Jillian D’Onfro
MAG 409
4/5/12
FOB-REVIEWS
MANUSCRIPT
Words: approx. 441
Hey Jillian,
I’ll never have those original lost edits back (I thought they were SO good, dammit),
but I think this recreates most of them, and serves as a pretty good version of this
story. I made line edits throughout and added one sentence I think would help the
third paragraph transition better into the next one. Overall, I get a great sense of
what this book is about, why it’s good, why some people may not dig it, etc. Let me
know on these edits and we’ll move it through main and to top without much more
delay!
EVB
It seems that Last Stop This Town by David H. Steinberg must be competition
for the Novel That Can Use the Most Sex Jokes, Breast Descriptions, and Over-theTop Teen Revelry prize. The book follows the debaucherous saga of four boys on the
brink of high school graduation with one weekend to go out with a bang. It reads
like The Hangover, with peach-fuzz and bigger heart. Or like American Pie, with an
extra helping of mushiness. Surprise, surprise: Steinberg actually wrote American
Pie 2 and American Pie Presents: Book of Love. This novel attempts to reconcile his
signature raunch with his soft side.
Each of the four main characters fits neatly into his own slot: Walker, the nice
guy who respects women (and thus has no game); Pike, the unapologetic pothead;
Noah, the brainiac wingman; and golden boy Dylan, the leader of the pack with Zac
Efron looks and an endless supply of one-liners. The guys’ personalities gel as
perfectly as they always seem to in Hollywood or popular teen lit.
While the writing and humor target the horny teen male demographic, there
are a few scenes so vividly, so enjoyably absurd that any reader can appreciate
them. An insane homeless man seeks revenge on the boys by reaching into his pants
and slinging hunks of his own shit at the windshield of their car. A marijuana-fueled
Pike decides to play Jedi Knight, substituting a lightsaber with a chainsaw, and
demolishes a couch (which he later needs to pay for with a brick of weed… of
course). Noah and Dylan sneak into a towing facility in the trunk of Chevy Malibu.
It’s the Goonies all grown up.
But amidst the moments of pure gold, prepare to slog through a string of
gratingly insane antics, indelicate over-sentimentality about high school yearbooks,
and a gratuitous use of the word “pussy.” Characters become dewy-eyed at
predictable moments, and for every scene where one of the crew is about to get laid,
you’ve got another where one of them realizes why, gosh, best friends are the best.
Steinberg writes situations he can cue sappy string interludes to.
By the end, though, Last Stop This Town is fun. Don’t pick it up this book
because you want it to change your perspective or take you somewhere new. Read it
if you're craving a nostalgic roller-coaster ride through teenage hijinks. You know,
the ones you probably never quite had yourself.