Dandy Books: Etcetera Etcetera

Dandy Books is a feature in which I post books from my never ending to be read list. Hopefully you find something you like :)


Crazy by Benjamin Lebert
RD: 2001



A smart, funny, poignant, very modern autobiographical coming-of-age novel, written when the author was sixteen years old. Like Catcher in the Rye, Crazy appeals to the teenager in us all.

Benni himself is partially paralyzed and a serial failure (he's been kicked out of four boarding schools in his short life and has just entered his fifth). So he's a little odd, but he's cool and he finds other strange boys to hang with. Together they set out to experience what they can: girls, booze, sex, philosophy, drugs, sex, books, music, sex–pretty much everything whatever. And Benni lets us in on "the crazy life" he figures is the only way to deal with the crazy world.


The Exes by Pagan Kennedy
RD: 1998

In one of the most critically acclaimed novels of recent years, Pagan Kennedy takes readers on a hip and hilarious tour of today's rock 'n' roll world. The Exes, an up-and-coming indie band, is made up of people who used to be lovers. Progressing from jam sessions in a basement to second-rate clubs to a cross-country tour that requires them to share seedy hotel rooms -- with their exes -- the four band members reveal their quirks, their problems, and their fantasies in alternating narratives.
Wickedly funny, realistic, and poignant, The Exes sheds a knowing light on the compromises and connections we all make in avid pursuit of our ambitions and dreams.


Crooked by Louisa Luna
RD: 2002


Melody is just out of prison. Faced with the absence of her brother, who's serving life in San Quentin, and hardened by her own experiences in lock-up, Mel sturggles to adjust to the harsh realities of life on the outside. She quickly discovers that freeedom is relative...she has no money, no prospects, no guidance.
Forced to return to her mother's apartment in Marin County and take a job houling portable toilets, Mel finds herself drinking too much and hanging out with her old gang again. Haunted by glimpses of her own harrowing girlhood and of the mysterious circumstances that put her in prison in the first place, she slowly, bravely begins to forge a potential path toward redemption and escape.

The Fuck-Up by Arthur Nersesian
RD: 1997

Doesn't the title say it all? After a series of set-backs, an unnamed slacker pretends to be gay to get a job which launches him on a darkly hilarious odyssey through New York City grit.







As always, if you've read any of these already, feel free to share your thoughts on them. If you haven't feel free to share why you find them interesting or not :)