Good Times, Bad Times by James Kirkwood.

Publisher: Fawcett Crest Books. / First Published: 1968. / 288 pages.
Rating: ****

I have just re-read this classic which I first devoured at the tender age of 17. Although predictably a little dated - the hero, Peter Kilburn (also 17) wears a tie and sports jacket when he gets dressed up - it is infinitely readable and justifiably compared with J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye on its back cover.

This is a murder story but by no means a who-done-it and takes the form of an extended letter written by Kilburn who is in prison having murdered his headmaster. The letter is to his lawyer who, busy on another case and unable to get to Peter right away, has suggested he put everything down on paper in the meantime.

In the process there emerges the most beautiful and tragic story about friendship, ways of seeing things, self-assertion, sexual abuse, how perceptions can alter facts and the extent to which witness and press reports can differ from reality. It is also hilariously funny in parts.

Although my cynical friend who dug it from my bookshelf and prompted my re-reading found himself wondering whether it was perhaps intended as a clever fabrication to cover up far more sinister and pre-meditated truths, I found it utterly compelling and believable.

As an interesting aside, James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante re-wrote Good Times, Bad Times into the script of A Chorus Line which opened off Broadway in 1975 and held the record for longest running Broadway show (6 137 performances) until Les Mis ran for longer (6 680). It received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976.

I am so enchanted by this little story which is almost as old as I am, that I am forced to create a new category.
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****: MMR – a marijayn must read.
***: Must Have.
**: Borrow.
*: Don’t bother.