. Fifi, whose real name is Cheryl though you’d best not call her that, is working as a waitress at “a greasy spoon diner” while waiting for her big break.
Fifi is from the Midwest. Los Angeles presents its own challenges and joys for Fifi. Her wonderful imagination and fanciful dreams enliven this great story. Join her as she travels through her dreams into mysterious realms or as she joins the author, whom she refers to as a “glorified typist” in a trip to the fictional Kingdom of Sumon, in the Middle East. Regardless of where her travels take her, Fifi is always filled with joy, hope and strength of character.
Fifi isn’t the only interesting character in this book, although she is certainly the main one, she has many friends chief among whom are Alocki the alien, Fifi’s boyfriend Biff and an Englishman named Dirk, who although he only appears in two stories, made a powerful impression on me. Flifi, Fifi’s alter ego fairy also has her own section dedicated to wise advice to people. Flifi is also in the Kingdom of Sumon story and uses a warning about her unique fairy talent to let the Sultan of Sumon know when he’s gone too far.
DIARY OF A MAD GEN Y ER is made up of Fifi’s “Silly Stories”, Fifi’s “Silly Poems” and Fifi’s blog. It also contains Marcus’ “A Visit to the Kingdom of Sumon” and Flifi’s “Thoughts and Tips” as well as a brief and amusing “Introduction.”
I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed DIARY OF A MAD GEN Y ER by Marcus Dino. If you read only one book for pure fun this summer it should be DIARY OF A MAD GEN Y ER. What follows is an excerpt from DIARY OF A MAD GEN Y ER:
“I’m rubbing my shoes. I’m rubbing my shoes. I’m rubbing my shoes and the next thing I know I’m wearing this colorful, old-fashioned looking dress and black shiny high heels. I’ve got my hair all put up in a bun and I’m in this beautiful night club. I see all these nicely dressed ladies entertaining handsome young soldiers and sailors. There’s this big band playing such beautiful songs. The girls are serving the GI’s coffee and sandwiches and all kinds of goodies and they’re also dancing with them.
The next thing I know, omigosh, I see a fella I recognize as a big name actor from the 40s all dressed up in a nice suit and tie. We’ll just call him John. He comes up to me and says, “Shake a leg honey. Grab that tray of doughnuts. The boys are hungry.”
Well he may have been a big name 40s star but I don’t care, the nerve of the man talking to me like that.
“Excuse me, my name is Fifi, not ‘Honey.’ I have no idea where we’re at, but you sound like you should be in the Neanderthal exhibit at the local museum of natural history. You may be a big shot movie star, but I will not be addressed in such a demeaning way.”
John looked at me and chuckled. “You got a lotta spunk in ya kid. All right I didn’t mean to be so crude? Will you please, Fifi, serve the soldiers these doughnuts? Fifi huh? Just the like the French poodle. I knew a gal whose name was Fifi a few years back. A French girl, a cute little actress, I don’t know what happened to her. She went back to France a few years ago and of course I hope she’s okay.You know with the occupation just ending.”
“The occupation? Omigosh are you talking about the German occupation of France? So I’ve gone back to World War 2? What day is today?”
John gave me a curious grin. “Are you okay kid? Maybe you’ve been out in the sun too long. Of course we’re talking about World War 2. What other war is going on right now? It’s Dec. 7, 1944, the third anniversary of Pearl Harbor.”
DIARY OF A MAD GEN Y ER by Marcus Dino, copyright 2009 by Marcus Dino, published by SummerTime Productions, WGA Registration no. 1360788, ISBN 978-0-615-30500-4, available online from $7.00 for the eBook
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