{"product_id":"cruddy-an-illustrated-novel-9780684838465","title":"Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel","description":"On a September night in 1971, a few days after getting busted for dropping acid, a sixteen-year-old curls up in the corner of her ratty bedroom and begins to write. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNow the truth can finally be revealed about the mysterious day long ago when the authorities found a child, calmly walking in the boiling desert, covered with blood.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The girl is Roberta Rohbeson, and her rant against a world bounded by \"the cruddy top bedroom of a cruddy rental house on a very cruddy mud road\" soon becomes a detailed account of another story, one that she has kept silent since she was eleven. \u003cbr\u003e Darkly funny and resonant with humanity, \u003ci\u003eCruddy, \u003c\/i\u003e masterfully intertwines Roberta's stories -- part \u003ci\u003eEasy Rider\u003c\/i\u003e and part bipolar \u003ci\u003eWizard of Oz.\u003c\/i\u003e These stories, the backbone of Roberta's short life, include a one-way trip across America fueled by revenge and greed and a vivid cast of characters, starring Roberta's dangerous father, the owners of the Knocking Hammer Bar-cum-slaughterhouse, and runaway adolescents. With a teenager's eye for freakish detail and a nervous ability to make the most horrible scenes seem hilarious, \u003ci\u003eCruddy\u003c\/i\u003e is a stunning achievement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLynda Barry\u003c\/b\u003e is the creator of the nationally syndicated \u003ci\u003eErnie Pook's Comeek\u003c\/i\u003e comic strip and the author of the novel and play \u003ci\u003eThe Good Times Are Killing Me.\u003c\/i\u003e Once a commentator for National Public Radio, she lives in Evanston, Illinois.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50719097717010,"sku":"9780684838465","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b10c6a3c-d1c9-4ffe-aab3-81d40c7a044e.jpg?v=1734658850","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/cruddy-an-illustrated-novel-9780684838465","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}