Bad Haircut: Stories from the Seventies

Yes, you'll enjoy BAD HAIRCUT in a big way if you grew up in that strange decade we call the 70s, but you can enjoy it for many other reasons as well. If you enjoy short stories, this collection with a common protagonist, the autobiographical Buddy, is sure to whet your appetite for that most concise of genres. If you are a Tom Perrotta fan, you'll be pleased and surprised, as this book offers both the Perrotta hero you've become accustomed to in his novels (young-ish, male, funny) AND it offers the author at his most disciplined as a stylist. The stories contain little "fat," in other words, and thematically tackle all the major sources of boyhood angst from grade school days to college.The collection starts with "Weiner Man," the tale of Buddy in the cub scouts, a man dressed in an oversized weiner outfit, and his mother who knew Weiner Man from high school. Sweet and strange, it's the perfect gateway into this frank collection. It is followed by stories involving dating, fighting, family, school, drugs, and alcohol. Just your typical, red-blooded New Jersey suburban upbringing, is all. But what a ride.I feel this book is overlooked for two reasons -- it's an "early" work by an author who later became famous and it's a short story collection, which will always play second fiddle to the novel. Don't let it scare you away, however. Although anyone can enjoy this work, it's almost a sure bet if you're a male boomer out of the 'burbs. So go ahead. Get a haircut. Even if it's bad, they always grow out...

Bad Haircut is a collection of short stories told in the first person by a kid Buddy who grows up from Cub Scout, in the first story, to college student in the last. It reminded me some of The Wanderers, by Richard Price, a book I much enjoyed and admired.Overall the book has a light, humorous tone though it has some disturbing moments. The author has an appealing, unpretentious prose style - easy to read, good ear for vernacular, nicely noted details. I lived in that time and it all rings true.The stories are each little slices of life. Some of the later ones are about girls Buddy is involved with. I'd say my favorite stories were Forgiveness and The Jane Pasco Fan Club.This was my first experience with Perrotta. I think I'm going to check out some of his other stuff now. It was that good.

Centered around a boy named Buddy growing up in the 70's in a middle class suburban town in New Jersey, "Bad Haircut" is probably a semi-autobiographical portrayal of memories that have stayed with Tom Perrotta, a very talented author indeed. The stories are often poignant, though most are open ended and don't have that "aha!" moment that short story writers often strive for. We learn quite a bit about Buddy and his family through these vignettes, which are only loosely connected. Don't expect, though, to be blown away, as you may have been with Perrotta's "Little Children;" but there's certainly something very enjoyable about this collection of subtle stories giving us slices of Buddy's childhood. For me, it ended all too quickly -- I would have liked to follow Buddy at least through college and perhaps through his early post-graduate days (as a struggling young writer, no doubt).

I throroughly enjoyed this book. I loved a collection of short stories with the same narrator which was a breath of fresh air. While I love short stories, it can become a bit tedious because with each one you have to get to know new characters and so forth. Reading this got me thinking about the various experience I had growing up during my teen years in the 90s. I was not alive in the 70s, but the various situations and emotions I can relate to as can any other generation.

If you grew up in the 70's this is spot-on storytelling that makes you think the author knows you and went to your high school. The descriptions of loving but detached parents, inane Tom foolery, teen to teen meanness and camaraderie, and exciting but I'll-fated romance is a walk down your own adolescent memory lane and hysterical at the same time. It's about how kids survive, find each other, and learn to see why people behave the way they do. Unbelievably touching and funny as well as brutally honest. Could not put it down.

Tom’s books have so much heart and he certainly can capture the feeling of the 70s or the suburbs... the empathy is what makes his books special

I was required to read this book for a literature class, however the book became more of a pleasure to read than a chore. Perrotta masterfully demonstrates development of Buddy in true colors, exemplifying his coming of age in an episodic buildingsroman.

Fun book to read especially if you grew up in the 1970s. ear. Reminded me of my own childhood.