Emily's Musings

YA37: King of the Mild Frontier

Chris Crutcher is one of the best YA writers out there, and his autobiography, King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography, is just as good as his books and hysterically funny. It helps to have read some of his books first, because you see the real life experiences that inspired many of the characters and scenes.

School Library Journal said, "For those who want to know the real poop behind this popular author's characters (and, to some extent, his character), this is the book you've been waiting for.... His signature wit was sharpened in response to both his feelings of inadequacy and his competitive nature, honed by participation in high school and college sports. He addresses issues about his use of profanity in his writing for teens. Tough and tender reminiscences focus primarily on family, social, and school conflicts, but lessons derived from his career as a teacher, therapist, and writer are also described. Hyperbole lightens the mood as the author portrays himself as a young crybaby, academic misfit, and athletic klutz, utterly without self-aggrandizement. Abrupt transitions, some convoluted sentences, and nonlinear progression may challenge some readers, but the narrative holds undeniable appeal for the author's fans and demonstrates the power of writing to help both reader and writer heal emotional/psychic wounds." Booklist's starred review says, "Like his novels, Crutcher's autobiography is full of heartbreak, poignancy, and hilarity... This honest, insightful, revealing autobiography is a joy to read. Crutcher's fans will relish this intimate glimpse of the author, and the book may win some new readers for his fiction." PW said, "Readers will clasp this hard-to-put-down book to their hearts even as they laugh sympathetically." While Kirkus called it "...a deeply moral and philosophical work with important messages about life, death, relativity, heroism" (which seems a bit over the top)

272 pages
HarperTempest, 2003

Of his books, so far I've only read Chinese Handcuffs and Whale Talk, but I thought they were both fantastic. His other books are: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (which is supposed to be really great), Stotan!, Athletic Shorts : Six Short Stories, The Sledding Hill, Running Loose, Ironman, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, and maybe a few others.