The Amazing and Death-Defying Diary of Eugene Dingman

'I just don't know where to begin to fix myself' - shades of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman as 15-year-old Eugene anguishes over his infatuation for Della, a fellow worker at a lakeside holiday hotel. His guru, an Indian washer-up, advises a reversal of Eugene's deep-seated tendency not to believe in himself and to be ashamed of his whole being. Then he might conquer the pain of unrequited love, love himself and fight back at his detractors, including the schizoid Bunker, Della's boyfriend. In Zindel, who isn't schizoid, especially parents? Here is the familiar bitter-sweet concoction of the bizarre, the neurotic and very humorous, comic understatement. This time the format is diary form with masses of contemporary references (fairly trans-Atlantic), but maybe the pace is a little slack in places. Fans will no doubt like it. Pigman is 21 years old this year, which just shows Zindel's staying power.