The novel revolves around a diner in the small town of Cartwheel, Indiana. Caddie, a waitress at the diner, had a very public affair with Jo, a worker at a local factory, until Jo just left her. No one outside of the lovers knows the true texture of their love affair because Jo never let on that he was really a woman. Selena, another waitress, has a secret of her own, as does almost everyone connected with the diner. "Switch" is an addictive novel of secrets, desires, and the sensual aspects of everyday life. The characters spring from the pages and take on lives outside the story. And by the time the final pages are reached, the reader wants to become a regular at the diner so as not to miss any moment in these characters' lives. Truly masterful storytelling.

If you enjoyed Seeing Dell, you won't be able to put down Carol Guess' latest work of art, "Switch". If you have yet to read either book, BUY BOTH!

Ms. Guess shows amazing insight into the human mind. Her characters are real, alive, and quite intriguing. And the story of each character is told in their own words, in both books.

The story takes place in the small town of Cartwright, Indiana just outside of the Ms. Guess' own hometown. The story is centered on Caddie, a youngish woman who makes her living as a waitress in a small, privately owned diner.

Caddie tells the story of her dearest love, Jo, who left her one day with barely a note of explanation. Through Caddie we learn about Jo's true identity. Caddie is the only resident of Cartwright who knows Jo's secret body, and real name. The man everyone knows as Jo, or Joseph, is actually Josephine. A woman who left her true identity on the bus that took her to Cartwright, Indiana.

Through! out the book Caddie struggles with her desire to tell the truth of her own sexuality and the fear of what that admission might bring to her life. She suffers in silence for years with no one else who she can relate to, although we soon find, that there are many people in Cartwright who share her burden of guilt, because their love also takes them from the acceptable boundaries of society.

As each character adds their own narrative to the story, we learn each have their secrets from each other. Ultimately, each of these secrets surround love or passion and how they have lived their lives to ensure their hidden loves go forward unaltered.

"Switch" shows the true complexity and depth of human desire and need. Its standing testimony to the fact that everyone, male, female, in any class stratification, of any sexual orientation, will do what they need in order to protect what is valued in their lives, and do so happily, in a world less accepting of their differ! ences. All in the name of love.

This book was delightful! , fascinating, and captivated my attention for hours on end. It will stand on my book case for many years to come, and will be read again and again. Cheers to Ms. Guess!

(If you are interested in seeing more reviews, please email me for the URL to my home page!)

Carol Guess is an inspired writer, she gives all characters depth and tangibility... The book kept me entranced but at the end left me hanging, wondering so much of each person... So many questions left unanswered... Would love to enthrall myself once more into one of her Books...

This author uses a very interesting premise; the book is not about Dell but the people she left behind. And if love is more about the lover than the beloved, and I think it is, then we get portraits of some diverse people whose lives have been polarized by their love for a woman that seems to the reader more mythic than human. Her effect is carried to the people who try to love those that loved her, and fail because they are so lost in their grief. So far, so good. But I really wished this story had gone somewhere, that Dell's two lovers might have helped each other find some peace with her memory or that we had any indication that their lives would move forward at all. We are given opportunity, possibility for that but no evidence that the opportunity is taken, leaving these characters essentially static. Having pointed out this one flaw, I must also say that there is much to appreciate in this book. The author has unique discriptive powers. The character of Dell is powerful to these people not because she is traditionally beautiful or talented or accomplished, but because she is real. She doesn't play games or maintain any facade and her ingenuous nature is lovingly described. And back to the flaw I pointed out, I will now contradict myself by saying that I appreciated the fact that no time limits were set on these people's sense of loss. This isn't a book that wraps the story up in a neat bow by the end or even tries to resolve anything. Its a study of how a person's life can ripple through the lives of others like a stone dropped in still water. The missed opportunites and connections that frustrate in the context of this story are an accurate representation of how all of us live and that is probably the author's intent. So while I was left wishing for more, I do not feel I wasted my time. Its a book I can see myself reading again.

