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Creativity, controversy in debut novel, 'American Youth'

Date published: 5/6/2007

THANKS TO rock- solid reviews and word of mouth, the fiction world has embraced a bold new author capable of tapping into the pulsing vein of the American psyche. Newcomer Phil Lamarche's haunting debut, 'American Youth', is a firecracker of a novel that places teenage angst, economical strife and gun control under a microscope. The result: a well-written, yet frighteningly realistic, depiction of what could happen when society looks the other way.

Welcome to the awkward world of Ted LeClare, a ninth-grader lost in a delirium of puberty and peer pressure. Though his home life is pretty steady--other families are moving away due to a decline in local jobs--Ted doesn't realize it until a tragedy befalls him. Egged on by his "friends," the Dennison brothers who ache to be masculine, Ted loads his father's gun and hands them the weapon. One emphatic bang later and the boys unwillingly enter adulthood. After Ted's friend accidentally shoots his own brother and then flees, the cops arrive and asks questions about the deceased boy. Banking on his mother's wisdom, Ted denies loading the gun. It's that lie that chips away at his conscience throughout the book. Should he come clean or forget it ever happened? Ted searches for answers and acceptance by joining the American Youth, a pseudo-skinhead clan of high-schoolers who despise social change and stereotypes--the irony is that they're products of their own hatred. Life gets even more complicated when Ted dates a fellow member's girlfriend, is harassed by the cops and becomes border-line masochistic. What will it take for Ted to regain his childhood and find peace amidst the gunsmoke?

With a domino narration--events keep slamming into one another--and a bone-chilling voice devoid of warmth and prejudice, "Youth" is as powerful as it is bone-chillingly plausible. The very premise of the novel wouldn't be nearly as jarring were it not for the plethora of real-life gun accidents that, sadly, support it. Though Lamarche doesn't give his opinion on the gun control issue--he leaves it up to the reader to take a political stance--he does frequently refer to Ted as "the boy," a bold attempt to generalize the character. When you add sharp dialogue and simple, staccato prose into the mix, you get a powerful debut that'll leave you asking plenty of questions.

Nicholas Addison Thomas is a freelance writer in Fredericksburg.
Email: n.addison.thomas@gmail.com

AMERICAN YOUTH By Phil Lamarche (Random House, $21.95)

Date published: 5/6/2007