The Tzer Island book blog features book reviews written by TChris, the blog's founder.  I hope the blog will help readers discover good books and avoid bad books.  I am a reader, not a book publicist.  This blog does not exist to promote particular books, authors, or publishers.  I therefore do not participate in "virtual book tours" or conduct author interviews.  You will find no contests or giveaways here.

The blog's nonexclusive focus is on literary/mainstream fiction, thriller/crime/spy novels, and science fiction.  While the reviews cover books old and new, in and out of print, the blog does try to direct attention to books that have been recently published.  Reviews of new (or newly reprinted) books generally appear every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Reviews of older books appear on occasional weekends.  Readers are invited and encouraged to comment.  See About Tzer Island for more information about this blog, its categorization of reviews, and its rating system.

Entries in Chris Fuhrman (1)

Monday
Dec202010

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys by Chris Fuhrman

First published in 1994

This coming of age novel has been compared (for its style and bravado) to A Confederacy of Dunces. Unfortunately, Fuhrman's novel takes few chances, offers few insights, and reflects none of Toole's caustic wit. An altar boy named Francis and his friends get in trouble at his Catholic school for drawing an explicit comic book. Francis and his friends devise a plan to capture a bobcat and set it loose in the school to make the principal forget about punishing them. Along the way, Francis makes faltering attempts to have a relationship with a girl who seems to like him. In the end, Francis grows up a bit. Yawn.

To be fair, this is a novel that has appealed to many, particularly to younger readers. Even though it's the sort of book I generally enjoy (and one I looked forward to reading), it just wasn't the novel for me. The story neither moved nor entertained me. Through most of the novel, nothing happened that seemed to be of any consequence. The humor seemed childish. I will grant that the last few pages are quite good but the journey to get there was tedious. Fuhrman's prose style is adequate but unexceptional. This novel did nothing for me and I can't recommend it, but again, your mileage may vary.

NOT RECOMMENDED