The Crowded Room: A Novella by Jeffrey Dunne [Paperback]

Michael Maupin (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004

This coming-of-age novella tracks a week in the life of high-school senior Jeffrey Dunne—who’s smack in the middle of Homecoming 1978. His classwork is suffering, his friends are alienating him (and vice versa), and to top it all, his cheerleader girlfriend has just ditched him for another guy.

"Teachers are always saying that you’re here to learn something and all I learned is how to get sick and go crazy. That’s all. I get really sick when I see everybody getting everything they want, anytime . . . Put them together with the brainy idiots still raising their hands and asking stupid questions and you get a yearbook with all of them there in the hall of fame, pretty as a picture and smiling and not giving a damn."

This twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Michael Maupin's first novella is complete with annotated commentary and an illustrated afterword by the author.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Crowded Room: A Novella was chosen as semi-finalist in the 2005 IPPY Awards for the Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction category.

About the Author

Michael Maupin works as a book editor in St. Paul, Minnesota, teaches Elements of Screenwriting at Independent Feature Project (IFP-MSP), cohosts Think Tank Thursdays, a writers' brainstorming and development group, and lives in St. Paul.

Product Details

• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Phlegethon Publications; 1st edition (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097536510X
• ISBN-13: 978-0975365106
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,355,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Maupin is managing editor of Minnesota Law & Politics in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a former screenwriting instructor at IFP-MN and Minneapolis Community & Technical College, and currently working on a new novel. He lives in St. Paul.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, November 6, 2008

By 

Reader Rob (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crowded Room: A Novella by Jeffrey Dunne (Paperback)

I finished this novella in one night, I was so taken by the imagery and the genuine tone of voice. As a high-schooler of the late seventies, this story rang resoundingly true to that time and place. ....A day after reading The Crowded Room, I'm still feeling haunted by those hallways. All these years later it was surprising to find that the fears and anxieties remain amazingly close to the surface.
A riveting read and a travel back in time. Just be prepared for a painful ride.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Salinger-esque!, November 1, 2008

By 

kristianjl (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crowded Room: A Novella by Jeffrey Dunne (Paperback)

I was a taken aback when I first read the Crowded Room... it was more than a little painful because the experience is very much like being in high school. The same games, the same confusion/apathy, kids looking to hook up or get wasted but mostly to be accepted. 1978 was a year after I graduated from high school and the protagonist generates both exasperation and identification. Michael Maupin is a risk taker and this is one wild Catcher in the Rye-style ride.

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight from start to finish, July 15, 2005

By 

Richard Webster (AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crowded Room: A Novella by Jeffrey Dunne (Paperback)

The Crowded Room is a beautifully written, charming look at a week in the life of Jeffrey Dunne, a high-school senior in 1978. The author has captured exactly what it's like to be a shy, angst-ridden, confused teenager. Jeffrey has lost his girlfriend and feels alienated from his other friends. Yet, until the final chapter, he's not prepared to do anything to resolve the situation he finds himself in. The Crowded Room is a fascinating slice of life, with an antihero who will live in your mind long after you have finished reading the book. Highly recommended.