King of the Mild Frontier: an Ill-Advised Autobiography

Crutcher, Chris.  2003.  King of the Mild Frontier: an Ill-Advised Autobiography.  New York: Greenwillow Books.  ISBN 9780060502492

Just how does one become an author of some of the best and most frequently banned young adult books? In King of the Mild Frontier, personal stories, lessons learned, and humiliating occurrences of Chris Crutcher, author of Whale Talk and Running Loose, are compiled for a humorous, sometimes sad and disturbing, autobiography.

From growing up in a small town to working as a therapist in the city, readers will be treated to some of the stories behind the stories in his books. This book unfolds in a non-linear way, allowing the reader to get a strong sense of Crutcher’s past and how individual events impacted his future. Most readers will find some part of Crutcher’s past to relate to, though it would be difficult to find someone who relates to all of the experiences lain out here.

This biography is highly enjoyable, and those parts I labeled “disturbing” are incredibly telling of the time-period and the author; they are also often amusing. Readers will be interested to find that they take some of life’s lessons away from this reading without realizing it until the end. This would be a highly enjoyable choice for many young adults.

"...any reader from sixth grade to adulthood will enjoy this not-so-ill-advised rendition of Crutcher's childhood." (KLIATT/2005)

Possible Ties:
1. This would be a great choice for an individual reader, and possibly a Teen book club.
2. For those attempting to come to terms with their own awkwardness, this is a good example of "making it through."