All that aside, in book or audio book form it is an excellent story. That and the bizarre intro/outro music (which is truly abhorrent and about the least punk, silk shirt with a pony tail, mid 90s jazz something) sort of hurt the strength and authenticity of the book. The most annoying of which is the narrator's "singing" of the Misfits songs "We Are 138" in which he sings "we are one hundred and thirty eight" versus "we are one thirty eight" which is a pretty big mistake considering the context. The audio book has a few mistakes, however. So much so that at the end when he half denounces all the kids with mohawks and bondage pants as not even punk, it's not cheap or trivial: he's come out of something and didn't just affect a shocking style to piss off his parents.
The character of Brian Oswald deals with crushes, coming of age, sex, and drugs in very realistic ways. Mission of Burma and Fugazi versus whatever dreck you might be imagining). This one is a particularly heartfelt tale of a kid who goes from being a nerdy metal head to being punk (which is probably not what you imagine) in the true sense of the word (i.e.
I've been a fan of Meno's writing since his Punk Planet days (RIP) and really enjoy all of his books.
He is a winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Great Lakes. Having read the book a few years ago, I was curious to hear the audio book version. Joe Meno is a fiction writer and playwright who lives in Chicago.
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