Mun, Nami. Miles From Nowhere. Riverhead, 2008 ISBN 978-1594488542 304 pp. $21.95

*

Melvin Burgess’ Smack (Harper, 1999) meets James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces (Anchor, 2005) in this gritty tale about a street teen. Set in 1980, 12-year-old spends six years working through addiction and other issues, meeting a cast of characters along the way. Though I cared enough about Joon to plod on, the narrative was disjointed and difficult to follow.