Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. Well, it's the end of the season, and that means it's time for another controversial book. This one's a two-fer; not only does it have adult material, it's also a short story anthology, which means that it gets checked out less often than the library's big dictionary. It's also based on other books by the same author, which could trigger alarms of continuity lockout. However, even if you haven't read his other books, you can still read this on your own. This is Athletic shorts.
Crutcher, C. (1991). Athletic shorts: Six short stories. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Summary: There are six stories in the collection, all about teenagers.
1. A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune: Ugly and awkward Angus Bethune who is the son of two gay couples (a man and woman who divorced and married other people) gets elected prom king and agonizes over meeting his crush on the dance floor.
2. The Pin: Sarcastic aspiring writer Johnny Rivers wrestles with his controlling and abusive father to try and prove himself.
3. The Other Pin: High school wrestler Petey Shropshire is picked to take on a girl whose prowess is legend. His fear controls him, but he drives himself to find out about her in order to control his fear.
4. Goin' Fishing: Lionel Serbousek's parents and little sister were killed in a boating accident a few years ago, and he's been in self-imposed homelessness ever since. The boy who caused it comes begging forgiveness, but Lionel is unwilling to give it.
5. Telephone Man: Jack Simpson is a mentally atypical child who's been raised to be racist. One day, however, he finds himself embarrassed at a special school for 'eccentric' children, and at the mercy of those he looks down on.
6. In the Time I Get: Louie Banks has stood up against racism, but there are other kinds of prejudice to deal with. For example, there's his gay coworker, who's also dying of AIDS, and whom no-one else will have anything to do with.
Impressions:
1. I wasn't really impressed. I hate characters with anger issues (such as the main character) and the main character's crush goes out with a jerk that makes me question what made her ever decide to go out with him. Yes, there are two gay couples and the word 'faggot' gets thrown around a bit. The main character has a 'no-kiss agreement' set in place between both parents, but he defends them. Make of that what you will.
2. Johnny didn't endear himself to me, but I can see where he comes from. His father is more restrained than your stereotypical abuser which kept my interest, since abusers come in all shapes and sizes that need to be recognized. I have mixed feelings about the ending, since I don't know if it was foreshadowed enough to come off as forced. Overall, I was OK with this story.
3. I liked this story up to a point. Johnny from the previous story shows up to be a jackwagon. The story is pretty predictable, but I liked seeing it develop. However, I'm debating whether or not it was a good idea to turn Petey and his opponent's feelings into a relationship.
4. This is a necessary story. I wound up despising Lionel for the way he reacted to his parents death. While his animosity towards his parents killer is understandable, I was still impatiently waiting for him to forgive the killer. I'm not sold on how he's convinced to offer his forgiveness, but it was nice to see him called on taking his hatred too far for too long.
5. Jack looks like he has autism, which is a personal subject for me. That and the highlighting that he got his racism from his father goes a long way towards making him tolerable for me, even though I know not everyone will bear with him. The progression of events is believable and actually pretty touching. This one's my favorite.
6. This story makes a lot of important points without being sappy. The characters are quite believable. Its point about how people are still nervous around someone with a disease they can't spread still rings true today, as does its point that prejudices can have to be overcome one at a time instead of all-at-once.
All-in-all, I think that this would be a good book to show teenagers regarding social issues. While the stories weren't the best I've seen, they mostly get the job done.
Second Opinion: "A winning collection of stories... These Athletic Shorts will speak to YAs, touch them deeply, and introduce them to characters they'll want to know better."
Source: Morning, T. (1991). Athletic shorts (Book Review) (Undetermined). School Library Journal, 37278.
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