The IHOP Papers

Infobox Book
name = The IHOP Papers


image_caption = "The IHOP Papers" cover, first edition
author = Ali Liebegott
country = United States
language = English
subject = Lesbianism
genre = Novel, Romance
publisher = Carroll & Graf Publishers
release_date = December 13 2006
pages = 256
isbn = ISBN-10: 0-7867-1794-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-7867-1794-1
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The IHOP Papers" is the debut novel of American author Ali Liebegott first published on December 13 2006 by Carroll & Graf Publishers. The story revolves around a twenty-year-old lesbian named Francesca who falls in love with her female philosophy professor from her junior-college and ends up moving to San Francisco, California to be with her. A common theme throughout the novel are the many lesbian relationships Francesca finds herself in after she moves to San Francisco and how difficult it can be to be in love with someone. The title of the book alludes to the fact that Francesca gets a job at IHOP after her move.

Plot

"The IHOP Papers" follows the life of Francesca, a disgrunted twenty-year-old lesbian virgin initially from Southern California who falls in love with her female junior-college professor Irene. After spending some time together, Irene informs Francesca that she is going to take a sabbatical and move to San Francisco, California to move in with two of her former students — a woman named Jenny and a man Gustavo — who just happen to be both her lovers. Not wanting to have to live with the pain of living without spending time with Irene, Francesca ends up moving to San Francisco after she confesses to Irene via a letter that she is in love with her.

Once in San Francisco, Francesca moved in with Irene, Jenny, and Gustavo in an apartment they nicknamed Simplicity House, where everyone was meant to live simply and non-violently. With no job, Francesca goes job searching and eventually lands a job at IHOP as a hostess, though is quickly promoted to waitress. After a month in San Francisco, Francesca moves out of Simplicity House to live in her own apartment. The rest of the story follows Francesca and her intense love for Irene. Along the way, Francesca falls in love with other women while still in love with Irene, who include Jenny, and Francesca's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor Maria, among at least two other women. A good portion of the book is devoted to Francesca's loathing of having to work at IHOP and wear the uniform she hates.

The novel is told from a first-person point of view and it is shown that Francesca is writing the novel as the story progresses in her apartment after she moved to San Francisco.

Characters

;Francesca:Francesca, the story's protagonist, is a twnety-year-old lesbian who falls in love with her female philosophy professor and moves to San Francisco, California to be with her. She is a recovering alcoholic and attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings frequently. Her AA sponsor is a woman named Maria who Francesca ends up falling in love with after trying to fall out of love with Irene, however, this does not work, and Francesca stays in love with both afterwards. She has problems with depression which leads her to self-mutilate herself by cutting into her skin often with razor blades. This was later discovered and she spent time in a mental hospital.

:Francesca works at IHOP for the majority of the story, a job she loathes. If it is not the horrible uniform she must wear, it are the strange customers that she has to deal with or the superiors she answers to. Due to not getting much money at this job, Francesca employs a tatic she learned from her co-workers to save movey. That is, she cut a small hole in a wall in her apartment and whenever she got tip money, she would put it into "the wall". This way, the only way to get it out would be to cut another hole at where the floor meets the wall, and in the mean time, money accumulates; Francesca hangs a picture she took of Irene over the hole to conceal it.

:After moving to San Francisco, Francesca meets Jenny and Gustavo, Irene's lovers. After becoming friends with Jenny, she eventually loses her virginity to her when they have sex one night which Irene and Gustavo are away on business. Francesca is jealous of Gustavo most of the story because Irene is heavily in love with him. Francesca's nickname is Goaty — when she first moved to San Francisco, she hadn't taken a shower for several days and smelled horrible by the time she made it to Irene's apartment. Afterwards, Jenny started calling her Goaty because she "smelled like a goat".

;Irene:Irene is a woman in her late-twenties who works as a philosophy professor in a junior-college in Southern California. She took a sabbatical to move to San Francisco to move in with two of her former students turned lovers: Jenny and Gustavo. She has a strong personality, and enjoys being in control in any situation. The class she teaches at the college is Philosophy of Non-Violence which is her main philosophy; ironically, Gustavo is a violent man due to a bad upbringing yet Irene still loves him. Irene has been betrayed many times in her life and is apprehensive of people who betray her. Irene was given the nickname of Divot by Francesca before they both moved to San Francisco. This stems from during a night of miniature golf when Irene commented about her ball rolling off a .;Jenny:Jenny is a lesbian around the same age as Francesca who is living with Irene as one of her two lovers when the story begins. Jenny has known Gustavo as far back as high school and has commented that they have "been through a lot together" on multiple occasions. Jenny works at an establishment named Muffins Muffins. Jenny ends up having sex with Francesca one night while Irene are Gustavo are away on business, and after she tells Irene about it, she is initially cast from Irene's apartment for having betrayed her. Jenny ends up getting an apartment in Francesca's apartment building. Eventually, Jenny and Gustavo get back together and inform Irene that they want to move to Seattle, Washington to start over. Near the end of the novel, Gustavo gets Jenny pregnant.

