Sunday, April 29, 2012

"One Red Bastard"

Ed Lin is the author of several books and is an all-around standup kinda guy. Waylaid and This Is a Bust were both published by Kaya Press in 2002 and 2007, respectively, and both were widely praised. Both also won the Members’ Choice Awards in the Asian American Literary Awards. His third book, Snakes Can’t Run, was published by Minotaur Books in April 2010; it was loved by many and also won an Asian American Literary Award. Lin, who is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards.

Lin applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, One Red Bastard, and reported the following:
What really pops out on the page is a reference to Wacky Packages stickers stuck all over an apartment door. One Red Bastard takes place in 1976 and at the time there were few things as funny, subversive and obnoxious as "Wacky Packs." The functional component put them overthe top. Nothing took down a mean teacher or jerk principal better than a slew of Duck and Hide, Ajerx, Hawaiian Punks and Cap'n Crud stickers on their school doors (or car windshields). A Camals Jerkish Blend slapped on a neighborhood watch sign did more than take it down a few notches -- it completely invalidated the sign's message. I had a whole bunch of Wacky Packs when I was a kid but I never stuck them on anything. I saw my friends use them up on stupid things while I waited for a *really good* target. I think the closest I came to using one was on the "Drug-Free School Zone" sign. Alas, I never did find that awesome thing to nail and I traded my Wacky Packs along with my baseball cards for Quiz Wiz. Biggest mistake of my life. (Image courtesy of Topps.)
Learn more about the book and author at Ed Lin's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue