When C.B. Murphy wrote Cute Eats Cute, he thought his fictional tale of environmental politics (wrapped within a wry and satiric commentary on the human condition of our postmodern age) would appeal to a sophisticated audience and draw a heady, intellectual adult readership.
Imagine his post-publication surprise to find that Facebook, Google and Amazon analytics indicate the majority of readers (and buyers) of Cute Eats Cute are young adults-primarily female, and between the ages of 13 and 22. In fact, young Facebook readers have proved to be some of his most influential and supportive fans.
Cute Eats Cute portrays a contemporary family that is pulled down the slippery slope of controversy merely because they don't agree with each other. If Holden Caulfield had grown up in age of environmental politics, he might sound like the narrator of the book, 15-year-old Sam. Set in a mid-western town at the turn of the millennium, Sam's mother embraces Wicca, his dad dials in talk radio, and his eco-warrior friends shift into hyper-drive as the community goes up in arms when deer are slated for culling from a large urban park.
Organically wrapped in paradox and irony, Murphy explores the many false utopias his characters embrace. Sam ultimately discovers that the human condition is really about finding out which tribe you're in, and in doing so, learns to navigate the turbulent waters of his life.
Throughout the narrative, teenaged Sam insists that it is his story. Young readers have echoed his sentiments-it's theirs, too. As the old saying goes, don't judge a book (or its audience) by the cover-or your expectations of who its fans will be.
A writer, painter, and rogue anthropologist, C.B. Murphy's first novel, Cute Eats Cute, was published in 2011 by Zoographico Press, followed by his second book, End Of Men in 2012. A past recipient of first prize for fiction at the Southampton College Writers Workshop, Murphy is currently at work on his third novel, Bardo Zsa Zsa. View his award winning graphic novels and other works at http://www.cbmurphy.net.
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