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Title: Curiously unaffecting
Review: The world of literature is rife with outrageous and funny coming-of-age stories (Winterson's "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" comes immediately to mind, as do David Sedaris' biographic essays), and though this qualifies on both counts, it's curiously unaffecting. Neither as funny as it could be, nor as moving, the book is authored by a merely so-so, not great, writer who seems to keep his emotions--and us--at arm's length. Could have been both wrenchingly poignant and hysterically funny, and it's neither. Too bad.
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