Summary

Chris Crutcher's Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is about a girl whose face is scarred and a boy that is overweight. Sarah Byrnes' scars from a "childhood accident" and Eric Calhoune's hereditary obesity cause them both to become outcasts that end up finding each other early on in life. Unwilling to allow reconstructive surgery for Sarah's face, her father believes the scars will make her tough. True to his wishes, Sarah Byrnes is one of the toughest girls you will ever meet. Eric, on the other hand, is on the other side of the courage spectrum and is incredibly soft (in more ways then one!) When Eric finds the tough-as-nails Sarah Byrnes sitting silently in the mental ward of the local hospital, he knows something is seriously wrong, however Sarah Byrnes' real problem is more than skin deep...

Don't be fooled by the synopsis

Upon my first view of the synopsis of Chris Crutcher’s novel Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, I was anything but impressed by the summary of the book I was about to read. The short, uninteresting text located on the back of the book would not have enticed me to read the novel had I come across the book under normal circumstances (like finding it in a library instead of reading it for school…) The synopsis makes the book out to be just another “ho-hum” novel and gave me no enthusiasm to dive into the text. To my surprise and utter delight, my initial reaction proved to be anything but correct, as I thoroughly enjoyed the book from cover to cover and could not put it down throughout my reading experience. However, the synopsis simply covers the main idea of Sarah Byrnes and Eric Calhoune being friends for an extensive amount of time and Sarah Byrnes being in the mental psychology ward in the Sacred Heart hospital. It also briefly touches on the obesity of Eric and the scars of Sarah. In the summary, Crutcher fails to mention any of the hard-hitting issues mentioned in Ms. Lemry’s Contemporary American Thought class she offers or the heat Vice Principal Mautz throws at her for holding the class. He also could have mentioned something about the recurring drama that unfolds between Mark Brittain and the rest of the school as he attempts to shove his religion “down their throats” and how he believes that Eric Calhoune and Steve Ellerby have a personal vendetta against him both in the classroom and in the pool. He possibly could have touched on Sarah Byrnes’ family life and how her mom deserted her almost immediately after the scarring incident as a child and how her dad refuses to allow reconstructive surgery to repair her face from the horrible scars. Or maybe he could have touched on the idea of how Eric Calhoune is constantly having to prove his friendship and loyalty to Sarah Byrnes in order to convince her that he is truly her friend and not just another social worker who can do nothing about her situation because there is no evidence to send her father behind bars for good. Or maybe, just maybe, he could have mentioned the hardships that come with a changing family as Eric Calhoune experiences as his single mom dates different guys and he finally begins to warm up to and respect his potential father as the novel progresses. The list of possibilities is quite extensive, and yet the synopsis simply sticks to the main idea of Byrnes’ hospitalization which ends up being less of a main theme than I had originally predicted before reading the book (or while reading it, for that matter…). Not that her hospitalization was a minor theme, but the book did not center around that one idea as the synopsis did. I would readily recommend the novel Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes to anyone, but I think it will be a little more difficult to interest others in the novel because they may make the same false assumption that I made about the story’s plot when I read the summary. The novel has sports, philosophy, religion, and challenges with friendships, respect, loyalty and so much more that was far more intriguing to me then the main theme itself in my opinion. Now I understand the concept of not giving away the entire novel in the synopsis and leaving some surprises for the text, but I think Crutcher could have given away just a little bit more in order to intrigue his first-time readers who know nothing about his writing prowess and were not referred by a friend to read the story (like my classmates and me…). Isn’t the whole purpose of the synopsis to captivate the reader and entice them to crack the cover and read the book with enthusiasm and eagerness? Had I come across this book in the library under different circumstances, I would have read the summary and become bored, and then quickly placed the book back on the shelf. I hate to admit it, but I think I would have. Had that been the case, I would have missed out on one of the greatest books I have ever read and also missed out on an opportunity to read all of the novels in Chris Crutcher’s repertoire.

Crutcher's Contemporary American Thought class gets pretty deep...

