I think I see why The Virginian-Pilot reported that fourteen-year-olds like Swim the Fly. I had the opportunity to listen to it last week and I, too, was laughing from the very beginning. It has a few classic elements that some find humorous:
1. The narrator is not too good or too bad; he’s just your average Joe who gets himself caught up in a pile of stuff.
2. He has two sidekicks: one is dingy, a little spacey, but an all around good guy, while the other is borderline jerk. He can be just as kind as he can be petty and annoying.
3. There is a love triangle. (Think, I Love You, Beth Cooper) .
4. The author, Don Calame, throws in a few truisms about life and perseverance but nothing too heavy-handed.
I ordered Z a hardcopy of Swim the Fly.
Let’s see if he reads it.