i really wanted this to be good. i really did. and now i wonder why. why did i want it to be good? because it had a cool cover? because it had a sufficiently creepy premise? probably the cover.

what i found, instead of a good book, was overdone teenage macho crafted by a woman of indeterminate age who apparently thinks all 17-year old boys are assholes who will listen to anything.

is it authentic to talk constantly about tits and dope and offer no redeeming character at all? it may be, but i lived through my own teenage years in total fear of creatures that looked, from the outside, just like this one, so i don't find him endearing or fully-created. i find him over the top in a way that makes my skin crawl.

this book meanders and wanders, promising some sort of direction only to take it away again. the protagonist realizes he has a creepy power, which strikes a few times in a row and then disappears for vast numbers of pages while he goes to see the red hot chili peppers (who cares?)and hits on his dead friend's girlfriend. there is a mysterious uncle held over our head, who fails to really materialize, or mean anything. the realization at the end, the supposed enlightenment of who your friends really are and how you should take care of them, is too long coming and, frankly, incredibly flat.

if i hadn't been sick when i read this, i would probably have thrown it against the wall and gone outside to let the fog wash clean my brain. instead i finished the damn thing and then threw it against the wall and then tried to sleep. to no avail. sigh. ( )

Proulx is a Canadian author who has created one of my all time favorite characters. Luke is stunned and almost completely knocked out when he experiences a premonition that one of his friends is going to die. When the premonition comes true, his life becomes a nightmare surrounded by media and freaked out friends. Although the book cover said nothing about paranormal happenings, some reviews have tagged it so. I found that to be misleading. This is an amazing piece of writing describing in detail, thoughts, attitudes and complicated relationships. It is the wonderful story of Luke learning to love and appreciate others in all of their glory, the loving pieces and the hateful parts. He gives up, he tries again. I love him! Proulx nails it. She is brilliant and I'll be following her work.

A couple of my favorite quotations:

I was so all over the place I could barely cast a shadow.

I had to pilfer the idea from John Asscraft. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, not least for the effervescent swearing. Death and spirituality and music and premonitions. You can't go wrong. ( )

I began reading this book in part because I wasn't sure if it belonged in the adult or the young adult collection at work. It is, in fact, an adult book, but beyond that it's also very good. A dark and angsty midwest bildungsroman with a magical realist twist, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it (though I think it could be a good 50 pages shorter). I'd still recommend it to mature teens, because Proulx does a wonderful job of channelling the voices of depressed and alienated teenagers, particularly in the way that music drives their lives in a way adults often forget. ( )

This was a good book. It makes you think and it captures teen angst beautifully. I would have liked to see the girls developed more in the story though. ( )