Book Review: Four Corners or A Book That Will Tickle Your Intellectual Nipple by Cary Smith

Four Corners or A Book That Will Tickle Your Intellectual Nipple is an edgy, sarcastic journey through the four years commonly known as high school.

Cary Smith shares those four meaningful years filled with  corrupt administrators, existentialist teachers, "Douche Bag" classmates, difficult parents, and a  deep thinking best friend while he wastes away in a state mandated educational system that is more laughable than useful. His fictional four year prison includes a sheriff who brings along an ex-junkie to share the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and who also stages dramatic displays where students lie on the grass with numbers on their white t-shirts depicting a recent accident that claimed the lives of three people.

Vivid recollections of the Columbine massacre and September 11th are brought to life as Smith recalls the less than helpful ways the teachers and administrators dealt with the violence that rocked everyone's lives. He mocks the insanity of sheltering in place and shines a not so complimentary light on a public school system where all that really matters is what the state mandated test results say and how that translates into funding.

Four Corners is not my typical read, but I enjoyed it. The book focuses on all the garbage teens are dealing with during those four years that sometimes seem to drag on forever. Overall, I liked the style and the format of Four Corners. There were some repetitive elements meant to drive home certain points that I actually found more distracting than funny--like the constant insertion of "DISCLAIMER: I REPEAT, THERE IS NO ONE LISTENING."--and I didn't care for the last couple of pages all that much, but it was worth spending my time on and chuckling through. The author makes some great points using his sharp wit.


Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Shakespeare'sFool (February 24, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0991539451
ISBN-13: 978-0991539451

I received a paperback copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

I have read this book for the following challenge: