King of the Mild Frontier
An Ill-Advised Autobiography  
By Chris Crutcher

     Although I am slightly younger than Chris Crutcher, I swear we must have had the same big brother. Anyone who has ever had an older sibling take advantage of a trusting young nature will find this book comforting and funny. It's also a great place to learn where some of the stranger things that have popped up in Crutcher's novels originated. Truth is stranger than fiction.

     The book also had photos, and I love autobiographies with photos. It's such fun to imagine the cute little kid in the picture peeing down a furnace grate (Yes, Crutcher once did that. I'm impressed he lived through in his childhood.) Altogether, the book will be a great read for Crutcher fans and an interesting book for any of us middle-aged folks who actually lived through those days. Of course, Crutcher slips into lecturing the reader now and again about the dangers of religion and the value of dealing with the life you've got, but he is a therapist. I expect it's an occupational hazard. I was glad of the time spent with this ill-advised biography.