Ms. Lemry’s Contemporary American Thought class covers some pretty touchy subjects throughout the novel Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. The class is offered in the high school mentioned in the book, primarily for seniors such as Eric Calhoune and Mark Brittain. The course is designed to put the views and opinions of the student to the test by making them defend what they believe through projects and open debates. The class kicks off with a project about psychological or spiritual problems of the world and it receives some interesting topics and responses. One selected topic is about how the world looks good from a distance because you cannot see hunger and poverty, but when you come to earth you see that the world is not as good as it looks from a distance. The class really heats up when the focus of the curriculum shifts to the issue of the ethics of abortion. The students split into the leftist pro-life side and the rightist pro-choice side and then there are the “fence-riders” who have no particular opinion on the subject whatsoever but just enjoy antagonizing the groups that actually have an opinion. Characters of conflicting religions such as Mark Brittain and Steve Ellerby create a large amount of enmity on the abortion debate. As if that wasn’t enough, the middle sitters antagonize one character to the point that he seriously considers dropping the class, but he sits through the class when told his reason for dropping was not legitimate. The Contemporary American Thought sparks a large amount of hostility within the faculty, particularly between Ms. Lemry and Vice Principal Mautz, a very leftist, black-and-white kind of guy. He backs Mark Brittain’s religious views and moral character 100% and thinks the world of Mr. Brittain. He demands that the class be promptly terminated because some values and morals are being smashed because of the class, particularly the views that he shares. Lemry constantly reminds the Vice Principal that he is in charge of discipline and has no say in the matters of curriculum or the classes offered at the high school. The hot-tempered Mautz doesn’t take too kindly to his limitations, but he knows that Lemry is correct and that he can do absolutely nothing to terminate the course. His defeat certainly does not hinder him from loudly voicing his opinion and antagonizing other views, however. Mautz frequently sits in on the class to hear them discuss issues and topics, and he typically sits with arms folded and a frown on his face. He witnesses them discuss questions like “Do you think the world is a good place?” or “How do you feel about Sarah Byrnes and the situation she’s in right now?” Some students consistently give incredibly insightful and well-thought answers, and then there are those that give witty quirps for some comic relief, but their wit is well-thought also. Some students give speeches and use famous literature to back up their beliefs, while some even use songs and other media to convey their point to the class. Throughout the book, I anxiously awaited another installment Lemry’s class because I loved hearing the viewpoints and ideas that Crutcher covered in the course. Overall, I enjoyed the scenes involving Lemry’s Contemporary American Literature class and Crutcher did a fantastic job when dealing with such touchy subjects. The class scenes were usually juxtaposed to some heavy scenes, so the class helped to change the atmosphere of the novel from time to time. The mix of insight and humor stemming from the class was a great way to keep the reader engaged and lighten the mood at the same time.

My thoughts on Mark Brittain's "religion"

Are Mark Brittain’s religious antics a little overdone? Just maybe? He goes around giving the whole world a guilt trip, telling them that what they’re doing is not very Christian-like. The idea of having higher moral principles is all well and good, but does he need to go around convincing others that they are not living to his level of ethical standards? In every topic Ms. Lemry’s class discusses in Contemporary American Literature, he feels the need to relate religion to everything, to the point that Lemry has to call him out and tell him to lay off the religious angle, to which he responds by saying that the religious angle is all that should matter to him or anyone. He has his own followers to whom he has apparently “thrown the wool over their eyes” who think that Mark Brittain is infallible in everything he says and does and that Saint Mark is ALWAYS right. I would guess that the logic of his followers is that “Mark Brittain is so close to God, he MUST know exactly what God wants us to do, right?” He even has Vice Principal Mautz backing him, because Mautz believes that Mark has no character flaws and is the model young man for every other student to follow in his example (I think Mautz hopes that the juvenile delinquents of the school follow in his example so they straighten out and he will not have to deal with them, being that he is in charge of discipline in the school…) We come to find out later in the novel that the side show known as Mark Brittain is completely fake when his mistakes and errors that he thought he had “pushed under the rug” come back to haunt him. Mark Brittain takes criticism and humiliation way to personally and has little sense of humor, both of which really do him no good when he experiences his idea of religious persecution at school, on the street, or in the swimming pool. It would seem that Eric Calhoune and Steve Ellerby plot the demise and ultimate downfall of good ol’ Saint Mark, but I think they just do it to knock Mr. Goody-two-shoes back to reality so he can figure that he is not a perfect human being, nor anything close to it. Mark Brittain is very closed and intolerant of religions and ideas other than his own. Even well-meant and well thought out intentions and interpretations that don’t represent his religious beliefs are not acceptable to him, because he only listens when the views of others match his own. For the majority of the novel his heart seems to be hardened to the outside world, but we see it gradually soften toward the end of the story. The one (and considerably large) hole in the fortress known as Mark Brittain is that he feels that he is exempt from the necessity of doing the right thing in every instance. In other words, his philosophy is the idea that because he is so “righteous,” there is no obligation for him to have good behavior because he is already better than everyone else. He feels that he can bend the rules now and then because he follows them so closely every other time. That rather large character flaw will come back to haunt him as his past errors and sins revisit him as the novel progresses. We as the readers get to see into the life of Mark Brittain to see that a good portion of his so-called religious antics are really a charade and that his goody-two-shoes mentality is just a cover up for his problems at home and his pressures to perform that he feels his parents heap on top of him. At the beginning of the novel I had a large amount of contempt for Mark Brittain and found him to be very annoying in his religious persuasions. As the story went on I found some reasons to sympathize with him and I found that I really enjoyed his character toward the very end of the novel. His character was brilliantly done, because I think the emotions that I had for Mark Brittain were exactly the ones Chris Crutcher wanted me to feel. I applaud Crutcher for creating such a dislikable character and turning him into a very likeable one in such a short amount of time.

