My Side
| My Side | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Memoir | |||
| Start Date: | 01 January 2025 | ||
| Synopsis: | The autobiography of Denise, an intelligent female raptor head attached to Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man at the shoulder. A worldwide bestseller. | ||
| Author(s): | Cliff Steele | ||
Review from the DB Book Review:
With great power comes great intersectionality, as the old saying goes, and no popular memoir to date has tackled the thorny briar of metahuman identity with the verve, insight, and good humor that Denise (no last name)--a woman of unique circumstances and a similarly unique voice--brings with her simply-titled My Side.
If you've been living under a rock for the last several years, you may not be familiar with the meme-bait known as Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, aka Steve Larsen (or AVM to his 'fans'), who first attracted popular attention on ClikClok when security footage from an attempted convenience store robbery gone hilariously wrong went viral. The unexpected breakout star, however, was Mr. Larsen's second head--a fiesty raptor that didn't quite seem to be working for the same team as the would-be supervillain whose shoulders he shared. Internet sleuths endlessly speculated on the unusual circumstances of Mr. Larsen's condition, but the specifics remained obscure to the public, even as AVM's further antics drew widespread attention and ridicule.
Larsen and Denise's meme-orable debut: https://youtu.be/PitCWbbX1E8?si=1HyYqL_d_vWgOItp&t=24
Unknown, that is, until in an unexpected twist, DoubleDayton added My Side to the publishing schedule late last year, igniting a firestorm of speculation and critical praise from a diverse group of early reviewers, including Umbrella Academy scribe Gerard Way and costumed criminal Kite Man. Still, the idea that a secondary dinosaur head was not just sentient, but self-identified as a woman, was considered by many to be absurd on the face of it, a concept so patently ridiculous as to not merit serious attention. If the last two months are any indication, however, such doubters have been silenced by the cavalcade of positive press and an endless number of 'takes' on social media platforms.
So, does My Side deserve the laurels that are being heaped in the direction of first-time author Denise? The answer, simply, is yes--although Denise's circumstances are so unique (there's that word again), her story is filled with universal truths, told from a sympathetic outsider, a fellow traveler in this marvelous world. Denise lays it all on the line, confronting her struggles with communication, disability, romance, alienation, her struggle for legal recognition and the larger existential questions of origins, purpose, and role in society.
