Hairstyles of the Damned

I'm re-reading Joe Meno's punk-metal inspiried young adult novel Hairstyles of the Damned. Anybody can relate to the themes here, regardless of their musical tastes and lack of knowledge about the bands mentioned. That's because this novel is about belonging--or not belonging--and desperately wanting to find a way to fit in, something most of us struggle with long past adolescence. It's also about seeing parental relationships fall apart and wondering whether anybody is happy. Like everybody, Brian seeks belonging through friendships. Like many teens, his parents are among the most and least important influences in his life--we learn this because his mom is virtually non-existent in the story and yet Brian is most vulnerable (and endearing) when he interacts with his father, who is sleeping on the couch in the basement next to Brian's bedroom, or other adults.

During his teen years, Brian seeks belonging through music. During my teen years, I sought acceptance and belonging via religion. Music seems like a better vehicle for Brian than religion was for me. At least, it ultimately doesn't reject him nor does he reject it. For me, religion became untenable/impossible at the same time it became most desirable, leaving me in limboland. For Brian, music is always within his reach, just at the other end of his fingertips. But relationships are consistently fragile things, never quite within his reach.

Like always when I read good books, I wish I'd written it. But as Chris is always reminding me, I don't know enough about music to have written a book exactly like this one. It's true, I will spend the next ten years trying to fill in the missing places, the information that everybody else my age takes for granted. I don't feel bad about it--but the effects of homeschooling and growing up without a TV are consistently revealed in my utter lack of knowledge about anything pop culture whatsoever. Not only my lack of knowledge but also my inability to retain said information about pop culture. I can't tell you how many times Chris has mentioned groups like the Misfits or Jane's Addiction when we're listening to one of their songs and God help me if I remember who it is next time we hear it, no matter how much I like it when I hear it. Anyway, 70% of the time, I don't give a damn about my lack of pop culture knowledge. 30% of the time, that knowledge would truly come in handy--as a writer, a person, and a scholar. Oh, well.