Chris Crutcher

Deadline’ is the story

Deadline’ is the story of a young man forced to discover who he is, and what’s important in life, during the short span of his senior year in high school. Chris Crutcher

You have to be

You have to be careful not to use anything too colloquial or you date the book. Chris Crutcher

My first book, ‘Running

My first book, ‘Running Loose’, was censored back in 1983 or ’84. Every book I’ve written since has been censored somewhere. Chris Crutcher

It seems to me

It seems to me if you don’t know anything about child development you shouldn’t intimate in your reporting that you do. Chris Crutcher

I can’t think of

I can’t think of a subject that is taboo for me, unless it’s one I simply don’t know anything about. Chris Crutcher

There’s only one thing

There’s only one thing to say to the censors: Shut up. Chris Crutcher

The premise of ‘Deadline’ forced me to go against my own grain with a character determined to find all that is valuable in that time. I believe this is a story about redemption; how, even with the best intentions, it’s sometimes found and sometimes not. Chris Crutcher

We get crazy when

We get crazy when we can’t make things be like the world tells us they are. She looked back out the window. It was that way for me and your brother, I think. I mean, how could I have loved him that last year? I didn’t even know who he was. He was way more … Read more

I think the value

I think the value in books like mine, and a great number by other talented writers, is in the ability to bring dark subjects into the open where they are not so dark, where they can be talked about and considered by teens and adults alike. Chris Crutcher

Certainly working with teens

Certainly working with teens keeps me up to date with language and with certain kinds of thinking. I often feel like I have to go back to that 17-year-old Chris Crutcher, and that forms the core voice. I can draw on teens from 1964 to 2001 to find a part of the voice I need. … Read more