Read the book that critics say "keeps readers on their toes with all the shenanigans!" (The U.S. Review of Books)
Jump into the first volume of the Chronicle of Calvin Connor ...
Calvin Connor, a fourteen-year-old Irish immigrant stuck in rural Pennsylvania, heads to summer camp with Troop 666.
Joined by his friends Sandy, Art, Ryan, and Spazz, young Calvin encounters disaster and delight — and an endless line of stupid grown-ups. He also meets a deliciously yummy young girl who is more than his match.
This is the week that changes everything in Calvin's life. The awkward boy who leaves for Connecticut is not the young man who returns home.
No work of fiction has ever captured the awkwardness of growing up, the delight of having a crush, and the stank of a camp latrine broiling in the summer sun quite like this one.
Packed with "comedic roughhousing and [a] continual bag of tricks" (The U.S. Review of Books), Striking Out is the first volume of the epic tale of Calvin Connor, tracing his journey from bullheaded teenager to major league superstar (and beyond).
NEWLY REMASTERED in 2024! The book's text was lightly updated (typos and such) and features a lovely new font by Matthew Butterick (the mbtype.com guy).
(from Chapter 16)
“Sounds like you got lucky, Calvin," flapped Cindy. "I bet Jenny’s a real c---. That no one else at school even likes her.”
“That’s, uh, a good guess. But I don’t care what people say about her.” A fading smile. “You sound like my ma. She thinks Jenny latched on to me too quickly, so everyone would talk about her. Make her instantly popular.”
“In other words, using you.”
“What bollocks.”
“What what?”
“Bollocks. Bulls---. I don’t put up with people like that—fakers and users. Jenny says she likes how I don’t give a c--- about what others think. That I make my own waves. Tell me—is that something a user would say?”
“Yes,” Cindy admonished, genuinely concerned. “Jenny’s using you just right, Calvin. Users always make the people they use feel like they’re the most important person in the world.”
“What do you know?” Calvin said dismissively.
“Oh I know. I know enough. How old are you?”
“Fourteen.”
“Fourteen?! S---. I thought you were older than me, like sixteen or something. Well, I’d keep an eye on this Jenny if I were you, and don’t get too attached. Is she hot?”
“Blonde hair/big b----s. I’m the envy of my grade.”
Cindy’s whole body bucked as if to say, Bulls---!
Out came Calvin’s leather wallet again.
“Gonna pay me to believe you?” Cindy teased.
“Shut up,” Calvin said. He poked through the wallet and found half of a photo booth strip: two black-and-white frames of Calvin hugging and mugging with a bright-eyed blonde bombshell of a teenage girl. He handed it over with relish.
Cindy looked the photo strip over for a long moment. She examined the back, then ran her finger along the torn bottom edge. She handed it back without a word, and looked away.
Calvin put the photo in his wallet and became aware of her mood change. Clearly he’d f-----d up at the end there, and needed to switch topics. “Leaf,” he said softly.
“What?” she chanced, her eyes bent in puzzlement.
“Your name is Leaf, right?”
“No, but—and I f---ing hate to admit it—you’re on the right track. Was that just a guess?”
“Just a guess,” grinned Calvin.
You could only dream to have a résumé as awesome as CHRISTOPHER MORLOCK’s. In addition to writing novels, he’s run fast food joints, delivered mail, humped cable on film sets, reviewed music, sold baseball cards, edited websites, acted on television, written articles, and won poker tournaments. And at any point when he wasn’t doing one of the above, he could be found with your mom.
