31 October 2011

I Will Remember You


Hey, remember that 2009 Debs eBook anthology I was talking about a few months back? Well it's here! Thanks to the hard work of editors Rhonda Stapleton and Jessica Verday, The First Time is ready to be downloaded onto your favorite eReader. What's also thrilling is that I haven't read anybody else's stories so I'm excited to tear through them all in the next couple of days. Here's the book description and links to all the contributing authors!
"In The First Time, 25 young adult authors contribute 25 stories all about firsts: first loves, first kisses, first zombie slayings, and more. Featuring New York Times bestselling authors Carrie Ryan and Jessica Verday, plus a host of others. From humor to horror, and everything in between, these stories will make you laugh, cry, cheer, (and maybe even scream) as you experience something brand new from the authors that you love."
Cyn Balog, Lauren Bjorkman, Leigh Brescia, Jennifer Brown, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, Janet Gurtler, Teri Hall, Cheryl Renee Herbsman, Stacey Jay, Heidi R. Kling, C. Lee McKenzie, Saundra Mitchell, Jenny Moss, Jackson Pearce, Shani Petroff, Carrie Ryan, Sydney Salter, Kurtis Scaletta, Jon Skovron, Kristina Springer, Rhonda Stapleton, Charity Tahmaseb, Jessica Verday, J. A. Yang, and Lara Zielin.
My short story is about...well, let me just tease you with a line from it:
"What Perfect Firsts does, at the basic level, is to provide a perfect first boyfriend or girlfriend for people in need. Who qualifies as 'in need?' Everyone."

You're totally intrigued aren't you? You totally wish you had the perfect first relationship don't you? Is my story even fictional or based on true events?! I'll never tell. Okay if you buy the anthology and then read every single one of the stories inside, maybe then I'll tell.

And if you don't have an eReader, you can still download the free Kindle or Nook app and read from there on your computer, phone, iPad, etc. Oh technology, you make my heart sing. Plus you can follow all the 2009 Debs with just one click via a Google Reader bundle or a Twitter list.

While we're at it, let's have a contest where the prize is a free copy of The First Time. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and tell me an interesting fact you learned recently. Let's educate each other! If you haven't learned anything interesting recently, well, just tell me what your favorite mythological creature is I suppose. But if you choose to go that route, I'm a little concerned about what you do every day. No judging, no judging.

I'll randomly select a winner next Monday, November 7th! Also, feel free to become a follower on that little gadget on the right, or stalk my Twitter or something. Both are semi-accurate measures of my self-esteem.

30 October 2011

What's a Nubian?

Went out last week to the Diversity in YA Fiction tour stop in San Diego. Despite sorta living here, it's the very first book event I've ever been to in my area. Crazy right? This stop featured DIYA founders Malinda Lo and Cindy Pon, along with their special guests Holly Black, Cinda Williams Chima, Karen Healey, and Greg van Eekhout.

All six are fantasy authors and that lent an interesting perspective to the topic of diversity. There were discussions about writing beyond your own experiences, dealing with people who say your work isn't authentic, and how easy it can be to get things wrong that might hurt people -- even by accident or oversight. However, all of this doesn't mean that writers shouldn't write about what they don't have direct experience with, as long as they do their best to research and to be respectful.

Greg van Eekhout made a great point about how unlike making a movie, if you don't like something in a book, you don't have to do an expensive reshoot, you can just make edits on a document. This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, how convenient it is to be a writer from an equipment standpoint. Most other artists need cameras, brushes, kitchens, instruments, special shoes, etc. Writers don't need much of anything to get down to work.

Author Mette Ivie Harrison live tweeted some quotes and highlights from the hour and a half long panel. I took a transcript of her tweets here. While the DIYA tour is now officially over, the DIYA blog is still going strong so head on over to check out the monthly new books, features, interviews, and guest posts by a variety of book people.


While we're semi on the topic, I totally recommend this site: Comp Lit and Mediaphilia. Hannah is a getting a few graduate degrees right now at Simmons and she talks about a great mix of writing, politics, books, and literature on her blog. The first post I read of hers was "Biracial Literature #3: The Finding Identity By Going on a Literal Journey Trope," and was immediately compelled to read what she thought about everything else. I'm pretty sure you'll feel the same way.

