Abstract
Boating for Beginners is the second novel published by Jeanette Winterson in 1985. It deals with the growing up of Gloria Munde, who seeks her way in the world. The resemblance between Gloria Munde and Jeanette Winterson is striking and some elements of Gloria's life echo Jeanette's: both were raised in a religious environment and had problems with their parents and eventually left home. Christine Reynier in Jeanette Winterson's Le Miracle Ordinaire writes that Boating for Beginners "met en scène un personnage, Gloria, qui poursuit le parcours entamé par Jeanette." Their path is thus very similar. Gloria becomes a "zoo keeper" for Noah, a man who runs a boat company on the Tigris and the Euphrates. Noah is a macho and an opportunistic character that has created God, called "The Unpronounceable" out of a piece of forest gateau. They both secretly decide to flood the world thus reproducing Noah's Ark biblical event. Desi who eavesdrops on a conversation between Noah, his sons and "The Unpronounceable" learns about the flood and tells Gloria, Doris and Marlene about it.
