daniel pinkwater changed my life. his book "alan mendelson, boy from mars" is a step-by-step guide for weird kids to survive elementary and junior high school. i followed every step, from studying nifty new ways to trip people, to knowing more than the teachers (and backing up my claims with references), to achieving an air of superior aloofness to mundanity. i think it’s the reason that i achieved adulthood with a sense of personal identity intact.
i’ve read a lot of what he’s written, from "lizard music" to "the hoboken chicken emergency", and now one of his YA novels is online, just prior to the actual print publication. the neddiad has been described as pinkwater’s fictionalized autobiography, but i bet it’s all absolutely true. it’s about a young man who travels from chicago to LA by train and has a series of adventures (indeed his first big adventure) along the way. there’s ghosts, shamans, and the grand canyon.
and because it’s a pinkwater novel, there’s plenty of expository side-tracking about food. food is the universal motivator.
