Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges are not the Only Fruit and Why be Happy when you could be Normal?

I heard Jeanette Winterson speak a few months ago, and it was an intriguing enough speech that it made me want to know more about this interesting woman and her life. I began with Oranges are not the Only Fruit, her quasi-auto biographical novel first published in 1985. The novel is about a girl adopted into a Pentecostal family and her difficulties upon exploring her sexuality. The creative writing style and narration makes for a delightful read, although it’s a saddening story. For those interested in the clash of religion and modernity mixed with a coming-of-age tale, it’s a fantastic read.

I next read Winterson’s new work that came out in 2012, Why be Happy when you could be Normal?

I found the work enlightening to read after having encountered Oranges, especially Winterson’s discussion of why she changes certain parts of her story and her relationship to the quasi-fictive plot line of Oranges. But much of Why be Happy when you could be Normal? was rather mundane. In part the story was too self-referential. It was still an interesting read, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Oranges.