Coming of Age; Realism; Young-Adult Literature
Tales of the Madman Underground is a coming-of-age story taken to a whole new level. Sure, you have the typical element of a teenager trying to feel his way into adulthood, with some parental issues and the typical best-friend and girl troubles. He also typically has to navigate the dangerous territory of cliques, bullies, and social pressures. So, in the end, the typical coming-of-age hero ends up kind of like this guy. And, in this way, this coming-of-age novel is classic young-adult lit, too.
Tales of the Madman Underground, though, is a pretty far cry from this. Instead of the typical social drama, Karl is trying to deal with the transition to adulthood when he's kind of already been the adult in his house for four years. In addition to school, he has five jobs. His best friend is gay, and the girl he kind of likes has been mentally abused by her dad. Most of all, no adults in his life seem to take him seriously and prefer to stand on the sidelines and point fingers at his mom rather than help. His dad's dead, and at age 17, Karl is already an alcoholic.
Dang. This ain't no John Hughes movie.
That's not all, though. The book also falls into the category of the sort-of-dead 19th-century genre of realism. Basically, what happens in realism novels is you get a moment-by-moment tour through the characters' day. The characters talk their everyday talk, and it all takes place in average, middle-class neighborhoods. If this sounds like Tales of the Madman Underground, you're right. All those scenes with minute details of Karl's activities and interactions with people are realism brought back for a 21st-century audience.