That's it. No churlish screeds. No waxing preposterous. No techno-sadistic fluff. Sheffield will not be some old broken-down huckster on Politically Incorrect, pissed off at the world because his predictions didn't come through. Putting Up Roots is heavy-duty G.I. Joe story, coming right at ya, characters rising to the occasion in a great adventurous coming-of-age story (what would make Faulkner weep).

Wow. If you think for a minute that I'm full of it, just try to think of the number of books that just give you a great story and great characters, that doesn't fall into the following extremes:

ineluctable modality of suckness (read The Portrait of a Lady)

incredible body-and-boobs count (read anything with Mack Bolan on the cover)

There aren't that many, right?

Sheffield not only writes good characters, he writes good adolescent characters -- people who are in the middle of a vast, terrifying, pimply transition, one that they are going to try to live through. I admire this talent in Sheffield, because I remember more the teenage years of pain and degradation (the music, the clothes, the 'tude of the early 80's) than I do the banal wasteland of my early twenties. And for those of you who read good books in order to learn how to write them, check out how Sheffield writes from the viewpoint of a teenager without transmitting or inserting overly adult sensibilities.

I am not worthy!

On a more serious note, I deeply appreciated the portrayal of Dawn, a severely autistic but singularly gifted character -- I grew up with a severely autistic brother, and Sheffield draws a portrait of her as only a confused, bifurcated, and loving sibling could.

Run out and get it!