Rating: 
Summary: Like Tom Clancy
Review: The writing style is clunky, the characterization and plotting are minimal, and the hero is largely a receptacle for sweeping pronouncements (here proto-left wing instead of proto-conservative). It's an unchallenging book to read, especially if you are in lockstep with the narrator's views on life.
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Summary: Am I alone here?
Review: This was easily one of the worst WRITTEN books I've ever read. Many of the analogies ('like a skull covered in sour cream' [p.135] --what?) were so horrible I had to put down the book to laugh. The namedropping of favorite bands got a little old after a very short while, and the characters seemed to come from one of three schools: evil men who just 'don't get it' and want to attack the protagonist, stupid, slutty women, or fellow hardcore friends. Each character seems to speak like the same person, from one of those three schools. Many times the author would start down a seemingly important subplot, only to abandon it without warning. Let's not even start on the cliches...how many people were described as: 'I never saw [him/her] again...years later I heard they [overdosed/were killed in a car accident/developed elephantitis of the ...]'?!? I don't think anyone proofread the book; the author often uses 'allude' instead of 'elude', 'lie' instead of 'lay', etc. Still, there was something that made me finish reading the damn thing. It wasn't terrible, but don't go out of your way to find it.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully Written Punk Story
Review: This is the memoir of a young man from Kansas who becomes a singer in a punk band. The author delves far beneath the shallow surface of hair and clothes, and presents a portrait of a guy searching for his place in the world. He learns a lot of lessons along the way, and his readers are the better for it. Salad Days is honest, poignant, romantic, and a fast read. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: simply amazing, no other way to describe it
Review: id like to make it known that ive never been too much into reading. im also a 14 year old just getting involved in the punk community. this book meant more to me than any lesson or lecture ive ever taken in. i cannot begin to explain the feeling i got when i read the closing pages of this book. theres no way i could possibly look at any situation and its outcome the same way after reading this work of art. at first, just the references to my favorite punk bands were getting me into the book, but then i began to learn the lessons of life potrayed. i now have a much better understanding of what i want to be, and what my goals are. i seriously beleive that the 5 days i took to read this book will influence my life as much as almost any other experience. well i guess ill remember this in 20 years and see if im right. dont sell yourself short, buy the book and really take it in.
Rating:
Summary: I actually got in trouble for reading this
Review: The author of this book doesn't know me, but I worked at the company that printed his book for him. At one point I was assigned to look over his book for possible printing errors that had occured, and instead of looking it over (a task that should have taken 20-30 minutes, I got so immersed, I couldn't put it down. So, my apologies to the author, if the printing of his book was delayed by a day, but I couldn't help myself. Eventually I did have to put it down and pass it along, but hopefully this review will make up for any hard feelings... It's a great book, and I want to recommend to everyone. I'm from Nebraska, and know nothing about Punk, nor did I previously have an interest in it. But this book is so well written, that the story carries itself... you don't need to like punk to appreciate the story. I look forward to ordering Rash and reading it (I quit the company before it was printed... he probably got that one back ahead of schedule). =) Best of luck in future endeavors, sir. I love your work.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Awesome
Review: Wow, what can I say. I loved this book. I'm too young to have experienced it, but I'm very into the whole "punk scene" and this gave me the perfect feeling of what it was like at its roots. This will definetly be a book I read more than once. There so much to get out of it. It was so powerful. Simply awesome.
Rating:
Summary: Good reminiscing, bad book
Review: In the autobio-novel Salad Days, Charles Romalotti (a pen name) recounts his time growing up as a punk in rural Kansas during the late 80's. It begins with his traumatic high school days, continuing with a coming-of-age-while-on-tour theme in the latter half, all set in the backdrop of the fledgling hardcore scene. A lot of years, energy, and passion went into this book, but unfortunately, the book itself is a hard lesson in poor writing. Overly long descriptions and clichés galore, Charles Romalotti has a metaphor for everything, like a punk version of an unrestrained 40's pulp novel. (It's a 100-page story stretched into 300.) That's not so bad in itself, but the mechanics are clunky. The book is written in first person, but the descriptions have a third person perspective, making the intelligent reader wonder how the main character could be privy to some of the information. The dialogue is the same way; the characters seem to have the insight only made possible by the hindsight and wishful thinking of the author. The main character Frank doesn't seem real, but more of an idealized, perfect straightedge intellectual pacifist punk, unshaken in his beliefs and self-confidence, and always with the snappy, clichéd comebacks that no one ever actually says. For instance: "Why are you straightedge?" "Because I can be." Another problem is that, at times, Salad Days seems more like a collection of personal recounts and amusing memories, that are more there for the author's catharsis or reflection than to move the story along. This, along with the extremely long descriptions, really hurts the flow of the book. Another annoyance are the tons of punk references and in-jokes. Unnecessary statements like "The Descendents gave it their ALL" and "The Offspring? Never heard of them" pepper the narrative every chance it gets. It might give some punks a chuckle, but it's eye-rolling in its excessiveness. Salad Days is interesting in that it offers the perspective of a young Kansas punk and his participation in the younger hardcore scene. Unfortunately, the perspective tends to come out of the hindsight of the 30-something author instead of from the teenage characters.
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Summary: The Greatest Book Ever
Review: I never was big into reading intill I saw this book when i was at the Warped Tour. I decided to buy it, i wasn't dissapointed. This is the best book i ever read. Great great great details. It is the best book ever written, if your into punk, this is a must have.
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Summary: this book was great!!!!!
Review: the book salad days is by far the best book i have ever read. Charles Romalotti writes in a way that make me feel as if i were experencing every detail in the book, as i were there. this is a great book and i would reccomend it to any body looking for a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing read
Review: If you love punk rock both of Romalotti's books Salad Days and Rash are amazing stories.I couldn't put them down i read them both in 3 days.If you still down for say 5 minutes to read 20 pages you'll get so absorbed in the stories you'll realise it's 3am and you just read 123 pages.I would definetly recomend these titles
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