Books like Bad Haircut: Stories of the Seventies

I picked this up a couple of years ago while browsing at NYC's Strand Book Store. I recognized the author’s name but had never heard of the book before and it looked intriguing. (Plus it was deeply discounted.) I wasn't disappointed.This is Perrotta’s first book – he’d go on to write acclaimed novels like Election, Little Children (both made into films) and The Leftovers (recently made into an HBO TV series). But already the casual, knowing fictional voice is well-developed. The writing is clear, unfussy and observant without being self-conscious or precious; the situations recognizable to anyone who grew up in the suburbs.The 10 stories are all linked by protagonist Buddy, a perfectly ordinary suburban New Jersey kid who graduates from boy scouts, bicycles, basketball and football to learning about alcohol, sex, drugs, betrayal and then death. In short: it’s a coming of age book, a series of random, but telling snapshots. Adultery, divorce, racism, class and the legacy of the Vietnam war linger around the edges of a few of these tales, and a couple feature acts of violence or vandalism. But there’s nothing melodramatic here. Perrotta gets all the details of this unremarkable, middle-American world right and, although we feel the protagonist is on the cusp of leaving this place behind, there’s no judgement of any of the other characters.Their flaws and foibles are all too human.