Cut My Hair

    (Oni, 2003)

Cut My Hair is essentially a slice-of-life story from the aimless, turbulent life of 19-year-old Mason, a cynical punk-rocker who lives in southern California. But, rather than reading like an aimless story, Jamie Rich’s novel is more like a well-scripted diary of a kid trying to find his place in a tumultuous world.

Mason lives for moshing in punk-rock clubs, hanging out, drinking, and listening to loud music. After he begins dating an understanding girl, he’s convinced himself that his thrashing and often-violent lifestyle is the pinnacle of his existence — until an unexpected and tragic event changes everything, and suddenly the things that had been such a focal point of Mason’s life now seem empty and meaningless.

This event is also a turning point for the novel, as the story shifts from being a light-hearted chronicle of Mason’s life to a dark, somber, and often predictable series of events. It’s like watching a punk version of Wayne’s World morph into an S.E. Hinton novel. Rich’s already-jaded character becomes so consumed with anger and resentment that he becomes essentially a one-dimensional parody of himself.

A last-page revelation helps the novel redeem itself, although this second switch in mood is no less jarring. But at least there is a sense of inspiration instilled into the resolution, and this last-minute save brings things into balance. As do the illustrations by the likes of Judd Winick and Andi Watson, which give much-needed relief to the book’s second half. Younger fans into the ’90s music scene may relate.

— Jim Johnson
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