Synopses & Reviews
Tom Perrotta made his literary debut with his short story collection Bad Haircut, earning critical praise and comparisons to Salinger, Carver, and Roth by taking readers to New Jersey in the 1970s as a boy named Buddy struggles with the timeless mysteries of sex, death, parents-and of course, bad haircuts.
Review
"His stories remind me...in their wit and humanity and cumulative impact, of Philip Roth's Goodbye Columbus. Like that book, Perrotta's funny and deeply touching collection marks the arrival of a writer who's here for the long haul." Tobias Wolff, author of This Boy's Life
Review
"First-rate fiction...Perrotta has created a world that is etched in a particular era and yet one that transcends, as all fine fiction does, that time and place." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Funny and ingenious....It's tempting to call Bad Haircut an 'auspicious' book, but that doesn't say enough; in fact Parrotta has already delivered the goods." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Somewhere between Bruce Springsteen's 'Thunder Road' and Princeton's tennis courts lies the New Jersey of these darkly tender, simply written tales about growing up in the Garden State in the 1970s." New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A] moving cycle of stories....Perrotta eschews sentimentality and overt philosophizing....[H]e delivers a convincing portrait of a time of life, illuminating all the profound cruelty and tenderness of adolescence." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[Perrotta's] well-made, unpretentious stories are as tight as brick bungalows, plain and serviceable on the outside, radiant within, full of life's sorrow and wonder." Booklist
Review
"Alternately light and moving....A balanced humorous and sometimes poignant collection, that, despite its strengths, may be more for the Sassy set than for that of The New Yorker." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Tom Perrotta's highly acclaimed debut novel tells of the sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious adventures of a teenager growing up in 1970s New Jersey.
Synopsis
Hilarious, moving, and brilliantly on-target, Tom Perrotta's debut story collection explores the unforgettable life and times of a boy named Buddy a teenager of the '70s, grappling with the timeless mysteries of sex, death, parents, and, of course, bad haircuts.
Synopsis
Tom Perrotta made his literary debut with his short story collection Bad Haircut, earning critical praise and comparisons to Salinger, Carver, and Roth by taking readers to New Jersey in the 1970s as a boy named Buddy struggles with the timeless mysteries of sex, death, parents-and of course, bad haircuts.
About the Author
Tom Perrotta grew up in Garwood, New Jersey, and graduated from Yale in 1983. He is currently teaching writing at Harvard. He is also the author of The Wishbones.