Crazy About Kurt by Will Link chronicles one night’s events of four teenagers’ lives during the ‘90s. Kurt Cobain, a popular musician among young people, commits suicide. His death elicits mixed reactions from the students at Smithtown High School. For Jackie, the loss is heart-breaking since Kurt reflected the voice of her generation. While dealing with his death, the four friends struggle with different issues especially those surrounding individuality, acceptance, sex, and the uncertainty of what the future will bring. For some, their future looks bright and well laid out while for others, they are yet to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Still, they find comfort in their friendship even when their individual worlds are spinning.

Will Link’s Crazy About Kurt takes a closer look at what growing up in the ‘90s looked like and, more importantly, he explores the complex world of teenagers. Link’s characters are relatable; all of them seem to have their own share of difficult circumstances that they are experiencing. Their friendship, even if imperfect, adds a wonderful feature to the story. The friends rely on each other to cope. The time line of the story is quite specific, which is another impressive aspect of the book. This approach allows an exhaustive and very intimate look into the lives of the four teenagers. The pace is measured and includes descriptions of thought patterns and characters’ backgrounds. Even so, Crazy About Kurt is packed with interesting details that result in an engaging story line.

Crazy About Kurt is a work of coming of age, dramatic fiction penned by author Will Link. Set in the final days of high school for four teenaged Americans, the action falls against the backdrop of the suicide of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain in the year 1994. For the friends, this is not the only world-shaking experience of those days, as they struggle on the precipice of adulthood to accept that their time as young, carefree people is soon to be over. First time experiences with sex, true identity, and accepting the passage of time are dealt with as each individual drama unfolds. The summer is coming, and the rest of the world waits with it.

I found Crazy About Kurt to be a superb snapshot of the mid nineties, and as a member of the same generation the days of mix tapes and Jurassic Park were all too familiar to me. The music of the piece brings a vibrant background to the grunge movement and its semi-rebellious teens who want to smoke and drink like adults, but don’t necessarily know what being an adult will really mean. Everything changes with time, and that’s really a central motif that author Will Link weaves superbly into this well-written episode of life. The dialogue is realistic but authentic to the parlance of nineties kids, and the work is not packed with references, but with real experiences that give you that nostalgia all the way through. As such, this is a highly relatable read for older teens and adults harking back to a formative time in their lives.