Have you ever wondered about that book in the library? Displayed on the cabinet? Written by Penn and Student?
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy, even though it's been out of print since 2002. Apparently it's won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes (I doubt it), but I'll only give it 3.5/5 stars.
I've come to the conclusion The Third Floor Rancid Cappuccino: a Love Story is really a celebration of troper nerdhood disguised as an eccentric YA urban fantasy. In case you're confused: Tropers are those people that uncover and categorize tropes, the devices and conventions of media. (Trope names are written in small caps throughout the book, which was pretty jarring at first.)
Anyway, here's the premise. Rancid is set in Metaverse, a universe that's built on and runs on (capital-T) Tropes. Earth, one of the prisons of Metaverse, is locked down to prevent any (capial-S) Stories from forming on it. That's because (Capital-T) Tropers, the world-hopping citizens of the Metaverse, can wield Tropes only while a Story is active.
Unbeknownst to Earth's wardens, the inmates of Earth have been organizing a jailbreak. When they set off a Story, a small high-school in the quiet town of Biertown-Metropolis gets caught in the cross-fire. But THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES, and THE PLOT THICKENS.
There are few things I noticed about the setting. Rancid is blatantly set in University Laboratory High School, I mean, come on. The town called's Biertown-Metropolis, an obvious analogue to Champaign-Urbana. Characters sometimes eat on Red Street, and two of them live in ECL (Electronic Computing Library).
The authors likely intended these parallels: after all, they did choose U.N.I. Penn and A. Student as pseudonyms. Reading Rancid as a current student, I couldn't help feeling like it was a peculiar sort of real-life fanfiction. Walking around Uni after finishing, I couldn't help thinking: this is where _____ died. That's the roof _____ jumped off of. If I touch this wall the right way, I can summon Santa Claus.
I also couldn't help thinking: by fanfiction standards, Rancid is a decent read.
The authors likely intended these parallels: after all, they did choose U.N.I. Penn and A. Student as pseudonyms. Reading Rancid as a current student, I couldn't help feeling like it was a peculiar sort of real-life fanfiction. Walking around Uni after finishing, I couldn't help thinking: this is where _____ died. That's the roof _____ jumped off of. If I touch this wall the right way, I can summon Santa Claus.
I also couldn't help thinking: by fanfiction standards, Rancid is a decent read.
The Rancid Third Floor Cappuccino: A Love Story
U.N.I. Penn and A. Student
3.5/5 stars
"A celebration of troper nerdhood disguised as an eccentric YA urban fantasy."
I am kind of embarrassed to say I don't think I've ever stopped to read that title- guess I'm not very aware of my surroundings! I am sort of confused about how your plot summary relates to the title. I would think this book would have something to do with a romance and a cappuccino, but I suppose titles can be deceiving. The Uni parallels do seem disappointingly obvious, although I am curious about this method of summoning Santa Claus- it sounds a little scary. This is a creative and enjoyable post, and I will have to pay more attention to the school wall/furniture writings from now on!
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought that that was an actual book. After hearing what you think about it, I don't think I'll ever read it, but having skimmed through lots of poorly written fanfiction, I can say that, based off your rating of the book, by fanfiction standards, it would probably be one of the best pieces of writing that ever existed.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this book really does exist... If so, I suspect it may have been written by a close friend of Fernandium Birmingwatt.
ReplyDeleteI too wonder if this book physically exist. Physically because if it didn't exist before, it does now after your creative review on it! I really like reading books/blogs/buzzfeed posts set in our town. (There aren't many…) It makes it easier for me to immerse myself into the story, and just makes walks more entertaining.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I get this? Do they sell it at any local used bookstores? How did you get a copy? Somebody made a website at http://rancidcappuccino.wordpress.com/posts/ that references this too, so I suspect that there is some reality to this book, even though I thought at first that it was another invention of Fernadium Birmingwatt.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that around but I never knew who wrote it. Seems like something that Arch might write.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, I'm in the library all the time and I've never even noticed that! I wonder if the book really does exist. Really nicely written post! I agree with Tommy, seems like Arch.
ReplyDelete