Benjamin Lebert did all this and took the time to write it down.
In "Crazy," an autobiographical coming-of-age-novel, Lebert spills his guts concerning his ninth grade year at a remedial boarding school.
Reminiscent of "The Catcher in the Rye," Lebert is a new generation’s answer to Holden Caulfield —minus the sarcasm, but heavier on the realism.
It’s all here — the first time he gets drunk, the first time he visits a strip joint, the first time he gets laid.
The language is that of a 16-year-old. Body parts (both female and male) are referred to in the most, some would say, derogatory terms possible. Most of George Carlin’s seven dirty words are used with abandon in typical teenage fashion.
Lebert, a German, writes for the young-adult supplement of Sud-deutsche Zeitung, a leading Munich newspaper.
Perhaps that is where he learned his sometimes over-inflated sense of self.
Lebert’s bonding moments with his boarding-school friends offer some of the most unbelievable sections of the book.
Suffice to say most teenage boys spend more time talking about Britney Spears than the meaning of life, but you wouldn’t know it from this novel.
Lebert and his friends Janosch, Troy and Fat Felix spend a massive amount time talking about the meaning of life.
But his descriptions of life-changing moments can be on the mark. Read about the first time he gets trashed, for example, and you may see the words on the page start to spin.
All in all, Lebert’s debut novel is an enjoyable read. Read it and remember times in your own life when everything —
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