27 October 2011

Just Tell Me the Song and I'll Sing It

Currently pushing: Stephen Elliot's "An Oral History of Myself" series. I've been a loyal reader of Elliot's Daily Rumpus emails for about a year now and he's like a uni-directional BFF. I know more about his thoughts and life than I do about most of my friends, which is weird but also fascinating.

I recently found out about his oral history series and have been going through them all. The project is this: "In 2005 I [Elliot] began interviewing people I grew up with and transcribing, then editing, the interviews, creating a kind of memoir but in other people's words." Oral histories are all the rage now. Like the one for Friday Night Lights, the mammoth ESPN book, the MTV book. I think everyone should create an oral history.

The Daily Rumpus is consistently one of my favorite reads but it's not available via blog or anything, as far as I know. Thus I recommend subscribing to the email list immediately.

I went to the library today, for the first time in a long time. I had sort of forgotten about the actual purpose of a library. The last few times I've been in libraries it's been for readings, panels, workshops, blow out sales, celebrations, bathroom pit stops. The last time I checked something out was 2007. As a friend deadpanned to me when I told her how cool it was that I could use my Kindle to borrow books for free: "So it's like a library." Riiiight, good point. Now that I know where I'll be for more than three weeks -- San Diego until 2012 -- I decided it would be best to start hitting up the local branch again.

At the beginning of this year I lamented how much I haven't been reading. Well, eleven months later and I still haven't been reading. I do have a beautiful spreadsheet of things acquired but only nine titles are marked "finished." That's totally pathetic. I'm not exactly cruising through Gravity's Rainbow here either. It only took a few hours each to polish off the stuff I have read. The problem is so much of my reading intake is now long form articles and stuff online that my diet is totally disproportionate. My Kindle was supposed to change this but I've finished a grand total of one book on it so far.

Anyway, long whining short, I'm going to breeze through a book a day this week and try to get my rhythm back. Plus I want to win a reading medal. They still give those out right? Or maybe that's so passé now. I mean, this library in Canada is having a contest to award a trip to WrestleMania for teens who read at least five books. I'm so gonna beat them (up).

Yesterday, Elliot talked about the difference between breaking into the film world versus the publishing world -- excerpted here. What got me was this last bit: "A book is an author alone in a room multiplied by a passage of time. A book isn’t set on permission, a book is grounded on faith."

24 October 2011

I'll Show You

Since joining, I haven't been able to do any of Rachael Harrie's Campaign Challenges yet so I thought I better hop on the last one! The rules are over here and this one is about "show not tell." I'm running out the door for some basketball so had to whip this up and hopefully it'll work! And let's hope I don't break anything trying to recapture my youth.

"Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show: (1) that it’s morning (2) that a man or a woman -- or both -- is at the beach (3) that the main character is bored (4) that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting (5) that something surprising happens."
Dictionary Brown wiggled his toes against the sand, trying to move them even an inch. How long before the tide rolled back in? Fifteen minutes, an hour? Would he try to hold his breath or would he just let the water wash over him? He tried to clench his hands but they too, didn’t respond.

Barely able to crane his neck more than a few degrees, he saw a familiar sight at the edge of his peripheral vision. It was slumped over, long titian-colored hair obscuring the face of his girlfriend. A thin darker shade of red dripped from the crown of her head. “Nancy!” he gurgled out, throat constricting with the effort.

A breeze brought the scent of her distinctive shampoo floating his way. Dictionary hated that smell but Nancy loved it because it was unique. “Amorphophallus titanum, it’s the corpse flower!” It had cost her $49.99 on darketsy.com, her favorite shopping site. Even though the stench of it threatened to make him dizzier than he already was, he tried to capture every last whiff.

How would he describe this situation later in his memoirs? “Adjective: Reckless or dangerous because of despair or urgency. Leaving little to no hope. Extremely bad; intolerable or shocking.” No, he’d use “bored.” Yes, that’s how he would describe it. It would be more accurate.

A shadow passed over him, blocking his view of the rising sun. “Hello Leroy,” he said, staring up at his brother. Addressing the pair behind Encyclopedia, he added, “Frank, Joe, good to see you too.” The two dimwits used to work for him but had recently deserted one cause or party for the opposite faction.
Turncoats.
Assholes.
It wouldn’t matter. Dictionary had gotten the TV show, he had gotten the girl, and now, he was going to get even.