;Gustavo:Gustavo is Irene's former student and one of her two current lovers in the story. He is younger than Irene by seven years and has a violent temper due to a bad upbringing. He is currently going to an unnamed college and often gets help from Irene when he needs to write a paper. While initially being Irene's lover, their relationship eventually turns platonic and then breaks down completely after Gustavo goes back to Jenny.

;Maria:Maria is Francesca's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor who is described as a beautiful woman by Francesca who picked her as her sponsor due to her being so beautiful. As her sponsor, she is supposed to help Francesca stay sober by sharing her own experience, strength and hope, and throughout the story, Francesca often calls her for various reasons, usually having nothing to do with drinking. She has a boyfriend in the story named Ashanti.

;Francesca's parents:;Tom::Tom is Francesca's father. He took the news that his daughter was a lesbian better than his wife, but still did not like it. Several times in the novel he has to inform Francesca on things she is not aware of, such as what a sandwich board is, or who the Spartans were.

:;Theresa::Theresa is Francesca's mother who constantly worries about her only daughter, especially after learning that she was a lesbian who was moving to San Francisco to be with her former philosophy professor. She often calls Francesca throughout the story to check up on how she is doing, and likes to know if anything is bothering her.

Reception

"The IHOP Papers" was given a positive review in the news magazine "Publishers Weekly" on February 13 commenting, "Liebegott's debut novel is a coming-of-age coming-out in the tradition of Rita Mae Brown's Rubyfruit Jungle, but here, the portrait of an artist as punk waitress is more a celebration of sexuality than humanity. Liebegott...offers strikingly lyrical moments in an otherwise frank narrative of a writer teetering between adolescence and adulthood."citeweb|url=http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786717947/|title=Amazon.com's page on The IHOP Papers|publisher=Amazon.com|accessdate=2007-04-22] Whitney Scott from "Booklist" commented, "Despite coming-of-age issues heavily laced with substance abuse, depression and angst, not to mention self-mutilation, Liebegott's smart and funny debut boasts an easy charm sure to win her fans. Peppered with heartbreaking flashbacks to a breakdown, with anxious phone calls from Mom, and with hilarious encounters and insights, this is a stirring portrait of the artist as a young goat taking possession of her creativity and of readers' hearts." In a review by "Entertainment Weekly" by Katia Hetter, the reviewer commented, "Francesca's reminders that she's "writing" the book can get annoying, but her story is a vivid reminder of how painful diner meals and coming out can be." [citeweb|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20009822,00.html|title=Review of The IHOP Papers|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|date=January 26 2007|accessdate=2007-04-22] In a review by Jackie Jones in "The San Diego Union-Tribune", Jones wrote, "The strength of "The IHOP Papers" lies in the beautiful but heartbreaking humor of Liebegott's heroine....This isn't "Bridget Jones's Diary", or any nanny's. This is for everyone who's been a struggling, syrup-stained, chain-smoking, journal-writing, romantic fool, lesbian or otherwise." [citeweb|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070218/news_lz1v18hungry.html|title=The IHOP Papers review|publisher=The San Diego Union-Tribune|accessdate=2007-04-22]

On the novel's front and back covers, there are three positive comments on "The IHOP Papers" from three fellow authors. Michelle Tea, author of "Rose of No Man's Land", wrote, "Goddamn, has Ali Liebegott written a spectacular novel. Francesca is the surly, lost waitress of your dreams, and her narration — earnest, tragic, absurd, and hilarious — carries you along like a perfectly balanced plate in the crook of her arm." Eileen Myles, author of "Cool for You a School of Fish", said, "With even switfness Liebegott makes the darkness grow and then it starts to get really light at last. Oh, just pick up the check and read it. That's no waitress, that's a poet." The last comment by Sarah Shun-lien, author of "Madeline is Sleeping", wrote, "Ali Liebegott's writing is tender, frank, hilarious, and devastating. It will kick you right in the heart."

References

*cite book|last=Liebegott|first=Ali|title=The IHOP Papers|publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers|date=December 13 2006|location=New York City|pages=256|isbn=978-0-7867-1794-1

External links

* [http://pgw.com/catalog/catalog.asp?DBKey=236&CatalogKey=368197&Action=View&Index=Page&Book=368274&Order=41 The IHOP Papers at Publishers Group West]