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(Paperback - Reprint)
Witty, wise coming of age stories. Wonderful. DSWashington Post Book World
Tom Perrotta's highly acclaimed debut novel tells of the sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious adventures of a teenager growing up in 1970s New Jersey. "Moving . . . A convincing portrait of a time of life, illuminating all the profound cruelty and tenderness of adolescence."--Publishers Weekly.
Amid the current glut of '70s nostalgia, Perrotta has fashioned a moving cycle of stories that looks past the era's celebrated kitsch to still relevant social and cultural issues and the timeless mysteries of growing up. In 10 tales covering a period from the fall of 1969 to the summer of 1980, he follows the revelations of his narrator, Buddy, from his days as an eight-year-old Cub Scout through his return home from the first year of college. Set in the small New Jersey town of Darwin, these seamless, understated narratives find--in boyhood activities as ordinary as playing sports, riding a bike, taking driver's ed or going to the prom--insights into loneliness, societal violence, sexual identity, racism, mortality and much more. Perrotta eschews sentimentality and overt philosophizing, crafting in Buddy's voice a sensitivity to pregnant moments that remain unexplained and a knack for delicate, unobtrusive metaphor. Forgoing the easy irony of disco and vintage TV, he delivers a convincing portrait of a time of life, illuminating all the profound cruelty and tenderness of adolescence. (June)
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May 06, 2003: Great, funny, and interesting stories ? you want to both laugh and cry. Mr. Perrotta is a bit older than me, but I could definitely recognize the 70?s of my childhood in which his stories take place. I found this book almost by accident and am so happy that I did. It?s all in this book ? race relations, first sexual encounters, living and growing with family. A truly wonderful read by an author I cannot wait to read again.
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June 27, 2002: Tom Perrotta's 'Bad Haircut,' is a book that touches the heart and tickles the tummy. You basically laugh and cry at the same time. This book gives you a simple over view of the simple, yet difficult things in life (in the seventies at least.) I loved it and would read it again and again.