Synopses & Reviews
Do You Know:
A good reason to be phobic about oysters and olives?
That you can step inside a roaring coal furnace and feet cool?
That Jesus had an older brother?
How shutting your mouth can help you avoid brain surgery?
How to avoid cow-pies during your baptism?
How to survive in the winter wilderness with only a fishing pole and a sausage?
Chris Crutcher knows the answers to these things and more.
And once you have read about Chris Crutcher's life as a dateless, broken-toothed, scabbed-over, God-fearing dweeb, and once you have contemplated his ascension to the buckskin-upholstered throne of the King of the Mild Frontier, you will close this book, close your eyes, and hold it to your chest, and say, "I, too, can be an author."
Hell, anyone can.
Review
"[F]ull 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." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Chris Crutcher...says that some of the nutty, cruel and unusual stuff in his books really happened. At least it did to him. And that is the fun and the tender heart of an entertaining and not at all ill-advised memoir." Tom Bodett, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"What might have been just a volume of funny or unsettling anecdotes becomes a candid take on lessons learned, with a clear adult perspective. This is a good read and a deeply moral and philosophical work with important messages..." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"In telling his own story, Crutcher entertains readers, challenges them, and touches their hearts. This is a biography that will be read not skimmed and loved." VOYA
Synopsis
Whether trying to impress members of the girls' softball team with disastrous dental results or enduring the humiliation of his high school athletic club initiation, Crutcher's memoir of the tricky road to adulthood is peppered with hilarious, heartbreaking, and unforgettable events.
Synopsis
Do you know:
- A good reason to be phobic about oysters and olives?
- How shutting your mouth can help you avoid brain surgery?
- How to survive in the winter wilderness with only a fishing pole and a sausage?
Synopsis
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Synopsis
Do you know:
- A good reason to be phobic about oysters and olives?
- How shutting your mouth can help you avoid brain surgery?
- How to survive in the winter wilderness with only a fishing pole and a sausage?
About the Author
Chris Crutcher grew up in Cascade, Idaho, and now lives in Spokane, Washington. He is the critically acclaimed author of six novels and a collection of short stories for teenagers, all chosen as ALA Best Books. In 2000, he was awarded the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award, honoring his lifetime contribution in writing for teens. Drawing on his experience as an athlete, teacher, family therapist, and child protection specialist, he unflinchingly writes about real and often-ignored issues that face teenagers today.
Author Q&A
You have subtitled King of the Mild Frontier "An Ill-Advised Autobiography." But did you enjoy writing it?
I LOVED writing it.
"Random chance as much as anything else" dictated the contents of King of the Mild Frontier, you admit. But had you kept diaries? Did you have souvenirs or other memorabilia to inspire and remind you?
I've never kept any diaries. Everything in the book is from memory. No memorabilia. Just my demented memory.
Could you bear to share with any one story that really made you think as you wrote: "I can't believe I'm sharing this with anyone!"
I suppose the story about my agreeing to run across the lawn while my brother shot at me with a BB gun is one. That's not exactly smart thinking. The C Club initiation would be another. A person with any insight whatsoever might decide not to become a member of such a fraternity.
"We want to be noticed, we want to be good enough, we want friends, and we want to be loved. We want our place to stand." (Ch. 8) Would it be fair to say that this lies at the core of your fiction?
It would be fair to say that.
Do you still have an "imagination full of wishes" and, if so, can you tell us what just one of those wishes might be?
I simply wish to continue to live an interesting and somewhat risky life.