23 October 2011

Music Makes Me High

It's been a year since my last mixtape, mass apologies. Last time my songs were to celebrate summer but this time I'd like to gear us up for the long winter ahead. While I tried to keep the number of songs manageable -- I already cut down from 80-plus -- there were just way too many good ones to trim any further. For the first time ever, I don't think I used the same artist twice. I know, you're so impressed.

If you follow along to my "Listening to" tag or with Ameer's music blog, The End Starts Today, a few of these selections should be familiar to you. With T.E.S.T gaining momentum, I may have to transfer all my future music selections over there so come on along.
40oz to Freedom
Track list - Zip file
40 songs, 2 hr 20 mins, 248.8 MB
Most of these tracks have lyrics attached, courtesy of Get Lyrical. When you play songs in iTunes, the program searches for lyrics to insert into the track notes. How amazing is that? Singing along will never be easier!

18 October 2011

Footloose (2011)

In what could prove to be my most important piece of work yet during my dance movie review series, I'm here to compare the old Footloose with the new Footloose, which I rushed to see opening weekend. Warning, many spoilers ahead. In short, if you didn't plan on watching the new Footloose, you should, because it's actually pretty good. Note: All category scores are for the remake because no number can reflect how fantastic the original is.

Tagline: After some Googling, it looks like the original had quite a few taglines: (1) "He’s a big-city kid in a small town. They said he’d never win. He knew he had to." (2) "All he wanted to do was dance." (3) "One kid. One town. One chance." (4) "The music is on his side." None of them are real winners but the remake has "Cut Loose" and "This Is Our Time" as the taglines so it didn't exactly try to up the ante. EDGE: None

1. Plot (7) They changed a few things in the remake but surprisingly, most of the plot points are the same. Directors love to mix things up but Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snack Moan) did a great job of not messing with a good thing. Everything he did change, I fully support, as they made sense or enhanced the drama.

In the new version, Ren is from Boston instead of Chicago and moves to Bomont after his mother's death instead of with her. Good choice as this gives Ren more depth and eliminates a totally unnecessary character. Ren's uncle is given a lot more to do in the remake and adds an extra dose of humor. The biggest change Brewer made was probably showing us the five seniors partying and then getting killed. Wise move as this made for a much more exciting opening.

Also, changing Bomont's location to Georgia allowed for the inclusion of minorities. A point which we'll come back to later. The original Footloose had no people of color in it, not one. Unless you count Sarah Jessica Parker, who was glowing rainbows. Overall the remake just makes a lot more sense from every angle, including the reasoning behind the dance ban. EDGE: Remake

2. Can the lead characters dance? (9) After watching his audition tape on the Footloose Deluxe DVD, I can tell you that Kevin Bacon was a pretty good dancer. Also, he did most of his own dance scenes in the movie, except the warehouse acrobatics. Not bad. Of course, since Kenny Wormald is a professional dancer who already starred in Center Stage: Turn It Up, it's hard not to give him the edge here. I did hate his strange spinning arms move and didn't think he was actually amazing amazing, but he used to dance backup for Justin Timberlake so what do I know.

The Lori Singer versus Julianne Hough matchup is similarly stacked. Hough was a former Dancing With the Stars pro (as well as a best selling country singer) and co-starred in Burlesque. Her parents met as as teammates on their college's ballroom dancing team. While Singer always wanted to be a dancer, she instead became a cello prodigy and actress. Her mom and dad are a concert pianist and a symphony conductor -- her brother is Marc Singer, of Beastmaster and V fame. Some people get all the talent. I'll give the edge here to Hough, even though Singer was probably very talented as a dancer too.

Oh Willard. Chris Penn didn't even know there was dancing involved when he signed up for Footloose. After putting in many hours of work, he proved to be the perfect mix of awkward and endearing. I thought he couldn't be topped but Miles Teller is just as good. In theory, Teller has to be a dancer than Penn but it really doesn't matter because Willard's job is to make us laugh. In that category, both Penn and Teller are equally fantastic. EDGE: Remake

3. How're the dance scenes? (8) You can't top the dance scenes in the original. Or wait, can you? For a dance movie, there were very few dancing scenes in Footloose. The opening shoes montage, the warehouse scene, going out in the big city, the teaching montage, and then the prom. That's it.

