A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip: A Memoir of Seventh Grade
In three acclaimed novels and two story collections, Brockmeier (The Illumination, 2011) earned his reputation as a literary virtuoso attuned to the illusory facets of everyday life. His rollicking first memoir, centered on his formative year in the seventh grade, affirms his talents and explores their foundations. Twelve-year-old Kevin kicks off the school year eavesdropping on a crush and becoming the butt of jokes during an all-school weekend sleepaway, initiating a turbulent year in which he determines he’s a Night Court guy, shows up at his Christian school dressed as Dolly Parton for Halloween, discovers the possibilities of literature, and tastes the brief satisfaction of celebrity after staging a play. Narrating in feverish third-person prose that accentuates his clumsy steps toward adulthood, Brockmeier examines the false intimacy of first kisses, the variable definitions of “best friend,” the unexpected ways jokes can escalate, and the absurd lengths one sometimes goes to impress others. In a hilariously vivid, novelistic chronicle of the mid–1980s, Brockmeier nails the awkward triumphs and life-affirming disasters of teenagedom, revealing the creative significance of what might otherwise seem banal. --Jonathan Fullmer