kidsthesedaysThis is easily one of the strangest reviews I’ve written since joining the team here at 3G1B. Most times, I’ll tell you how much I loved a book. How I couldn’t put it down, how the story grabbed me right from the beginning. How I never would’ve thought I’d have enjoyed it as much as I did.

Well, I start this review of Drew Perry’s Kids These Days by saying this: I didn’t really love it.

Stay with me, there’s more.

I didn’t like this book and I’m not sure if you will either.  But that’s not the point. I actually finished it and when I was done, I thought for a few minutes about why I even bothered.

Normally, if I’m not enjoying a book, I’ll just give up after 50-75 pages. I’m not getting paid to do this and it’s supposed to be fun, so why force something? But, for some reason, while reading it never occurred to me to stop.

That’s even while I became annoyed by how confused and generally clueless one of the main characters, Walter, seemed to be in every situation. Or when he’d get into yet another ridiculous predicament with his con-man brother-in-law, Mid.

You see, Walter and his pregnant wife Alice have recently moved down to Florida, near her sister Carolyn. In need of a job, Walter gets paired up with Carolyn’s husband Mid, a shyster of the highest degree. Mixed in among the rest is Walter’s neurosis about his impending fatherhood, Carolyn’s 15-year old daughter Delton and the difficulties that come with being a teen and more business/illegal activity on the part of Mid than you can shake a stick at.

And yet, while the story itself never really goes anywhere, I kept reading. I kept on because I truly enjoyed Drew Perry’s style. I haven’t read his first novel, This is Just Exactly Like You, but I think I’m going to give it a shot.

As a sports fan, I’ll make the following analogy… When you’re watching a young player, perhaps a rookie in the NBA or minor leaguer in baseball, you can’t see everything he is or will become. Certain elements of his game develop over time, take some nurturing and seasoning, but what you definitely can sense is that this guy is going to be something special. He may not hit 30 HR now, but he will. His jump shot isn’t there yet, but he’s got the form and work ethic that says it will be soon.

Writing is just like anything else: most of us don’t get even close to the talent we have until we’ve come a long way.

That’s Drew Perry. I’m not sure this book is his best effort to date, but I know it won’t be even close to his best when he’s done.

I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got up his sleeve.