The remake adds two additional dance scenes but quantity doesn't improve things. For example, the new warehouse scene is awful. Yes it's hard to redo such an iconic scene but the song they picked was terrible. I felt no thrill watching Wormald bounce around and venting his emotions. I'd have preferred them just splicing the original Bacon part into the remake.

Also, the prom dance wasn't nearly as thrilling. Yes the original had weird camera obscuring color blotches superimposed on everything but it also featured more frantic excitement. That was a party I would have wanted to go to. The remake's prom didn't seem quite as fun.

Let's now talk about how popular dancing has evolved in the twenty five years since the original Footloose. This will only take one word: b-boying. While I love break dancing and all that, seeing it in Footloose threw me off. I missed seeing exuberant 80's dancing with arms akimbo and lots of jumping around. I don't need to see crunking in my nostalgia movie, not for one second. But I guess the remake has to evolve with the times. I would have preferred more stuff like the new country dancing scene, which is modern yet not jarringly out of place. Or something like what Wormald and Hough performed on DWTS. EDGE: Original

4. How's the love story? (6) Who cares, this is about the love of dance! At least we can understand why Ren and Ariel are attracted to each other, which is a big step up from most dance movies. There's no explanation for Willard and Rusty in either version though, and I would have enjoyed watching Willard awkwardly flirt.

5. Rate the sidekicks (9) We've already discussed Penn and Teller as Willard. Now let's compare the other support staff. Ariel's best friend, Rusty, has inexplicably been transformed into a Puerto Rican. That's fine but when the entire rest of the cast is white or black, I'm wondering where the other minorities are. Assuming this is set in the present day, there's only one non-white/black family in town? Really? I don't need a complete palette swap in small town Georgia but this weak concession to diversity is ridiculous. (I had to look up what ethnicity actress Ziah Colon was because as her bio states, her agent saw "[Colon's] ethnic ambiguity as an advantage.")

Either way, Sarah Jessica Parker is all kinds of missed here. She was the ideal giddy sidekick and I'd say her character added a lot to the original. Sadly, in the remake Rusty is high pitched and annoying. Overwhelming edge to Parker's Rusty here.

As for Ariel's parents, it's John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest versus Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell. I wondered why Kevin Bacon wasn't given the dad role but Dennis Quaid is everyone's favorite cinematic father so I can understand the decision. John Lithgow seems more like a creeper than a preacher so I'd say Quaid wins here. As for Wiest versus MacDowell, it didn't really matter because a cardboard cutout could have filled MacDowell's role in the remake. Seriously, I think she had three lines total and I don't know why she even took the role. You're better than that Andie, you're better than that.

I didn't think I wanted to talk about Chuck Cranston here but there was something vaguely appealing about the remake's version. I think it was because the actor who played him, Patrick John Flueger, vaguely resembled a young Patrick Swayze. Like if Swayze had been a stock car racing, woman beating, redneck. The new Chuck was less menacing but I liked what he brought to the film. EDGE: Original, I'd rather have SJP than the upgrade from Lithgow to Quaid.

6. Best line (8) There are a lot of memorable lines from the original. From Ren's quick comebacks to Ariel's screaming at her dad, "I'm no saint you know, I'm not even a virgin!" In church no less. However, the best line is undoubtedly Willard's answer to Ren when he asks about Ariel.
Willard: People think she's a hellraiser.
Ren: Is she?
Willard: I think she's been kissed a lot.
And a variation later on:
Ariel: Do you wanna kiss me?
Ren: Someday.
Ariel: What's this "someday" shit?
Ren: Well, it's just I get the feeling you've been kissed a lot, and I'm afraid I'd suffer by comparison.
The new screenplay ports over many of the same lines but makes everyone slightly wittier and funnier. I also much enjoyed Chuck's mispronunciation of "touché," which I didn't even catch because it was comically butchered so bad. EDGE: Even, acknowledging that most of the characters' interplay and good lines came from the original.

