I’m a certified Daniel Pinkwater fanatic. And when I started Bushman Lives I was thinking that I’ve read this same Pinkwater book a half—dozen times before–young misfit travels through underground Chicago in the 50s or 60s and meets a bunch of weirdos—but that that was OK. I think I could read that same book another half-dozen times, Pinkwater does it so well. But at the end, I was vaguely unsatisfied. This feels to me more like the sketch of a start of a Pinkwater book. There are still plenty of sections that have that great Pinkwater magic, but I’m not sure the book holds up overall and I definitely wouldn’t hand it to someone as their first Pinkwater read.

FuzzyCo grade: B+