 Media Credit: Courtesy of Daria Snadowsky |
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"When I was a young adult, I was too shy and embarrassed to talk about boys with my friends, let alone my parents," said 27-year-old author Daria Snadowsky.
She has grown out of that phase.
Snadowsky had her first novel published earlier this year, "Anatomy of a Boyfriend." The subject matter of her book is ironically the subject matter she could never talk about. "Anatomy of a Boyfriend" follows Dominique Baylor through her senior year of high school and into her first year of college. Snadowsky lets readers into Dominique's first love, first kiss, the first time she has sex and everything in between.
The book is very reminiscent of the coming-of-age tales written by Judy Blume. Snadowsky chose to dedicate her novel to Blume, her mentor.
 Media Credit: Courtesy of Daria Snadowsky |
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| Daria Snadowsky released her first full-length novel, "Anatomy of a Boyfriend" this year. |
"I always found myself in every one of her characters. Blume's candor is something I tried very hard to instill in my book," said Snadowsky in an e-mail correspondence. She must have captured it very well because Judy Blume read her novel and commented to Snadowsky that she had a hard time putting the book down.
"That was such a dream come true," Snadowsky said.
Snadowsky's novel could easily serve as an educational stepping stone for young girls who are beginning to go through those magical changes that are often confusing and difficult to talk about. The character of Dominique is not exactly a well-developed character, which is usually detrimental for a novel. However, this time it works in Snadowsky's favor because Dominique is almost a blank canvas and normal. A wide variety of female readers will be able to identify with her.
"I wanted to create a story about a normal, intelligent girl who has all these emotions for the first time, and she thinks she's acting insane, when in truth she's just experiencing the most human and universal feelings ever," Snadowsky said.
Perhaps one of the greatest things about "Anatomy of a Boyfriend" is while the book is geared toward young adults, it is an explicit and vivid trip down memory lane for older readers. Women will be able to understand and empathize with the things that Dominique feels and experiences. In fact, some of the character's experiences were drawn from things Snadowsky went through. However, she warns that Dominique's character is not necessarily based on herself.
"I'm very different from the main character, Dominique," she said. "But there's no doubt that all my past crushes were instrumental in helping me understand what Dominique endures."
The trip down memory lane isn't difficult either, thanks to Snadowsky's graphic and descriptive commentary about masturbation and other sexual situations. Some of her sexual encounters sound like they belong on the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine rather than in a book in the young adult section at Barnes & Noble. Perhaps that is a good thing for the younger readers - there isn't any sugar coating about the changes and experiences girls face as they grow into their college years, changing from a girl into a woman.
Snadowsky currently lives in Las Vegas where she is practicing law. After writing the first draft of "Anatomy of a Boyfriend."She went back to school to get her Juris Doctorate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She isn't working on any new writing projects, but says she hasn't ruled out writing entirely.
Holly Klass can be reached at klass.5@osu.edu.
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