Carol Guess has made an auspicious debut on the literary scene with her first novel, Seeing Dell. Extremely well written, in a lyrical prose style, the story revolves around the relationships of five characters to each other through their connection with the elusively fascinating Dell, who has died before the book begins. Guess employs the fairly unique device of presenting varying aspects of the deceased girl as seen through the eyes of these five characters. Using the first person, each of the five, in turn, speaks directly to the reader about how they "see" Dell, employing every semantic nuance that the verb is capable of. In so doing, however, Copeland, Terry, Nora, James and Maureen reveal much more of themselves and the stiflingly repressive atmosphere of the small-town USA they inhabit than they do of Dell herself. It is as though we are seeing them through their seeing her, as intriguing a bit of inventiveness as it is a locution. Guess likes to explore the variety, fluidity and ambiguity of human sexuality. She is also keenly aware of the physical, psychological and emotional links between sex and power. In their efforts to deceive each other, her characters often only succeed in deceiving themselves. Seeing Dell is a study in the intircacies and vagaries of human nature, which often make it impossible for us to come together as people. It is at once delicate yet incisive, and a damn good read to boot. -- Gary Pool, author and critic Bloomington, Indiana

I read the author's last novel, Switch, and loved it. This memoir, or really a mix of memoir and fiction, doesn't measure up. We don't get anything new about anorexia, sexism, homophobia. I enjoyed the Southern family history sections, but the rest seemed too familiar. Carol Guess says she admires Carole Maso and Rebecca Brown, and I'd recommend those writers or Switch over this book.

As the novel she was writing self-destructed on the page, Guess found herself adrift and at a loss as to why it failed. While trying to figure this out, and writing through the reasons, a new work emerged, "Gaslight", which is a gorgeous blend of memoir and fiction. Chronicling her struggles with anorexia, with homophobia and sexism, and with the politics of her art, Guess shares with us the process of creativity and its effects on the artist at work. Like the water that flows through that failed novel, "Gaslight" has a hidden strength, a luminous beauty, a kaleidoscope of muted colors that speaks volumes without dragging the readers away on riptides. This buoyant work reminds us of the power of words, especially in the lives of the marginalized (women, queers, the poor). It quenches and nourishes like water, and supports us as we reach for the surface for that breath of crisp air.

I eagerly awaited the release of this book, purchased my own copy, and sat down to read one of the most delightful memoirs in recent years. I could just hear the marvelously distinctive voice of Miss Channing as I read along and at one point, began to believe that I was part of a personal conversation between old friends.
Miss Channing writes with remarkable candor and insight gleaned from many years of experiencing life. Her remembrances of her great stage triumphs (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hello, Dolly!) are mingled with tales of family life with her extraordinary parents and her later friendships and romances.
There is nothing salacious here, just good, fun reading by a totally delightful woman.

There are those of my persuasion who feel that it is mighty convenient that Ms Channing has revealed that she has African American heritage. True, she probably wouldn't have had the success that she enjoyed on Broadway. But, glad to know that she is just the same. As for the book, one does get the feeling that it is definitely scatter brained. I like to feel that she wrote the book as she saw fit, and to be honest it could keep you on your toes. Especially if you didn't know who she was talking about or what.

Is Carol Channing actually 81? Good grief! She's still a lot more lively than almost anybody a quarter her age. No ghost is credited, and it would seem that this book is, in fact, directly from the pen of Ms. Channing. It certainly sounds like her: the book reads like an extended interview, delivered in her inimitable voice (which I kept hearing while reading it). It's lots of fun to read, but probably best enjoyed in short bits, since the high energy level of the writing is almost too much to take after an hour or two! She bounces around madly from topic to topic, but that's part of the charm. A few personal notes: I grew up in a Christian Science family, and we knew the Channings (and I remember as a child visiting the First Reader's house which she describes). Her hilarious account of the foibles of Lady Astor will resonate with any Christian Scientist from that period! When Gentlemen Prefer Blondes appeared on Broadway, I remember a bit of a scandal in C.S. circles over her performance: not because of the naughty escapades of Lorelei Lee, but because she smoked a cigarette on stage! Oh well!