FICTION

INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN by Kevin Canty (Nan A. Talese, Doubleday: $21.95, 244 pp.). Synopsizing Kevin Canty’s first novel is an unrewarding task since its genius lies not in plot or even structure, but in the brilliantly rendered perspective of his teenage protagonist, Kenny. Both jaded and vulnerable, Kenny has a presence, a kind of linguistic charisma, that makes “Into the Great Wide Open” rank up there with some of the best coming-of-age novels.

Until he meets Junie Williamson, 17-year-old Kenny is sort of wandering around in his own peripheral world, trying to escape from the pain of a hopelessly fractured family life. Junie, who is no prize in the mental health department herself, is someone Kenny knows only vaguely from school, until one day he realizes, “He had mistaken her for everybody else. Suddenly she was visible.” Kenny and Junie begin apassionate, complicated relationship, which completely changes Kenny’s perspective. “The supermarket parking lots were full of cars. . . . The regular waking life of the world, Kenny thought. He felt an unexpected tenderness toward it, the massive project of love and pretending.”

Canty’s writing lives in a slippery, teenage place where intense emotions--anger, sadness, ecstasy--lie between every word. He has near-perfect pitch. “Into the Great Wide Open” is a stunning, sensual novel that brings adolescence to its highest state of grace.