If Zach Braff directed *Beavis and Butthead*, he might accomplish the brand of brilliantly touching stupidity Brad Butterfield achieves in *Idiot Boys*. This book is laugh-out-loud funny--full of great gross outs, reckless adventures, weird pranks, and innumerable moments of hopeless adolescent cluelessness. But there's a big, vulnerable heart beating at the center of all of the whacky hi-jinx. A little lost in a world where privilege can't save them from family tragedy, addiction, and the painful onset of adulthood, Butterfield and his best pal Puffer lead us into some uncomfortably hilarious spots. Like Louis C. K. or Sam Kinison, Butterfield shows us versions of ourselves that we might not want to look at *too *closely. So we laugh, and we cringe, and we awkwardly bro-hug our own inner idiot. —William Stobb, author of *Nervous Systems*
What a wild, strange odyssey it is. Bradley Butterfield’s *Idiot Boys* ushers us through the splendidly profane and horribly honest quest of some all-too-American males who slouch, stumble, fall, and crawl through the constantly comedic turbulence of adolescence. There are times you’ll want to look away. Butterfield, however—like any soul-seasoned artist—does not. His memory is exquisite (painfully so), and his details unsparing as he courageously displays all the ugly (and ultimately very poignant) “exhibitions” that contribute to the slow-motion making of the authentic hero he is, with frequent hilarity and heartbreak, hell-bent on becoming. Based on his memoir, I had serious doubts that Brad would ever make it to college, yet alone graduate and go on to become the reflective professor he is—but I’m glad he did, and I’m glad he wrote this book; it means there’s much hope for civilization (and its discontents) after all. —Matt Cashion, author of *Last Words of the Holy Ghost*
Review
Sit down, buckle in, and brace yourself for a roller coaster ride of glorious young male idiocy. Butterfield's chronicles of his youthful antics are more than a collection of empty Jackass episodes; his clear, no-nonsense writing is a nostalgic and thoughtful exploration of how many young males in the West have to survive their chaotic youth in order to understand their adult selves. What really makes *Idiot Boys *a joy ride, however, is Butterfield’s penetrating sense of the absurd coupled with his overriding compassion for everything human. —Emer Martin, author of *Breakfast in Babylon*
As a member of the genus Good Girl growing up, I was always intrigued by the genus Idiot Boy. This memoir provides a fascinating anthropological study of the life of a singular Idiot Boy, Bradley Butterfield. Butterfield shares the antics of his youth—hilarious, cringe-worthy, moving—and reminds us that sometimes an Idiot Boy can grow up into a thoughtful, self-deprecating man. —Gayle Brandeis, author of *The Book of Dead Birds*
About the Author
Bradley Butterfield is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Pay him a visit at bradleybutterfield.com if you’d like to read his observations about parenthood, politics, and literature, or to post an idiot boy story of your own.
