Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Amazon Summary: "A varsity letter jacket: it's exclusive, nearly unattainable, revered . . . and everything that's screwed up about Cutter High, as far as T. J. Jones is concerned. That's why T. J. is determined to have the Cutter All Night Mermen—the unlikeliest swim team a high school has ever seen—earn letter jackets of their own. It won't be easy. For one thing, they don't even have a pool. They will fight for their dignity, they will fight with each other, and sometimes they will just fight. And then they will realize that a single moment can bring lifelong heartache or lifelong friendship. For T. J. and his crew of misfits, the quest may be far more valuable than the reward."

Now I'm stuck. I can't decide if I like this one better than The Crazy Horse Electric Game or not. I'm inclined to say this one partially because of how amusing it is at times, but it might just be that I read it more recently. Anyway, I enjoyed it a lot. The narrator, T. J., made Whale Talk particularly good. He's downright hilarious with the way he messes with people. He just sticks out as a particularly likable character and a great narrator for the story. The swim team as a group is totally charming, from Mott the intimidating to Dan the wordy. There's a large focus on the issue of racism in the book and it can get kind of rough, but the humor balances it out perfectly. The characters were all great, even if I didn't like some of them (but that's how was supposed to feel anyway since those were the mean guys). It's totally worth a read.

Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

This doesn't really need much in the way of a summary. Basically, this book is a compilation of six short stories, five of which deal with characters in Crutcher's earlier novels and the other an entirely new character. Some of them are sad, some of them are funny, and others fall somewhere in between. They give a little extra information about the characters from his earlier books--Lion (Stotan! and Ironman); Johnny, Petey, and Telephone Man (The Crazy Horse Electric Game); and Louie (Running Loose). It's a fairly quick read and I think they add to the stories. Particularly the one about Lion because he was somewhat skimmed over in Stotan!. Even though Running Loose is (so far) my least favorite Chris Crutcher book, the story featuring Louie actually ended up being my favorite out of the six stories in Athletic Shorts. Athletic Shorts is definitely worth a read, even if you haven't read the books the characters come from.

Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher

Amazon Summary: "Dillon is living with the painful memory of his brother's suicide -- and the role he played in it. To keep his mind and body occupied, he trains intensely for the Ironman triathlon. But outside of practice, his life seems to be falling apart. Then Dillon finds a confidante in Jennifer, a star high school basketball player who's hiding her own set of destructive secrets. Together, they must find the courage to confront their demons -- before it's too late."

Well. That was intense. That's my warning for you. If you can't take any kind of heavy abuse stories then don't pick it up. It's very intense. That being said, I maintain my opinion about Chris Crutcher's books as a whole; they are very good. This one is different from the others in that there's a good portion in the first half of the book that is told (more or less--he has a very distinctive style of switching points of view around whenever he wants to let you know what's going on in someone's head) from Jennifer's perspective. I haven't seen a girl play much of a role in any of Crutcher's stories so far (I guess there was a bit in Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes...) so I was surprised at the role she played. He sort of gave it up after he explained what her deal was, so he didn't exactly stick with it, but it was new nonetheless. I totally forgot to mention this in some of my review of his other books but Crutcher often uses letters as a way to narrate the story. In this case, Dillon narrates a lot of what happens in letters to his dead brother Preston. I don't really know what to think about this technique. It's certainly interesting, but I don't know the purpose of it. I haven't formed much of an opinion about it either way. Anyway, on to his next book!

The Crazy Horse Electric Game by Chris Crutcher

Amazon Summary: "Willie is a top athlete, the star of the legendary game against Crazy Horse Electric. Then a freak accident robs him of his once-amazing physical talents. Betrayed by his family, his girlfriend, and his own body, Willie's on the run, penniless and terrified on the streets, where he must fight to rebuild both his body and his life."

Let me start off by saying that this is my favorite Chris Crutcher book so far. Its plot is a lot more solid than that of some of the others and I just got an overall good feeling from it. I thought it was particularly interesting because it deals with an injury (and Willie's struggle to overcome it) which is something I hadn't seen yet in Crutcher's books. I can't think of anything else to say other than that it's a good, solid book.

Running Loose by Chris Crutcher

Amazon Summary: "Louie Banks has it made. He's got a starting spot on the football team, good friends, and a smart, beautiful girlfriend who loves him as much as he loves her. Early in the fall, he sees all his ideas of fair play go up in smoke; by spring, what he cares about most has been destroyed. How can Louie keep going when he's lost everything?"

Hmmmm... I think this is my least favorite book of Crutcher's so far. It's probably because I decided to read them all in the order he wrote them--this being the first one. At least, the first popular one. He might've written something before it. It's still good, but it lacks the emotional depth that his other books have. I didn't feel much of anything while reading it--the part that should have made me feel something really didn't because I'd already guessed it was going to happen. It's sort of a blah book for me. My favorite part of the book was probably the last quarter. I probably would've liked the story better if the first three quarters of the book were condensed into one and the last quarter stretched to three. It's also kind of dated (as I mentioned for Stotan!). Anyway, this book really just goes to show how much an author can improve over time. He went from mediocre to brilliant. I can't wait to get to his newest book. I think the main thing that he's improved on over time is how engaging his books are--this really didn't hold my attention as well as his later books. Anyway, on to the next Crutcher book!

Stotan! by Chris Crutcher

Amazon summary: "It's the last swimming season for Walker, Nortie, Lion, and Jeff, and their coach is building their self-discipline in a grueling four-hour-a-day test of stamina designed to bring them to the outer edge of their capabilities. As it turns out, Stotan Week is also the week in which secrets are revealed, and the four friends must draw upon their new strengths for an endurance they never knew they'd need."

I'm going to start out by suggesting that you read this before Ironman because I already knew some of the stuff that was going to happen since Lion is in both books. Plus I kept thinking it was Lion who was narrating instead of Walker. Stotan! struck me as a little less intense than the other books I've read by Crutcher. It's sort of all over the place--I couldn't give you a solid plot since Stotan week is done by the time you reach the halfway point in the book. That's not necessarily a problem, but I found myself liking the other books a bit better than this one. It's also possible that I didn't enjoy it as much because it was written about a generation before my time so the issues it addresses aren't quite as relevant. I mean, they are, just a little less prominent today than they were then. Nevertheless, it's still a plenty good book--just a little dated.

Ironman by Chris Crutcher

Amazon summary: "Bo Brewster has been at war with his father for as long as he can remember. Following angry outbursts at his football coach and English teacher that have cost him his spot on the football team and moved him dangerously close to expulsion from school, he turns to the only adult he believes will listen: Larry King. In his letters to Larry, Bo describes his quest for excellence on his own terms. No more coaches for me, he tells the talk show icon, no more dads. I'm going to be a triathlete, an Ironman. Relegated to Mr. Nak's before-school Anger Management group (which he initially believes to be populated with future serial killers and freeway snipers), Bo meets a hard-edged, down-on-their-luck pack of survivors with stainless steel shields against the world that Bo comes to see are not so different from his own. It is here he meets and falls in love with Shelly, a future American Gladiator, whose passion for physical challenge more than matches his."

Well, I'm just going to cut to the chase: I believe I have now officially become a Chris Crutcher fan. This may only be the second book of his that I've read, but so far his stuff is right up my alley. I may not have experienced most of the hard things his characters deal with, but the insights he makes ring true to me. I don't know that I can do his work justice. It's just so absolutely touching and real. You can't ask much more than that from a piece of writing. I think every author wants their writing to speak to people and that's what this really does. I can't recommend his work enough.