Flight into Fantasy

Title: Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories
Author: Chris Crutcher
Genre: Young adult
Reason for Reading: It was a reread, and I’ve been on a YA binge lately.
Synopsis:

From Publishers Weekly
If the stereotype of the “bonehead jock” is ever to be defeated, it will be at Crutcher’s hands. In these six short stories, he and his athlete protagonists take on such weighty issues as racism, homophobia, sexism and the teenager’s essential task of coming to terms with his parents. At the same time the author makes the world of sports compelling enough to engage even the most sedentary readers. Three of the stories revolve around characters featured in Crutcher’s The Crazy Horse Electric Game , including the memorable eccentric known as Telephone Man. Also starring in his own story is Lionel Serbousek, the orphaned artist and swimmer of Stotan! In the book’s final tale, Louie Banks (from Running Loose ) is befriended by a young man with AIDS and must cope once again with the untimely death of a loved one. The stories’ locales–mostly small towns in Montana and Idaho–are vividly evoked, and make a satisfying change from the well-known big cities and bland suburbs where so many YA novels are set. Ages 12-up.

Other Takes:

• Big A Little a: she liked it, too.

Fun Fact: this was a frequently challenged book in 2008 thanks to “Telephone Man”, which features many racial slurs.

My Thoughts:
I’ve been on something of a young adult kick lately. I’m not sure why this is–maybe it’s a longing for the halcyon days of teenagerhood that never were. Or maybe it’s that, in young adult fiction, an author has to cut to the heart of whatever serious issue they’re dealing with and make it relatable. Not that this doesn’t happen in adult fiction, but for whatever reason, realistic YA works better for me than realistic adult stuff.

Added to that, this particular book is a reread. I hadn’t thought about Crutcher in years, until Renay reviewed another of his books. Her experiences with his books brought me back to my own teenagerhood, and so I’ve been reading more Crutcher, because he’s a quick read, and I find some comfort in the sensitivity and thoughtfulness of his writing. That being said, it’s kind of odd that I like this book as much as I do. The heroes of these short stories–most of whom have appeared in Chris Crutcher’s other books–are all athletes, with one major exception. I, on the other hand, am not only the wrong gender, but I’m as athletic as wet cardboard, but I love this book to pieces anyway.

Sports do play a huge role in the lives of Crutcher’s protagonists’, and they use sports to deal with various issues. But this isn’t a collection of sports stories. Rather, it’s a book about young men dealing with painful situations that arise in their lives. In “A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune”, (which was made into a movie that, I’m told, completely butchers the story, and which, incidentally, is my favorite of these stories), Angus is a fat kid whose parents are both gay and who is, seemingly randomly, elected Winter Ball king, and expected to dance with the girl of his dreams.

“The Pin 1″ deals with the issues that perennial smart alec Johnny has with his father, and I like it more now that I’ve actually read The Crazy Horse Electric Game, where Johnny basically was the comic relief sidekick, a character not always allowed the space to remain serious while staying in character in other books I’ve read.

“The Pin 2″ on the other hand, features Petey having to wrestle a girl, which isn’t something the geeky and awkward young man can deal with. What makes this struggle harder for Petey is that he manages to meet the girl and discovers that he likes her as a person.
“Telephone Man” involves a boy learning that maybe the things his father has always told him about black people are wrong. This one is my least favorite, and even after seeing more of this character in, again, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, I still didn’t much like being in his head, and felt pretty humiliated for him most of the time, even if the lesson he learned was a good one.

“Goin’ Fishin’” involves a boy learning to face the boy he blames for the death of his parents. This one didn’t work as well for me either, because quite honestly, I found Lionel’s rudeness entirely justified, and don’t think I could bring myself to forgive anyone if they’d done something like what Neil did to him. Then again, I’ve not read the book that features Lionel, so that’s another reason the story wasn’t as good. Of course, given I’d still rate it a strong B, that probably isn’t saying all that much.

“In the Time I Get”, the last story, involves a boy being befriended by a young man who is dying of AIDS. I don’t remember thinking much of this story when I read it as a teenager, but I understood it much better as an adult, and it works well, even though, again, I’ve not read Running Loose, the book on which it’s based.

This is definitely highly recommended for anyone interested in YA fiction, especially fiction that manages to come across as sympathetic without talking down to the intended audience. Knowledge of Crutcher’s other books isn’t necessary for enjoying these stories. This one’s a definite keeper.

Final Grade: A-