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My friend Jeff bought this for me to give me something to do while recovering from surgery. A nice thought that I greatly appreciate. It helped kill a few sleepless hours, though I didn't fully enjoy it.
This is a book of ten short stories written in first person, detailing the adolescent life of Buddy, who grew up in the 70s. He's eight in the first story and the final story takes place during the summer of freshman year of college. He leads a relatively normal life, telling stories that deal with his Cub Scout goign to see the Wiener Man at a Stop and Shop, racism and letting his mother notice his intoxication one Christmas Eve. All ten stories could have taken place in anyone's life. Being a teenager: some things you do make you feel good and there are things that you regret, looking back and wishing that you could somehow fix those mistakes.
My three favorite stories all folow each other. "You Start to Live," a story about Buddy losing his virginity to his driver's ed partner (only other person in the class), only to ifnd out that she soon after became engaged to her former boyfriend. "The Fane Pasco Fan Club" has Buddy dating a girl with a psycho stalker ex boyfriend who happens to be the mayor's son while Wake Up, America is in talks with the mayor to visit the house of an "average american." "Just the Way We Were" deals with Buddy and his date at their senior prom and has the best payoff in the book (though not nearly as bad as my prom).
The payoffs are what I find disappointing. Some are good, but most of them leave me with a feeling of reader emptiness. There are some things lacking at the of certains stories ("The Wiener Man" and "Race Riot" being two of them) that had me wishing for a few extra pages. Its too bad because I was trapped in the story until the end. Check this out at the library if you ever get a chance, or just read the stories I recommended at Borders.
Reviewed by: RF