Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person (Central) Narrator: Bud
This is Bud's story, so he's the best one to tell it. We know that this book is in the first person because Bud says "I" a lot, and we don't get to know what anyone else is thinking or doing aside from what Bud tells us. Here's an example: "Dangee, I'd never have any kind of reputation with the band now, the only thing I could do was hang on to the napkin and try to make it so folks wouldn't notice how wet my face was" (14.97). See? So Bud tells us his own story.
If this story were told in the third person instead, we might not care as much about Bud, or understand his point of view quite as well. By reading Bud's story in the first person narrative voice, we're able to understand what he is thinking and why he does things, even when these things are confusing, like when Bud tries to drive away from Lefty Lewis in Lefty's own car. We trust Bud because get to know him so well as he tells us about his life in his own words.