Little New York Bastard Book

Meet M. Dylan Raskin — “MDR” to friends. At 22, he’s the opposite of hip: a working-class college dropout who lives with his mother in Queens — “Flushing-Stinking-Queens,” to be precise. It’s not that he doesn’t like New York, exactly, it’s just that lately he’s felt more and more at odds with everything — his family, his generation, his hometown, even himself. One day he gets fed up and decides to take his freedom on the road, setting off for Chicago in a quixotic attempt to turn his life around. Little New York Bastard is the story of an outsider for the ages, a mixed-up kid who knows what he wants in life but has no idea how to get it. Raskin’s anger is palpable and his wounds are unabashedly raw, and readers will appreciate the immediacy and honesty of his story. Equal parts road story, coming-of-age memoir, and existential manifesto — this debut is in the tradition of cult classics like Youth in Revolt and The Fuck Up.

Library Journal

The Holden Caulfield for the 21st century has arrived in Raskin, a 22-year-old college dropout from Queens, known as MDR to his friends. His blisteringly angry take on life in the United States burns up the pages of this angst-driven road story, as he leaves "Flushing-stinking-Queens" for what he thinks is a different world in Chicago. Since he takes his depression, anger, lack of focus, and lousy grooming habits with him, MDR finds Chicago no Eden. Eventually, he manages to deal with what life has dealt him, including the death of his father and his beloved dog, Cleo Monster, and returns in his battered Honda to the same life in Queens, with a few improvements. This debut will be most appreciated by the young, although its language might put off some book selectors-think Denis Leary without the profanity but with all the black anger. A strikingly original and unforgettable narrative voice; for general collections and young adults, with a few caveats.-Shelley Cox, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.