Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Talks to the "inner geek" in all of us! Hillarious and well-written., September 18, 2008
This review is from: Screwed Up Life of Charlie The Second (Paperback)
As he begins his senior year of high school, Charlie Stewart is your classic 17 year old cynical and sarcastic geek ... somewhat like a "Napoleon Dynamite," except he is growing up as a constantly-horny openly-gay teen, in a suburban town outside of Chicago. His parents accept their son's sexuality, although they suffer from the usual teen-parent communication problems that make Charlie (named after his ambitious and somewhat overbearing father, whom he refers to simply as "First") feel alienated from them. Bink, His best friend since second grade, is a straight jock (and the subject of many of Charlie's frequent masturbatory fantasies) whose new girlfriend monopolizes most of his time, and leaving Charlie's only real connection with his peers as the goalie for the school's somewhat-successful soccer team.
In the months that follow, Charlie finds his first love, with Rob, a new boy in town with a mother dying of ALS. He also deals with the possibility of his parents divorcing, unwittingly getting involved in some of his friends' family conflicts, uncertainty about his future, as he becomes a more self-assured and ambitious young man.
The book is structured as a series of entries in Charlie's private journal, a gimmick I usually frown on, but it's perfect here in letting us get to better know Charlie's feelings and concerns, as well as his mindset in working through problems. His takes on his classmates, teachers and his parents are very perceptive and always hilarious, and you can't help but root for Charlie in his encounters with the "P's" (his parents) and how he bears up to torment by his peers at school, on the soccer field, and around town. Charlie's struggles ring familiar to the "inner geek" in all of us, and he gives us hope for everyone going through such struggles. This is a witty, realistic, engaging and well-written "coming-of-age" novel by a promising new author, which I enthusiastically give five stars out of five!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshingly honest, laugh-out-loud page turner, August 30, 2008
This review is from: Screwed Up Life of Charlie The Second (Paperback)
Wow. This was a refreshing and hilarious way to end my summer reading.
While set in present-day conservative Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, it will be comically familiar to anyone who survived high school thanks to a few good friends, their own killer ironic sense of humor, vivid imagination and healthy libido.
In one summer between Junior and Senior years, Charlie endures coming out to his family, the hilarious and ill-timed support of a best friends liberal family who offer gay icons of the past as proof his life is worth living only to realize mid-sentence what a tragic example it was - and even though Charlie is neither suicidal nor born in an era where he is overly concerned about his being gay, and the grand ups and huge downs of first love.
While my own high school experience is one I usually avoid revisiting with an almost religious fervor, this reminded me of it in amusing, blunt and touching ways that just ... worked.
I would think the book should appeal to all age groups from young adult and up - highly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
every gay man MUST read this book - period, September 18, 2008
This review is from: Screwed Up Life of Charlie The Second (Paperback)
Since the first 4 reviews here read like a term paper, I thought I'd give my two cents. I started reading this book yesterday afternoon, and stayed up late just so I could finish it. Incredibly easy reading, very entertaining, hours and hours I read this just because I really REALLY wanted to know what would happen to the characters! If you're gay, you'll absolutely dig this book, I knew I personally related to SO much of the characters' experiences myself. Some of the sex scenes are kind of explicit, which was a turn on for me :) This book made me laugh out loud at the hilarious clever sarcasm and humor, it brought me to tears, and it even made me examine myself and my own value systems just by my reaction to the way it ended, with things between Rob and Charlie. Do yourself a favor and read this today.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
