Ava Johnson is HIV positive that much is certain, whether how much that affects the narrative is another thing entirely. Realistically Ava tries to ignore it. Like most people with diseases she tries to sweep it under the rug, content to ignore it in her day-to-day routine. Her dialogue tells us that she’s focused on other things in her life, like trying to clear her head, retire, and rediscover her faith. Her being HIV positive actually has a huge effect on her character as she refuses to let it beat her. She fights against the lies and superstition thrown at her. She finds love even though it isn’t encouraged for a HIV positive person. But as Ava moves back with her sister Joyce Mitchell after the diagnosis, she finds that HIV is the least of her problems. With the arrival of Mrs. Gerry, Ava soon finds herself caught between a whirlwind romance, and a battle to keep Imani (the crack baby her sister is fostering) from a crazed judgmental church wife. This is the basic story of Pearl Cleage’s What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day.

In this critique I will analyze several key points of content in this novel. This will be an in-depth analysis of why this story works, failings and all. Overall I hope to shed some light on this under appreciated gem.

Eddie: At the beginning of the story, the reader is told that Joyce has just lost her husband. In fact that’s part of the reason Ava is moving back in with her, to support her sister during this tough time. So while she waits at the airport for her sister to pick up she instead greeted by Mitch’s former best friend Eddie Jefferson. Ava tells us that Edie was a legendary sports player and is known for getting into all sorts of misadventures with Mitch. He was also a soldier in Nam before coming back to act as a glorified bodyguard to some of the worst people imaginable. Has he killed people? Yes. Is he willing to do so again? Yes. Is he still likable? Yes. Eddie is a real person. He is a character full of contradictions and emotions that get lost under other emotions. Yet despite all of that, he is still a nice guy. Now there is a legitimate argument about whether or not the good guy with the dark back-story is clichéd. Personally, I’ve never heard of a cheap dime store fiction character talk about killing a young kid just to prove his love to someone. This is the kind of rash decision that throws Eddie into the realm of believability. At several points in the story he talks about taking a life but to him he thinks that’s right. This kind of grey area morality simply does not exist in crappy romance characters that sweep the girl off their feet.

Religious Institutions: It is rare to see a novel tackle institutional corruption and do it without seeming pompous or pretentious. Cleage pulls this off by keeping things focused on the black community, really every aspect of this story ties into that. Cleage exposes the kind of hypocrisy and high tempers that appear in this kind of Church by focusing on a relatively simple story, a mother trying to keep her adopted child. We see the Church a symbol of good actually trying to rob good people of a baby. Why? Well because Ava is HIV positive and in their eyes, a whore. This kind of quick assumption speaks to a large issue not in the Christian faith but rather in the Christian Church. This combined with a pedophilic minister makes it clear that Cleage is making some commentary to be sure, but in the end she’s telling the story of how good people are fighting against disillusioned crazy people. For all its grey morality What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day is just that, a story about crazy people doing crazy things Church or otherwise.

Who is the audience for this novel? The audience for a novel like this is pretty clear; the young black community. This is definitely a voice worth hearing as the most significant commentary it makes is directed at young African Americans whom (according to Cleage) are just destroying themselves. Here two sisters stand, one with HIV and one who has just lost her husband. Together they try and make a difference and turn crazy into something better. They meet obstacles along the way but that just makes the final lines so potent “What looks like crazy on an ordinary day can look like love if you catch it in the moonlight.” What a great message for kids who have no direction in their lives. Ava’s struggle is not only a narrative driving force. More over it’s a realistic adversity, one that develops strong everlasting character. This story shows its audience that you can overcome all the crazy in your life and you can make it wonderful.

© 2013 Jared "I.J" Steinberg. All Rights Reserved.

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