SAMHI C.
Features Editor
skc5908@psu.edu

Have you ever had those days when you feel like you might crumble at any moment? Yeah, I have them almost every other week. 

It was during one of these days that I started reading James Bailey’s “The Flip Side.” And had laughing fit after laughing fit. Nothing else mattered to me while the protagonist, Josh, took a trip through terribly amusing antics brought forth with the flip of a coin. 

I have to hand it to the man, to Bailey I mean, he has the best taste in humor and an absurd execution that begets a feeling of ‘I knew that would happen’ but also ‘what?!’ at the same time.

Often, I complain about over-predictability in a story. I hate watching trailers of movies and I hate reading the back summary of a book because those alone give it all away. I do not appreciate knowing everything all at once. And yet, with Bailey’s book, as I read through the last chapter, I cringed at the predictability and cheesiness; I was overcome by a sense of ‘Well, how else is it supposed to go?’ 

Bailey’s novel is meant to be predictable. Right from the beginning, we know Josh is doomed, and his big decision, a consequence of his “quarter-life crisis,” as Bailey phrases it, will lead to a most terrible outcome. Which only makes Josh’s actions all the more jarring and hilarious.

Bailey’s narrative involves a tale worn down by time, a man unsure of himself, having to flip a coin to make decisions, whose disclosure of this fact to his girlfriend leads to the breakdown of their epic romance and later an epic apology that involves a piano and an understanding that a coin cannot make all the big decisions for you. Oh, and there is a bunny involved. 

Do not worry. I have not spoiled the most interesting and important thing about this book: the humor. And the repeated heartbreak it perfectly juxtaposes. 

Despite Bailey’s story being predictable for this gal who has read a bazillion romcoms and watched a bazillion romcoms and the ending being just a little too heartwarming, it is most definitely worth every second spent flipping through its pages.