Papa, You're Crazy, William Saroyan, Little Brown and Company, 1957, 165 pp
A man who is a writer and his son Aram, who is ten years old, hang out together at the father's beach shack. The father gives his son tips about life and about how to become a writer. This man is divorced from Aram's mother and the son, who had been living with his mother and sister, asked to go live with his father for a week.
In another of his short autobiographical novels, Saroyan charmed me, as he always does. I liked the talks they had, the foods they prepared and ate together, such as "writer's rice" made from rice mixed with whatever else is in the cupboard or refrigerator. I liked the road trip they made to San Francisco. Saroyan's succinct lessons on how to become a writer were the best parts of all.
(Papa You're Crazy is out of print. I found it at my local library. It may also be in some of the many collections of Saroyan's writings.)
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