Works Cited: An Alphabetical Odyssey of Mayhem and Misbehavior (American Lives)

€œDoing things by the book€ acquires a whole new meaning in Brandon R. Schrand€s memoir of coming of age in spite of himself. The €œworks cited€ are those books that serve as Schrand€s signposts as he goes from life as a hormone-crazed, heavy-metal wannabe in the remotest parts of working-class Idaho to a reasonable facsimile of manhood (with a stop along the way to buy a five-dollar mustard-colored M. C. Hammer suit, so he€ll fit in at college). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn informs his adolescent angst over the perceived injustice of society€s refusal to openly discuss boners. The Great Gatsby serves as a metaphor for his indulgent and directionless college days spent in a drunken stupor (when he wasn€t feigning interest in Mormonism to attract women). William Kittredge€s Hole in the Sky parallels his own dangerous adulthood slide into alcoholism and denial.

With a finely calibrated wit, a good dose of humility, and a strong supporting cast of literary characters, Schrand manages to chart his own story€"about a dreamer thrown out of school as many times as he€s thrown into jail€"until he finally sticks his landing.