7. Music (9) You can't mess with the songs from the original and thankfully they didn't. While the songs were given a makeover, they did work pretty well. The exception is "Holding Out for a Hero," which gets related to a slim scene instead of being used for the chicken race. That misstep is made up for by the fantastic version of "Let's Hear It For the Boy" highlighting the remake. I know I tend to liberally say things are genius but the way they incorporate Deniece Williams' classic into the new version is absoutely genius. EDGE: Original

8. Fashion (6) There is a lot of hoopla made about Ren's tie. The original film's extras revealed that Ren was supposed to not want to wear a tie to school but does so at his mother's insistence. Kevin Bacon stepped in and thought his character would want to dress up. Over two decades later, that skinny tie has made a huge style comeback and now both old Ren and new Ren are cool and contemporary. Also still great are Ariel's red boots, the similarly floufy hair for Bacon and Wormald, and Willard's cowboy hat. I was saddened that the new Ren gave up his Chucks but that's a minor point -- at least he kept his yellow Volkswagen Bug! EDGE: Original

9. Cultural Impact (1) No contest here. The original spawned a remake, duh. However I think it's impressive that the remake didn't totally suck. Only those anticipating Razzies for the new Footloose will be disappointed. In fact there's a lot that's better about the remake. It's a more streamlined film, the character motivations are better, and all the things you loved about the original are here. If not for nostalgia value and the iconic dance scenes, it could be argued that the new one could stand alone. Then again, I'd love to hear from someone who watched the remake but not the original. I'd imagine the experience is not nearly the same. EDGE: Original

10. Miscellaneous (4) There's nothing exciting behind the scenes about the remake but I'd dedicated a lot of time looking up original Footloose lore and listening to the DVD commentary. I mean, how did Madonna lose out for the role of Ariel? Early Eighties Madonna wasn't perfect for the wild preacher's daughter?! The only comparable drama for the remake is how Zac Efron pulled out. Lame. Oh and why Kevin Bacon didn't make a cameo. I read that he turned the producers down when they asked. The role I think would have made the most sense for Bacon would have been as the cop who pulls Ren over early on in the movie. That would have been a nice role reversal and nod to the original right?

Let's return to Julianne Hough for a minute. While she can't be faulted for this, she looks so much older than Kenny Wormald. She's actually quite young but her face looks so much older opposite the cherubic Wormald. Also, her resemblance to Jennifer Aniston distracts from the movie. Not to say that Hough wasn't good in the remake but I just couldn't shake the similarity.

One thing that bothered me about the original was how after Ariel gets punched by her boyfriend, absolutely nothing happens. I was real curious if the remake would keep the assault in there. In fact it does, and doesn't shy away from the dad slapping Ariel either. However, there is no retribution or even acknowledgement that Ariel got beat up. I expected a scene in the remake to address the issue, or even a line from Ren during his fight with Chuck. Nada. Oh well, I guess you can't dance or play loud music in Bomont but you can slap a girl around. Thanks for the morality lesson Footloose.

FINAL VERDICT (67/100)
As a standalone, the remake's scores ranked right in-between Step Up and Step Up 3. It didn't approach the heights of Centerstage or You Got Served but if you loved the original, this is a must see. Some critics have even said that it improved on the 1984 version. I know, blasphemy! Now I think I need to watch the Footloose musical. I didn't even know there was one until recently. I wanna dance with somebody, don't you?

15 October 2011

It's a Small Wonder

Here with another edition of games you hate but love, an update on my current mobile game obsessions -- just in time for your shiny new iPhone 4S's. Two years ago it was Papaya Farm, the gateway drug. Last spring it was We Rule for a few furious months. Then in July we started in on Bakery Story. I was ready to quit my pastry chef career weeks ago but waited until I converted all my ovens and coffee makers into ice cream machines for a grand re-opening. Now I'm going to stop serving my delicious sundaes and let my demanding customers starve. I'm so over (virtual) desserts.

The preference for my play group -- five girls and three guys -- are that games have to be cute and there has to be a social element involved. No actual skill required. Surprisingly, it's not easy to find games that fit the bill despite the deluge in apps that are designed to these specifications.

Most of the zoo type games are no good because raising a few animals to stick in cages is hardly exciting. Dragon Vale was okay for about five seconds because who didn't love How to Train Your Dragon, but it ultimately proved to be too boring. Trying to breed dragons to get a particular species is interesting but I just kept wishing for an iPhone Pokemon.

The only animal game I'd get into has to involve some sort of safari theme where you try to balance the predators versus the prey -- all while preserving plant life, recovering from natural disasters, and avoiding poachers. I want to simulate the circle of life or nothing else. Give me some complexity in animal games already.

