High school junior Nick Brandt is intent on getting a girlfriend, and Eden Reiss is the one that he wants. He has exactly four semesters to get the girl, but when the phone rings on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday night, life for Nick and his parents will never be the same. What had been a seemingly idyllic home life has become something else entirely. But with this shake-up comes a newfound confidence for Nick; he's become a bolder version of himself, no longer afraid to question his parents, and no longer afraid to talk to Eden.
Here's Alyssa to tell us a bit about writing from a guy's point of view -- and sharing some of HER favorite guys from the (pop) cultural canon!
For The Lucky Kind,
I got to do one of the things I love best about being a writer – play
ventriloquist. In this case, that
meant telling a story from the perspective of a sixteen-year-old boy. In honor of Nick, the narrator of The Lucky Kind, here are my top ten male
characters – in particular, the ten male characters that I loved best when I
was a teenager. No doubt each of
these characters influenced the way that I write the boys in my stories, just a
little bit (or a lot).
1) Rhett
Butler (Gone With the Wind): I read Gone With the Wind in ninth grade and
Rhett Butler was my very first bad boy.
(And I sometimes blame him for a few of the real life bad boys who came
later…)
2) Inigo
Montoya (The Princess Bride): The Princess Bride has been my favorite
movie for as long as I can remember.
I’ve had other favorites along the way, but they’ve only ever been tied
with The Princess Bride – nothing has
been able to knock that movie out of first place. And Inigo Montoya has always been my favorite
character.
3) Heathcliff
(Wuthering Heights): My second bad
boy. Looking back, I’m not sure
why I was so enamored of an abusive husband (the same could be said of Mr.
Rochester). I have friends today
who hate the Bronte sisters on principal for making romantic heroes out of men
who treated women so badly. And I
don’t entirely disagree; but I still have a soft spot for Heathcliff.
4) Mr.
Darcy (Pride and Prejudice): Quite
possibly the polar opposite of Heathcliff and Mr. Rochester; a good boy who
still had all that wonderful bad boy angsty-ness.
5) Nick
Carraway (The Great Gatsby): There is a special
place in my heart for narrators, especially narrators like Nick, who are not
the heroes of the stories that they tell.
Nick knows that Gatsby is infinitely more interesting than he is, and he
takes on Gatsby’s story to tell.
6) Josh
Lyman (The West Wing): The
West Wing is my favorite show of all time, and Josh is among my favorite
characters. Aaron Sorkin knows
just how to write men who are among the cool kids and yet retain that sense
that they’re outsiders.
7) Doug
Ross (George Clooney’s character on ER):
ER came out when I was in ninth grade
and I’m pretty sure I can speak for my entire all girls’ high school when I say
we were all in love with him.
8) Atticus
Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird): Quite
possibly the best father ever written.
9) Han
Solo (Star Wars): I didn’t really
discover Star Wars until my junior
year of high school. But I made up
for coming late to the party with my enthusiasm, especially when it came to Han
Solo.
10) Roger Davis (Rent): The musical Rent premiered on Broadway when I was in high school, and my
friends and I become promptly obsessed with it. We listened to the music on class trips, stood in line for
cheap tickets, waited by the stage door to meet the cast members. My friend Alicia and I once saw the
play from the first row of the balcony.
When Roger came on stage for the first time, I turned to Alicia and said:
“If we jumped, we’d miss. But we’d
be closer.”
Love that list - and agree about Han Solo, even if he's not a book guy.
Thanks for joining us, Alyssa!
So tell us, readers, who are YOUR favorite male protagonists? Books, movies, tv --
it's all fair game!
5 comments:
Inigo Montoya for sure. That movie is beyond great! I'd add Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to my least--even though I'm sure it dates me. Thrilled to discover THE LUCKY KIND. Definitely sounds like a read my 14 and 16 yo sons will enjoy!
I want to read THE LUCKY KIND, it sounds great!
I have so many - Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything comes to mind first and foremost. I love Lloyd.
LOL, I'm so tickled that you included Josh Lyman!! I'd forgotten all about him, but I loved him too.
Han Solo and Mr. Darcy just might be my top 2 favorite fictional men. I'd also have to add Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity - there's just something about roguish spaceship captains!
Thanks for a fun post.
Lisa, I love the Lloyd Dobler shout-out! How can we forget him?! Icon from my teenage.
Banned complain !! Complaining only causes life and mind become more severe. Enjoy the rhythm of the problems faced. No matter ga life, not a problem not learn, so enjoy it :)
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