85a

By: Kyle Thomas Smith

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Synopsis: What do you get when you cross Holden Caulfield with Johnny Rotten? None other than Seamus O'Grady, the 15-year-old, punk-rock protagonist of 85A! It’s a subzero Chicago morning on January 23, 1989--the Monday after George H.W. Bush’s inauguration--and Seamus is at his fighting best. Braving the bitter cold at the 85A bus stop, Seamus rails against his repressive environment in anticipation of his “the-minute-I-turn-18” move to London. His escape velocity mounts against the backdrop of a Midwest metropolis as memories, fantasies, and cityscapes collide on his commute to the south-side Jesuit high school that's itching to kick him out for bad grades and excessive demerits. When Seamus shows up late to school yet again, the dean prepares his expulsion papers. Liberated by failure, Seamus makes a break for London via an Amtrak to the mean streets of Late Eighties Manhattan. 85A tracks a watershed day in the life of an adolescent antihero. Foul-mouthed with a capital F-word, Seamus embodies Johnny Rotten's anarchic image as a way of fending off the bullies at home, at school and in his whites-only neighborhood.