HEY DOROTHY, YOU'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE By Karen Mueller Bryson ISBN # 1931391432 May 2001 {Click here to buy this book} I don't usually accept self-published books for review but something in the books description intrigued me. Perhaps it was just good timing or the fact that I was in the mood for something

Dorothy Robinson, styled after the author herself, is a struggling actress who's just learned that her father has been killed in a freak accident. He's mowed down by the city garbage truck while visiting the local Buckstar's Coffee Shop. After several days of sleeping off the horror of losing her beloved father she finds herself in therapy with her mother, Emily, and brother, Jude.

It's not long before Dorothy sees how her life is changing. Her brother Jude goes into denial and her mother seems to be going crazy before Dorothy's own eyes. With all of the insanity that's going on around her, Dorothy sees herself as the only one with a head screwed on straight. Honoring her mother's request to continue therapy, Dorothy visits are anything but stellar. Since she doesn't think there's anything wrong with her she begins to quote "deep" passages from books and plays to get her through sessions. Outside of therapy her best friend Haley seems to be the only constant in her life. Until Dorothy meets Lahrs.

Lahrs is transplanted to Tampa from Seattle thanks to his ex-girlfriend and supermodel Nikko. Dorothy meets Lahrs one night in the local club where she's gone with Haley to drown her sorrows. For all intents, Lahrs looks and acts like a typical grunger from Seattle but Dorothy is surprised to find out that he's an artist, and as the story continues it seems that he's quite good. He no longer sees Nikko but Dorothy must overcome her own self-esteem issues to admit that someone who's dated a supermodel just might find her attractive as well.

Dorothy is shocked but elated that Lahrs is so supportive of her. He lost his parents too so understands what she's going through. And when Dorothy's mother turns up in Banff, Canada suspected of joining a cult group, Lahrs is by Dorothy's side in the quest to save Emily. Jude is in denial still that his family is falling apart so it's up to Dorothy to do this. She enlists the help of a cult-buster who ironically looks like Mickey Rooney.

To say that this book is a little left of center would be an understatement. There is no denying the fact that there are more than a few references to the Wizard of Oz. Also the extreme situations in which Dorothy must deal with would make the average person cringe, such as her father's last request, which was written on a Buckstar's napkin…to be cremated and his ashes spread in front of the Psycho House (from the movie Psycho) at Tampa's/Kissimmee's Universal Studios. But the characters, most of them, give the book more balance that it could have had.

The character of Dorothy was given a tremendous amount of baggage in which to deal with but she never wavered from characterization. She seemed more like a real person than the other characters and dealt with each situation as it came realistically.

After Dorothy all other characters were secondary which gave the story -some- personality. In all honesty, Dorothy seemed like the only adult in a room full of children most of the time. I wouldn't say the story had "depth" because I wouldn't consider this story a deeply reaching one. It was just a very simple read. There was not a lot of emotion in any of the characters, including Dorothy. Situations were dealt with without much of a climactic resolve as I would expect. The whole books read almost like "a year in the life of Dorothy" where there was no beginning or end, just a middle that dragged on.

While this is true I would also say that because the writing was so simple, perhaps a bit amateurish, I'd say that anyone looking for a quick read and a book that doesn't require a lot of thought to get through would probably enjoy "Hey Dorothy…".