Character Description

• Eric "Moby" Calhoune is the narrator and protagonist. He is a high school senior, whose obesity made him a social outcast (and earned him the loving marine nickname "Moby"). Now a member of the swim team, he has slimmed considerably but pledges to stay fat for Sarah Byrnes in order to maintain their friendship. Living with his single mother, Eric is portrayed early on as a coward and not very intelligent but progresses as the story moves on.

• Ms. Lemry is a supportive, caring teacher at the high school. She is also the coach of Eric's swim team. Lemry offers a class for seniors to discuss deep contemporary issues and thoughts. She is also married, but has no children. Ms. Lemry is seen as one of Eric's closest adult confidants and develops a very close relationship with Sarah Byrnes later in the novel.

• Sarah Byrnes was badly burned on her face and hands by what she describes as a childhood accident. Abandoned by her mother, she is left to live with her father who refuses to allow reconstructive surgery. Her scars become a shield to hide her true feelings. As a younger student, Sarah Byrnes is portrayed as a spunky, tenacious, get-in-your-face kind of girl, but her true sensitive side begins to show as the book progresses.

• Dale Thornton is a stereotypical bully who lives in the "bad" part of town and was repeatedly held back in junior high, eventually dropping out. Once an enemy of Eric and Sarah, he becomes their ally in the end of the novel.

• Mark Brittain is a devout Christian who isnt afraid to shove his beliefs "down the throats" of others. He is a very sensitive person without a sense of humor, which makes public humiliation, or what he calls "religious persecution", very difficult for him to take.

• Steve Ellerby is one of Eric's closest friends who describes himself as "a controversial Episcopalian preacher's kid." (292) A member of the swim team, Steve and Eric often team up in the pool and take advantage of Mark Brittain. Ellerby is an easy going, loose humored student with whom many question the validity of his religious beliefs.

• Mr. Mautz is the short-tempered vice principal whom Eric believes to have a vendetta toward him, Sarah Byrnes, and Dale Thornton. Mautz is very short-sighted and black-and-white in his views that allow little or no room for compromise.

• Virgil Byrnes is Sarah's manipulative and abusive father.

An important issue presented

An issue that causes many heated discussions throughout the novel is the issue of limitations of the rights of free speech, particularly questioning the First and Fifth Amendments. The First Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights states that:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." (www.archives.gov)

Vice Principal Mautz attempts to control what goes on in Lemry's Contemporary American Thought class, stating that "some important Christian values are being trashed." However, the Bill of Rights states that there can be "no law respecting an establishment of religion." This means that a group of religion (or lack thereof) cannot be disestablished or threatened. It also notes that they have "the right of the people peaceably to assemble." As far as Lemry is concerned, there is nothing in her classroom that is not peaceful.

In previous years, Eric and Sarah Byrnes wrote an unofficial school paper called Crispy Pork Rinds that was their way to constitutionally attain revenge on anyone who wronged them by writing completely absurd, but still offensive, articles about them. Mautz is angered by the paper and demands that the two abandon the underground publication. However, they are completely in the walls of the Bill of Rights, because is technically "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." When Mautz interrogates Eric about the newspaper, Calhoune refuses to answer any questions in an effort not to self-incriminate himself, stating that he stands on the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment states that:

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.....nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..." (www.archives.gov)

This amendment makes it very clear that the many times Eric refuses to answer, he is completely and legally safe. The Fifth Amendment argument arises many times throughout the novel, and Mautz is angered every time.

6+1 Traits of Writing

Crutcher's voice was most prominently displayed in the novel Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. He uses his own catch phrases (e.g. "Ain't it a trip where heroes come from") to convey his point more precisely. He uses a different aspect of his individuality in each character to give them all unique personalities by putting himself into the character. I enjoyed reading the novel because of Crutcher's persuasion in the story about issues that relate to his life, which enhances his voice all the more. The novel was very fun to read because of the individuality in Chris Crutcher's writing technique.