User:RivkaEG/sandbox

Plot
who is on “a slow but uncontrollable skid to nowhere”

Cameron’s apparent social exclusion is emphasized when the author introduces his sister, Jenna, who is described as perfect. One of the first scenes in the novel is of Cam having what he thinks is a marijuana-induced hallucination of flames during his English class. This public hallucination gets Cameron sent to multiple drug counselors, all while his hallucinations continue,

probably contracted from his minimum-wage job at the fast food joint Buddha Burger.

While Cam is hospitalized, the character Dulcie is introduced as a hallucination-induced vision. She is described to have been sent to give Cam a mission to save the world from the character unknown to Cam as Wizard of Reckoning

given a Disney World wristband by Dulcie that is explained to be able to keep the disease from advancing any further into Cam’s brain. In the journey that follows, the “hallucenogenic mix of elements in the adventure” are all revealed to “have roots in his ‘real’ life”.

Throughout the next section of the story, “guided by random signs”, Cam and Gonzo take a bus to New Orleans, where Mardi Gras is happening. While they stay in New Orleans, Cam goes to a party with two strangers who are explained to be natives of the city. At this party, Cam meets a garden gnome who is explained to actually be a Norse god named Balder, who was trapped in garden gnome form before the plot of the novel started by the god Loki, the Norse trickster who is not mentioned or explained about any more in the novel. Balder joins the two boys in their road trip.

After catching another bus from New Orleans heading towards Disney World, where Dulcie explained that Dr. X could be found, the three characters are stranded in between towns when the bus leaves them behind. After the diner they stop at is attacked by fire giants revealed to be working with the Wizard, they purchase a car and drive the rest of the way to Florida, not risking public transportation because after the diner blew up, they were listed as nationally wanted terrorists.

On the way, they pick up three high school senior hitchhikers on their way to the YA! Party House, explained to be the headquarters of a very popular TV show of the same name. Once they get to the Party House, it is explained that the three boys stole Balder in order to sell him on one of the station’s game shows. Cameron and Gonzo, after being on shows of their own which they win using obscure knowledge gleaned from Cam’s “real” life, sneak into the dressing room of the shows host to steal Balder back.

Once the three protagonists are reunited, they continue on to the beach for an afternoon on Balder’s urging, humoring his explanation that his Norse ship is waiting for his once he gets to the shore to take him back to Valhalla. While they are at the beach, men explained to be operatives from United Globes Wholesales, a snow globe company, attack them, trapping Dulcie in a snow globe and killing Balder, who was thought up until this point to be invincible. To get Dulcie back, Cam and Gonzo follow the company’s truck to Disney World. Once there, they walk from gift shop to gift shop, looking for where Dulcie’s snow globe could have been dropped off. Eventually, Cam and Gonzo are separated when Cam follows one of the employees into a ride in Tomorrowland.

The small door he goes through is revealed to lead to Dr. X’s lab, where the newly revealed character tells Cam that the “snow globe gun” the employees of UGW used on Dulcie is his secret of life, and his “cure” to Cam’s illness.. Cam refuses that fate, and then the Wizard appears, reminding Cameron and the reader that Cam’s “clock is ticking”. The wizard is described as looking exactly like Cameron, and chases him through various doors in a long hallway, where Cam runs through scenes exactly like his life when he was younger.

After the Wizard catches up to Cam, the protagonist defeats him by blowing on a trumpet given to him by a jazz musician in New Orleans. Cam then wakes up in the hospital, to the scene of a nurse turning off his various life support machines and his parents and sister crying in the background, revealing that the whole plot was a hallucination induced by the mad cow disease eating away at his brain.

Characters
Frank Smith -- Cameron’s father, a successful professor of theoretical physics who is not compassionate to his children and might be having an affair with Reina.

Mom -- Cameron’s mother, a professor and pushover to her family.

Glory -- The nurse who cares for Cam while he is in the hospital throughout the book.

Elbie -- A middle aged man, who is owner of the LP/record store where Cameron hangs out and jazz enthusiast.

Reina -- Cameron’s father’s office assistant and attractive woman

Dr. X -- The mad scientist explained to have a cure for death and to have accomplished time travel.

Wizard of Reckoning -- The antagonist of the story, a snarky warrior, who is the leader of the fire giants and determined to destroy Cameron.

Junior -- A jazz musician in New Orleans who gives Cameron a magic trumpet to defeat the Wizard.

Keith, Middle Guy -- A high school senior age guy, who is one of the three hitchhikers Cameron picks up on the way to Florida. He steals balder and sells him on the game show.

Right Guy -- Another of the three hitchhikers.

Left Guy -- The third hitchhiker.

Themes
The book Going Bovine addresses themes including heroism, the definition of reality, the transformation from child to adult, and the influences of love and death on our lives. Bray comments on the novel, saying it’s “about poking a little fun at modern life and pop culture”. Also commented on in this novel are the ideals of American materialism, modern education, and religious cults. The main theme, however, is, as Bray says about her book, how is it that “we know we’re living our lives, or if this is somebody’s dream?”. Bray also comments that in the book, “comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin”. It also contains many scenes where the idea of keeping promises and not leaving friends in times of need is expressed. A theme that is shown most often through Cameron is that, Bray says, “culture tries to negate aggression and unhappy feelings”, and Bovine talks about the expression of those feelings.

Style
Going Bovine is written to follow Cameron’s stream of consciousness and follows a journey-like style, and is based on the novel “Don Quixote”. The novel also contains many allusions to “Quixote”, in plot, theme and characters. Many influences can be seen from Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” in Bray’s style of humor, as well as Nick Hornby’s “Slam”. The style has been categorized by one critic as “absurdist comedy”.

Background
Going Bovine was written with much influence from Bray. This novel is a stylistic stretch for Bray, though she describes it as one she “had to write, even though it could be career suicide”. Bray wrote Bovine between two other novels, the Gemma Doyle series and Beauty Queens. Bray says that she write it after hearing from her mother about a man in their hometown who had contracted mad cow disease.

Reception
This novel received an overwhelming number of positive reviews. from various sources, though some did criticize it. The publication Teenreads said the book had a “perplexing plot”. Another critic claimed that readers “may not feel equally engaged in each of the novels lengthy episodes”. However, the majority of reviews were positive, including one critic calling it a “hilarious and hallucinatory quest” created out of a “hopeless situation”. Teen Ink described the book as "funny and raw". One writer labeled it an “absurdist comedy” for “fans of Douglas Adams... seeking more inspired lunacy”. The plot is describes the plot as a “journey of epic proportions” by School Library Journal’s Betty Carter.