Luckily I have found two games worth checking out. The first one is a familiar theme, just Mafia Wars dressed up with graphics and action. While I don't espouse violence in real life, I have no problems mugging, robbing, and committing all manner of crimes to make my name feared across the five boroughs. There is a lot of satisfaction in watching your little avatar punch people out and then steal their money.

You also get to build a neighborhood of your own and so far I have a sparkling basketball court surrounded by a late night pizza joint and a classy abandoned building. Come on through, I've got the safest streets in Crime City because I believe in keeping danger off my stoop.

And since I like to brag, my record in fights versus my "rivals" is 104-4. That's a 0.963 winning percentage and three of those losses were when I wasn't looking and got jumped. The one legitimate loss was on my first day, when I was still wet behind the ears. Since then I've been practically undefeated. I'm pretty sure I was born to intimidate.

The other game is my favorite so far. It's called Tiny Tower and is an 8-bit treatise on life in the modern metropolis. Okay maybe it's not quite that deep. The goal of Tiny Tower is to build a skyscraper filled with happy residents and booming businesses. Each person has a dream job and if you put them in that position, they are like totally appreciative.

As you add floors to your building, you'll create photo studios, golf courses, banks, wood shops, grocery stores, and more delightful places to decorate and staff. Being able to hire, fire, and evict people is a powerful feeling. Also, your "bitizens" get to wear funny costumes and talk about each other in their own version of Facebook.

Download Tiny Tower already, it's megalomaniacal fun and unlike other freemium games, doesn't force you to pay real money to unlock stuff. Then friend me please! Well, after checking out this article, "How Skyscrapers Can Save the City."

12 October 2011

Sun Was High

This gap in my blogging doesn't mean we didn't make it cross country. In fact we made it very safe and sound, without much muss or fuss at all. Not one flat tire, rude local, or disgusting rest stop to be found. Given the chance I'd do the drive again but I'd take much longer.

For example, due to time constraints we were forced to pass up the Oz Museum and Larry Bird's hometown. Seeing as they are related to two of my top five obsessions, visiting them would have been something.

My drivemate also said she thought we could go to check out Dorothy's House. Then we looked it up and Liberal, Kansas was too far off route. I tried to reason that three hours out of the way probably wasn't worth it to see a recreation of a fictional person's house. But you can get your name on a yellow brick there --- for an "appropriate donation" -- so maybe we made the wrong decision.

If you are a fellow Oz fanatic, allow me to recommend Was by Geoff Ryman. It combines an abused and fictional Dorothy Gael, a very real Frances Gumm (before she became Judy Garland), and an actor stricken with AIDS who plays the Scarecrow and is on the search for Dorothy's house. Why is the Wizard of Oz so ripe for dark re-imaginings?

While I was gone, my Google Reader collected thousands of unread items, my fantasy football teams tanked due lack of consistent quarterbacks, and lots of world things happened that I'm just catching up on now. Amanda Knox, better Kindles, and a new iPhone released. Farewell Jobs and Davis. Occupy Wall Street is spreading. The NBA is on serious lockout... I'm still digging out of two weeks ago. It's gonna take awhile.



If you're looking for something to read right now, can I suggest this? "In Memory of Troy Davis." Regardless of how you feel about the death penalty, the article has a lot of interesting things in it. For example, a fact embedded about halfway down surprised me greatly: apparently a chimera isn't just a mythological creature. "In modern biology, a chimera is the result of the death, in utero, of one of two non-identical twins, and the subsequent blending of two types of DNA in the surviving individual." That seems like it could make one hell of a story. Someone please write something riveting involving real life chimeras. Or maybe a criminal organization that exclusively recruits them.

Not it.

Also, the article talks the etymology of "witness" and points out how eyewitness accounts tend to sway juries quite a bit but in an entirely different context, an eyewitness is something justifiably unreliable. Just read the article, it's good. Well, unless you don't like this kind of stuff, in which case, don't read it. It's PG-17ish probably.
"It’s as if we forget, when we are under that spell, about the other possible meaning of 'first person.' Taken in a different context -- in literature -- it means almost the opposite of unassailable authority. It means limited omniscience. It means unreliability. It means subjectivity. It means, quite simply, one person's story."
-In Memory of Troy Davis-