Should've quit halfway, but just good enough to finish

Lost in Place: Growing up Absurd in Suburbia

by Mark Salzman

Mixed bag, here.  Mark Salzman tells the story of his early teen to college age years.  He was a most peculiar character.  And his friends and teachers were so unique, so sublimely weird--his Kung Fu master, his best friend who used to beat him up, and especially his dad--they made a story themselves.  His dad is a hoot.

I get the impression that with the notable exception of  a Chinese Studies professor, Mr. Salzman's relationships with women were uniquely flat.  His mother was a concert celloist yet we know nothing about her.  She's just there, like a plate on which you pile a slab of roast beef and onions.  Who cares about the plate?  It's just a flat thing to pile yourself onto.

I'm not being a sexist pig about this.  His two girl friends are also, just "his girlfriends".  He spends hours and hours hanging out with them and yet we don't know anything about them.  I just didn't get it.

So...I guess you get the idea. If you're a guy who grew up in the era, you might enjoy it a lot.