Headz The Novel by JJ Colagrande: A Review
About a year ago, when REVMiami was first starting, I was introduced to author and teacher JJ Colagrande. We were obviously drawn to each other because of our deep passions for writing, me with REVMiami and JJ with a novel he had just self-published distributed, Headz (ed. - see the comment at the bottom of this article about this).
JJ and I are both huge supporters of the idea of self publishing. Personally, I've always wanted to be a writer, I just never wanted to sit in a boring newspaper office, attending Monthly Council meetings until I got to the point of writing about what I really want to. I've always wanted to do it my own way.
JJ, who may have written for local favorites 944, Miami Herald, Miami New Times, and several other papers, wanted to write a book and have it published, but has embraced the fact that the rise of the internet and online media has complete ravaged the old book publisher model and took his own destiny into his own hands.
[Ed. - This isn't quite correct. I didn't want to scratch out the entire paragraph, but I do want to give an explanation and correction. JJ had his book published by BlaveVox, which is a highly selective independent press out of Buffalo. Being a starting writer, having a book publisher take a chance on you is a very big deal, and by no means did I mean to minimize that.
JJ is self-promoting his novel, and that is the crux of his work load. I know personally that he's done a ton of travelling and work to get his book out there (just like I'm doing with REVMiami), and it's that work that he's doing that I'm admiring, not the way the book was published.]
Truthfully, we're not all that different than a lot of people our age. We've been indoctrinated by our parents to think that you go to college (I have a BA from Florida State University, JJ has a Masters Degree from Florida International University), get your degree, and then get your 9 to 5 and work your way to family, kids, and security.
Growing up, unfortunately, hasn't been quite that direct. Recently being dubbed "Tweeners", people born in the late-70's onward are facing the reality that this is a messy world, and whatever comfort our parents had, we, as a younger generation, are dealing with September 11, out of control obesity, a failing economy, political turmoil, and an endless number of unsettling current events.
Maybe growing up isn't quite what our parents made it out to be.
Gone are the days of engineers, mathematicians, and stable jobs. Now are the days of 2-3 year job length, constant layoffs, unemployment, and a hard effort to envelop our lives in the arts and independent business.
Entertainment has become so important to our everyday lives that the Evening News no longer covers important world events, but rather, if Jon Gosselin slept with a 20-year old while being split from his wife, or Tiger Woods' insincere apologies about cheating.
It's no wonder everyone wants to be an artist or rockstar.
See, what's funny about JJ handing me one of the first copies of Headz is that I never read it. One of the gross side effects of every single person between the age of 18-35 wanting to be an artist of some sort means that there is a lot of crap in the world, and reading a bad book is about 5 million times more difficult than sitting through the latest Tim Burton remake (even though his originals are great).
There was something about the first chapter that turned me off on the first read. I had other things to do, other books to read, other articles to write, etc., etc. To dedicate my time to read a bad book was just not something I was willing to do.
Of course, JJ never took offense at that, because he's that kind of guy, but over the course of that year we developed a friendship, and have helped each other in both our writing projects.
Then, about two weeks ago, I said to myself, "what the hell, let me give it another try."
I gotta admit it, I enjoy being proved wrong.
Basic plot summary: young people (Headz) from around the country, focused especially on New York, Miami, and San Francisco, travel to a music festival in Chicago called Oracledang. Many adventures ensue.
Thelonious Horowitz
Pretty simple, right? But, wow, does that completely miss the point of the story.
Here's the thing about Headz the Novel, it's trying to exist in two different literary worlds: growth versus adventure. These sorts of stories are familiar to everyone, and every great story contains a bit of both these elements.
Headz is a total and complete personification of the trials of being a "Tweener" by focusing on a menagerie of characters split between the 3 home cities: Thelonious Horowitz, Teflon Jones, Curtis and Geri, Melody Rain, Sky Tyler, KC McGovern, Keith Lipsiznowaz, Shore Morris, and several more.
Each character goes through their own trials, and their own dives into their own different versions of counter or sub-culture.
Thelonious being the "slacker" musician that rejects his older and monetarily successful father's lifestyle and expectations.
Teflon being the physically gifted basketball player, who refuses to make the mad dash to the NBA to explore himself before entering into the high expectations of a professional athletic career.
Curtis and Geri being the noble drug dealing couple, who personify a healthy, loving relationship within the perceived "badness" of being a pot grower.
Melody Rain and Sky Tyler are the lesbian, but really more experimental, couple. Their story tangles their strange manipulations of each other, while also the added dynamic of hopeless romantic, and constant screw up, Keith who chases Sky from San Francisco to Chicago.
I could go on and on. In my age group, these stories are so familiar, that slipping into them and relating to the characters is almost a default. Headz is such an exact statement on the typical sub-culture stereotypes of our generation, that it's like reading a book about my friends.
In the 2000's, we're experiencing another form of Counter-Culture, as opposed to the 1960's which was a rejection of social repression.
Our parents worked hard and raised us in a general environment of comfort and wealth, with the negative side effects of us becoming irresponsible and coddled. Headz is the rejection of comfort. It's the rejection of irresponsibility, be it by Thelonious' rejection of his parent's silver spoon, or Teflon's rejection of his father's imposing his own pre-approved dreams onto his son.
Again, each and every character falls within these generational guidelines in one way or another, which, again, allows the reader to relate to the characters so well.
Unfortunately, I would say that powerful commentary in the first half of the book is lost by the slightly cliched, narrative ending. But, it is nonetheless unique, because of the setting of Oracledang, and diving fully into the sociological and political structure of the Festival going sub-culture, which flattens out the depth of the character development that was created in the first half of the book.
I suppose it's a matter of what you prefer: a strong character based story or a strong plot driven story?
Also, and if a great book wasn't enough, JJ took a TON of deleted chapters and posted them on the Headz the Novel website (www.headzthenovel.com).
I also don't meant to gloss over the "technical" aspects of Headz, because it's an important strength of the novel as well. JJ weaves poetry, lyrics, modern vernacular, and images into the story, even using a e. e. cummings' style poem to strengthen the physical movement associated with one particular poem. It's something that you can only see in an independent and underground piece of writing, another benefit of self-publishing.
Get your own copy of Headz by visiting www.headzthenovel.com. Tell JJ that Ric sent you.
If You Enjoyed This Post, You May Also Like:
- 5 Questions With... JJ Colagrande
- JJ Colagrande's Oracledang Comes to Life on Friday
- 5 Questions with Eleazar Delgado
- Artists Unite for Kids in Distress II March 21, 2009
- Miami Graffiti 2010 - Part 1: The Former RC Cola Experience
NOTE FOR COMMENTS: Do not flame or leave obnoxious comments, THEY WILL NOT BE APPROVED. Constructive criticism should always be welcomed by any artist, but don't be a d-bag, show some class. Thanks. - REVMiami Staff
i dig it. just one correction.
Headz is not self-published. BlazeVox books published Headz. Blazevox is a highly selective independent press out of Buffalo.
Headz is self-promoted, not self-published.
In a fast paced multimedia world, an author needs to be pro-active. That's the point. By being unbelievably pro-active, we've sold 1200 books to date; the average independent small press book only sells 300.
Thanks for the love . .