Coming of Age

This is the book's central theme, the focus of both its narrative and emotional through-line. The book is, essentially, the author's episodic recounting of contexts, relationships and incidents that contributed to his transformation from childhood to young adulthood, a transformation at the core of many similar narratives. "Coming of age" is, in other words, a universal or archetypal story, one familiar to everyone who has ever become an adult, or one who will become familiar to everyone who has yet to do so.

Within such archetypal stories, there are also archetypal experiences, many of which are encountered by the author in the pages of the book. These include the awareness of death, awareness of adult versions of emotions like hate, and the transfer of interest from childish, playful pastimes into more adolescent pastimes related to sex. The author also has the archetypal experiences of discovering the...