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Mean Season
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Plot Summary of Mean Season
"

Red Dress, Sep 2004, 12.95, 304 pp.
ISBN: 037325069X

Ten years ago as a young teen, Leanne Gitlin fell in love with soap opera star Joshua Reed. A few years later she became the president of his local fan club. Leanne becomes elated to learn that her hero is filming nearby her hometown of Pinecob, West Virginia. When she meets him she finds he is obnoxious. When she learns he got himself into a legal jam involving a stolen car, a DUI, and an injured cow, she agrees to guarantee his behavior with the court that places Joshua under house arrest at her home.

Joshua is a bore as he makes it abundantly clear that he wants nothing to do with her, her home, or her town although the locals and the media have turned his visit into a wild free for all; instead he wants to return to his urban playground. Reassessing where she is and where she is going, Leanne wonders what could have been with her former boyfriend Max Campbell. As Joshua continues to be a pain in the butt, Max returns home because he misses Leanne, who is now a fifteen minute celebrity.

This is an entertaining look at fame from the perspective of a fan who watches her flesh and blood hero behave like an uncaring boor.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

"Leanne Gitlin lives in a small town in West Virginia, with her mother and her mentally challenged brother. For a number of years, she has run the fan club for Joshua Reed, an up-and-coming actor -- though she's never met him.

All that changes one day, after Joshua Reed comes to the area to work on a new movie. The arrogant, misbehaving Reed drinks too much, steals a limo, and gets into an accident. Through Leanne's intervention, he isn't given jail time, but instead lands a 90-day house arrest -- in Leanne's house.

The book follows what happens during those 90 days, as Leanne learns what Joshua Reed is really like, and what she wants out of life. "

Steve Harte, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Mean Season
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Family, caring for ill Yes
Who is sick? - Brother
because he/she is - mentally ill
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Struggle over - vague finding self/purpose in life (i.e. no plot to book)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Coping with loss of loved one(s) Yes
Lover is - totally uninterested

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - small businessman
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - none - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - actor/actress/producer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Deep South
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee

Style
Person - mostly 1st - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Unusual Style: - a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Mean Season
One for My Baby by Tony Parsons
Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
The Girlfriends' Club by Judith Henry Wall
These Dreams by Barbara Chepaitis
Lake Desire by Dav Kaufman


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Heather Cochran Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Steve Harte  

SCHOLARS:
Harriet Klausner  


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