Judy Blume's Ever-Expanding Audience & Relevance
by Elyse SommerI'm too old to have been part of author Judy Blume's ever-expanding fan base of girls from early grades to high school. Consequently, I didn't join the Blume reader bandwagon even when the most recent of her three novels for adults was published in 2016. But Blume is clearly having a big, smartly marketed moment in the spotlight, with a documentary film about her life on Amazon Prime and an adaptation of her most famous book currently in movie theaters.
The delightful Amazon Prime documentary Judy Blume Forever -- in which she is the chief narrator -- prompted me to catch up with her 2016 adult novel. The title, In the Unlikely Event, is aptly borrowed from words used then by airline hostesses when issuing instructions for using safety equipment in case of an emergency. As the now 83-year-old Blume captured my interest in her very full life and career path, I was so bowled over by Blume's brilliant storytelling and greater than ever relevancy that I decided to devote this new blogspot feature to the book.
Why Blume's 2016 Novel is Pertinent for Male Readers
Before going any further, I'm not ignoring my blogspot's male readers. Given the fact that Blume has structured the novel to tell her story from the perspective of twenty characters, this big cast includes teens as well as adults, men as well as women. While women tend to read more fiction than men, the pertinence of issues that come up within the novel's December 1951 to February 1952 time frame will trigger a universal response. Furthermore, if you did read In the Unlikely Event when it was published, you'll find rereading this novel more powerful and timely than ever. What was unlikely to happen in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1952 did happen. And to this day, all our lives continue to be a series of unlikely events that do happen.
Blume's Ability to Connect with Readers Now Works its Magic on a More Diverse Audience
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Judy Blume herself grew up in Elizabeth and experienced the plane disasters that drive the novel's plot as a teenager. Thus, Miri, the novel's key cast member, is a stand-in for Blume and the other characters are fictional versions of fellow students and the adults in her life. The way Blume portrays all of them does indeed work for anyone reading the book. Her terrific storytelling captures the devastation of those events but also makes it a page-turning drama full of warmth -- even optimism, thanks to a jump 35 years forward.
Navigating the details of those unlikely events as well as the multitude of personal dramas is not easy. But the author skillfully alternates between the historic events and the fictionalized subplots. She does so by introducing each personal chapter with an actual article from one of two local newspapers, thus effectively merging fact and fiction. Besides touching on every aspect of the characters' lives, the many authentic references to the fashions and culture of the times support its being fun as well as sad to read.
Ultimately, In the Unlikely Event is timeless since all our lives continue to be a series of unlikely events that may actually happen. Theories voiced about the plane's pilots being foreign terrorists by students in Elizabeth sound wild in the book. But two planes piloted by terrorists did crash into Manhattan's Twin Towers.
In the Unlikely Event more than holds up nowadays and I highly recommend reading it, whether for the first time or again. The Kindle edition offers the plus of including a cast of characters that's arranged as a list of families and their members. Also, if you haven't seen the Amazon documentary Judy Blume Forever, it too is an invigorating experience, so don't miss it.
Post Script: I've already commented on some of the shows making news as part of the reopening of pandemic-struck theaters in my last blogspot (Types of Shows That Keep Theater Alive). In case you missed reading that, scroll over to the column of older posts at the right of this posting. A lot of other shows have opened and are planned. Here are a couple of websites where you can always check out what's running and where:
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