This is a powerful coming of age story,
and the account of the struggles of being an ordinary teenage boy are
well pitched.
The bulk of the novel is effectively
told by the teenage Dennis, and these part works really well.
However there is an additional layer in
which the 42 year old Dennis, who has found fame as a cartoonist by
publishing a “graphic novel” of his teenage life, is seeking some
kind of closure on that chapter of his life.
This layer is far from successful.
Firstly, I guess the idea that anyone
would find “fame” via this route is a stretch. And the contrast
between the dramatic but deeply plausible tale about teenage Dennis
and this clunky middle-aged narrative is uncomfortable.
Second, another contrast, the teenage
tale is essentially claustrophobic, and that is its power, while the
middle-aged tale is expansive and in being so is ultimately flat.
The frustration is that the middle-aged
layer is not required – the teenage tale stands alone – and I
feel Gregson would have benefited from Editor who would have cut this
and left the novel stronger as a result.
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