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Best Book Publishers UK | Austin Macauley Publishers

By: Ryan Rex

American Dysfunction

Pages: 270 Ratings: 4.5
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Alex Walker just wants to find peace. Growing up in a dysfunctional blue-collar family, he learns to navigate life, carrying heavy emotional baggage from years of abuse and neglect.


Trouble follows Alex through the hills of suburban Philadelphia to a rural trade school, where he travels down a dark path.


While on probation, Alex joins a ragtag 90s cover band which teaches him that life doesn’t have to be so dramatic.

Ryan Rex grew up somewhere between Gen-X and the Millennials. He’s part of a group known as the Latch-key Kids. This term was created during the years of 1975 to 1985, when, for the first time in American history both parents had to work, leaving no one home to watch over the children. This was before childcare was the norm and the Latch-key Kids had to fend for themselves. Most of the time it didn’t turn out so well. Ryan is a survivor of that era.
Customer Reviews
4.5
2 reviews
2 reviews
  • Kevin McBride

    A deep dive into the blue-collar world and dysfunctional families. This should be studied closely by universities. Highly recommended.

  • Chris Alex Powell

    America Dysfunction: The Ballad of Alex Walker by Ryan Rex is a book about family, adolescent living, love, and the consequences of decisions. Alex Walker comes from a wrecked family, which contributed to the impaired childhood he had and also the struggle of acceptance he faced as an adult. His ordinary life takes an unexpected turn when he engages in a fight with Richard Zilla over his girl, Gina. This led to his arrest and bail by his divorced parents. Bailing him provides an opportunity for his mother to meet her third husband, the father of Richard Zilla. However, his brother, Joseph, gets involved in a fatal accident while conducting their father’s business because their father was away bailing Alex out. His band, Polyester Anarchy, comes to perform at Joseph’s fundraiser, and this event brings his mother and her new family, whose visit spells doom for Alex’s family. Richard and his father promise to deal with the Walker family and will not let anything prevent them from carrying out their threats. There are a few positive aspects of the book. First, Ryan Rex’s writing style is unique. The author used present tenses, which made it possible for readers to live in the here and now of the story. Second, the use of rap and old-school songs by the author in his characters is intriguing and shows how much the author must have enjoyed rap with his late brother, whom he dedicates the book to. Third, if there is any lesson that the book teaches, then it should be in Chapter 26, where the author, through Alex Walker, teaches that the differences that exist among people mean little and should not be a reason to dislike them. There are some negative aspects of the book. The preliminary pages of the book are not properly arranged. The preliminary pages do not contain the dedication section before the cover page, as was done in this book. Again, there is no table of contents in the book. high level of professionalism employed in editing the book. I will be rating the book 4 out of 5 stars. however, this book's positives outweighed the negatives. I will be recommending this book to teenagers above the age of 18 who had a wrecked childhood. The reason for this age restriction is because of the high sexual content in the book. Lovers of thrillers would enjoy this book.

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