Bad Kid

April 13, 2015
In this engaging memoir, Moth host and performer Crabb makes it quite clear that for a gay, awkward teenager in the 1980s, there were better places to be than South Texas. As he entered puberty, Crabb was forced to admit to himself that he wanted Marky Mark, not Madonna, and that he had to keep this information from the world. Crabb attempted to survive high school through invisibility, but his secret crush became a best friend, and he was introduced to eyeliner, drugs, and the San Antonio underworld. Soon he was struggling to stay awake in class after yet another LSD all-nighter. When his guidance counselor called him out in front of his father for lying, skipping school, and being gay, Crabb moved to another town where he lived with his mother and eventually found the courage to accept himself. Crabb presents this hormone-fueled roller-coaster ride with humor and sensitivity, and draws moving portraits of the people who provided him with a community. His evocation of postpunk bands, brutal skinheads, and Goth attire will resonate with those who experienced the era, while his sexual anguish and fumblings are all too universal. Crabb's exploration of the intensity, and necessity, of teen friendships especially resonates.

April 1, 2015
Reflections on growing up goth and gay in Texas at the dawn of the 1990s-based on the author's one-man show. As a gay teenager in Texas, writer and performer Crabb suffered the abuse of having his head smashed with encyclopedias and enduring hate speeches from his classmates. By the time he entered high school, the author's denial of his sexuality was tested when he began listening to George Michael's "Faith" and was introduced to Interview magazine, with its glossy, artful spreads of male models. Suddenly, the message that seemingly everyone else around him had received made sense to Crabb, yet he persisted in repressing his feelings, despite his first crush on the mysterious new student named Greg. To make matters more confusing, he came of age at the height of the AIDS epidemic and hysteria, when "you couldn't watch MTV for more than ten minutes without hearing about AIDS." Crabb's gradual sexual awakening and comfort with his own identity coincided with his friendship with Greg, who also admitted to being gay. Together, the two acclimated themselves to the "freak" crowd, circulating in the teen club scene around San Antonio and excessive experimentation with drugs and alcohol. Their friendship forms the backbone of Crabb's narrative, as each relied on the other to help understand his identity in the face of intolerance and violence. Though the author's story wonderfully captures the awkwardness, strife, and even terror of his experience as a gay teen, it is also upbeat, endearing, and achingly funny. (The mall-rat generation will be especially at home with Crabb.) The author experienced all the highs and lows of adolescence, from the reckless pleasures of youth to the inevitable distance and loneliness of outgrowing relationships. A vivid and dramatic slice of adolescence.

May 1, 2015
Growing up isn't easy for anyone. Growing up gay in Texas in the early 1990s was a challenge all its own. In this memoir based on comedian Crabb's solo show of the same name, the author goes from a khaki-wearing, invisible student to a club-hopping member of a goth group. He lovingly describes his band of freaks in all their wild-haired, foul-mouthed, cape-wearing glory. Their escapades are largely shaped by drugs, drugs, and more drugs. While much of the story is extreme, from the beating delivered by a group of skinheads to an acid-fueled trip to a slaughterhouse, Crabb nevertheless portrays the more universal elements of a young person's struggle to find out who he is and where he belongs. The manic energy and overblown drama of adolescence crackle off the page. With just the right mix of humor and pathos, Crabb recounts cringe-worthy teenage milestones like a forced first kiss and the unwanted gift of a car. Not everyone had to face what he did, but all can empathize with Bad Kid.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)