Can Jennette McCurdy Transcend Provocation?

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Jennette McCurdy’s first novel, Half His Age, features a significant amount of sexual content, perhaps surprisingly so. The book, from the former Nickelodeon star and author of I’m Glad My Mom Died, deliberately makes the reader uncomfortable. The story centers on Waldo, a 17-year-old student in Alaska, who repeatedly has sex with her 40-year-old English teacher, Mr. Korgy. The novel doesn’t support this relationship; McCurdy’s work is known for exploring female anger and how young women are often exploited and dismissed. Half His Age frequently focuses on this exploitation to highlight how badly Waldo is treated and how little she values herself. However, without any contrasting characters or situations, the book sometimes relies on shock value rather than delving deeper into the issues it presents.

A central theme in Half His Age is wastefulness, reflecting Waldo’s own sense of emptiness. She struggles with self-worth, living amidst chaos and neglect because her mother prioritizes romantic relationships over her needs. Waldo spends lonely evenings online shopping, particularly on Sephora, and her earnings from Victoria’s Secret are quickly spent on items meant to make her more appealing. She cycles through relationships without finding fulfillment. Her attraction to her teacher isn’t about physical desire, but a longing for someone different from everyone else in her life – someone unattainable. Unlike the instant gratification of fast food and makeup, Mr. Korgy represents something she can’t immediately have.

Korgy eventually gives in to Waldo’s advances, and they become a couple before Thanksgiving break. The author writes their intimate scenes with a strong emphasis on Waldo’s fascination with Korgy’s youth – a theme explored in many works like Lolita. While the story offers a different perspective, it doesn’t truly challenge the dynamic itself. Waldo’s attraction to Korgy feels real for her, but their relationship stalls because both characters are emotionally immature. Waldo also lacks positive male role models, having grown up without a father, and struggles to respect her peers. She finds her classmates, including a potentially suitable partner named Nolan, uninteresting and quickly dismisses the stability of his family, seeing them as lacking the “charge” she finds elsewhere. Waldo acknowledges this might be a biased view, but instead of exploring it, she returns to Korgy, and the story falls back into repetitive descriptions of their physical differences and sexual encounters. The author repeatedly emphasizes Waldo’s attractiveness compared to Korgy’s appearance, becoming unnecessarily detailed.

The story might be more enjoyable if Korgy wasn’t such a predictable character. Waldo describes how, after dinner, Korgy always puts on a pretentious movie from the Criterion Channel, constantly reminding Waldo that they wouldn’t be able to see it without his expensive subscription. During the film, Korgy acts as if his opinions are expert commentary, while Waldo struggles to stay awake. He pushes Waldo to appreciate highbrow authors like Chekhov and Tolstoy, and filmmakers like Bergman and Kubrick. Despite the complexity McCurdy gives to Waldo, Korgy remains stubbornly one-dimensional. His constant presence is a problem, especially since he’s having an affair. McCurdy doesn’t need to make Korgy likable, but his overwhelming presence ultimately distracts from the story rather than adding depth. McCurdy acknowledges the story could benefit from more subtlety, but Korgy lacks any nuance at all.

McCurdy’s writing is strongest when focused on anything other than Waldo’s relationship with Korgy. The complex dynamics between Waldo and the women in her life – her distant mother and somewhat friend, Frannie – deserve more attention, as these relationships ultimately prove more important than any other. Korgy, unfortunately, feels like a cliché and prevents Waldo from growing, both as a character and emotionally. While the intimate scenes are clearly meant to be unsettling, repeatedly highlighting how inappropriate they are, they dominate the book and end up relying on shock value. Like in I’m Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy contrasts intensely graphic moments with the realities of her childhood stardom, both in public (like her mother’s angry calls after paparazzi photos) and in private (her ongoing struggles with identity). Throughout much of the novel, Waldo remains a somewhat unreliable narrator, revealing only a limited view of herself. Half His Age only begins to challenge readers’ expectations as Waldo realizes Korgy can’t fulfill her needs, but this happens very late in the story. As Waldo herself points out, the sex isn’t just about physical intimacy; it’s about what it communicates. This holds true for the book as a whole – the real story can only begin once the focus shifts away from the sex.

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2026-01-22 16:54