I.D. Book

Meet Billy B, recently deceased, due to an unfortunate incident with a stack of sheetrock, who has stayed about to try to help console his best friend, Eddie Proffit, who was unfortunate enough to find Billy, within months of also finding his own father dead due to a similarly freakish accident. And get ready to laugh.

As grim as the underpinnings of this story may be, you'll likely be cracking up by the end of the excerpt on the cover. I was. Nine pages into it I was saying "It's hysterical." Which is probably not what you would expect from a book being told by a dead kid, but...so it is. And nothing about it is typical, or "expected."

Through Billy and Eddie, Crutcher tells a tale that takes on censorship, control, school issues, religious issues, certain familial issues....and he does it all using himself as an example, creating issue over a fictitious book he supposedly wrote. This only adds to the humor, which still abounds, for all that this is one of the more thought-provoking books I've read in awhile. That being said, while there's plenty I could say about it, I'd rather not alienate or upset any readers of this page, and so will keep most of my opinions to myself on all the touchy subjects. I will say though, that I loved this book, and plan to pass it on, and to read it again.

I also fully expect to see it challenged, and as long as that includes some debate, I'm all for it. But I also give kudos to Crutcher for continuing to confront the world and trying to change the way we look at things, as the world itself lends itself towards continuous fluidity.