Psychological Disorders

In the book by Chris Crutcher, he includes various of short stories that are very interesting and meaningful to a reader. Each story has a beginning, middle and end, so that is important. Also these stories are not really sports stories, but stories about athletes. Love, death, bigotry and heroism are all different topics of these stories that he has written and published.

A brief moment in the life of Angus Bethune is about an overweight football player who is nominated king of the Winter Ball. The crush of his life, Melissa Lefevre is nominated Queen and is forced to show up and risk embarrassment or stay home and face humiliation. Melissa not only handles the situation with grace and kindness, but secretly tells Angus that she too has body image issues and is in treatment of Bulimia.

Johnny Rivers is a wrestler at Coho High school, Coho Montana. His father, Cecil B. Rivers, was also a champion wrestler. Conflict between Johnny and his father leads Johnny to challenge Cecil to a father/son wrestling match. Johnny wins and instantly regrets humiliating his father in front of a crowd. Cecil loses control and slaps Johnny to the ground in front of everyone, then walks away. Later Johnny finds his father weeping in his den, and realizes that Cecil’s father was also a hard man.

Petey Shropshrire wrestles junior varsity for Coho High School mostly because he is encouraged by his friend, Johnny Rivers. Chris Byers is the best wrestler at the 119 weight class at Spring Hill High, and is also a girl. She is one of the best wrestlers in the state, and the ridicule that Petey faces as he prepares for the match is almost unbearable. He talks with Chris, who he has met with Johnny Rivers before under unfortunate circumstances. He discovers that the ridicule she faces as a female wrestler is something that she is tired of as well.

“Goin Fishin” Lionel “Lion” Serousek is a swimmer for Frost High School. His parents were killed in a drunk driving (boating) accident by his friend Neal Anderson which he has never been able to forgive. Neal, riddled with guilt over his actions, has been living on the streets and Lion spurns a heartfelt plea from Neal’s mother to forgive her son so that he can come home again. After three years of hating Neal, his friend Elaine Ferral convinces him that her friendship might be more important that his hatred for Neal.

“It is a story