Cut to the Twisp: The Lost Parts of Youth in Revolt and Other Stories

by C.D. Payne

Presents the nearly one hundred pages cut from the author's "Youth in Revolt," which revolves around the life of fourteen-year-old Nick Twisp, and also includes a collection of short humor pieces.

Genres: Fiction

162 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Author and showman C.D. Payne was born in Akron, Ohio in 1949 (making him a contemporary of Richard Gere and Meryl Streep). He spent his early years in West Virginia and southern Ohio, moving back to Akron while still a mere tot.

He went to public schools in Akron, and then graduated from Harvard College, where he majored in history and participated in the annual spring riot. In 1971 he moved to California. During the next 25 years, he held over 50 jobs including newspaper editor, book publisher's assistant, proofreader, trailer park handyman, and catalog writer.

Since 2004 he has been the proprietor of the Eyelusion Museum, a mobile discovery museum in a restored and polished 1964 Airstream trailer. His latest mobile sideshow is a 1950s miniature town (shown below) called Zippy Town. It can been seen at the Santa Rosa Handcar Regatta and other events.

He is married and lives in Sonoma County.

Reviews

[Alpha · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When it comes to the NIck Twisp novels by C.D. Payne, I find them to be quite a humorous read. So far, I have read the first to fourth books in series with pure satisfaction. So when reading Cut to the Twisp, I found it more to be a compliment than a stand-alone. In all respects, the novel itself needs to be included with the original for better understanding on why Payne excluded the journal entries.

I have to be honest and state I really didn't spend as much time with the neglected journal entries though I did go through quite a few of them. Some of the entries can be repetitive or filler thus why they weren't included. Nevertheless, there were some jewels that could have fit better in other parts of Nick Twisp's story, just not where it was inteded for.

The short stories is where Payne shines the most within this novel. Though the missing journal entries are entertaining, they are more so for fan service than anything else. I cannot think of a casual reader purchasing, or even borrowing this book. This is why I think the short stories were included. They showed off Payne's diversity in writing and ability to change up his writing style. This makes the short stories a worthwhile experience one after another. The only setback is the changes between stories can be very dynamic making the short stories a possible ""hard read"" for some.

In the end, I would have to give this a high score for fan appreciation and fan service but only for those two. At a high-end paperback price of almost $10, I find this novel can be below satisfaction for some. I would have sold the novel at $5 max because it is nothing on the continuation of the story. The short stories on the back - though awesome in their own right - are limited to just an average of 50 pages. Get this novel if you really like C. D. Payne's novels or have a collection. I suggest buyer's caution for everyone else."

[Jeremy Breedlove · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read Youth in Revolt twice, so I had a pretty good sense of the context without having to use it as a reference. It was interesting to see what Payne deemed unnecessary for later versions of the novel and while not essential to enjoy the books, I still thought that it added to the overall saga.

As for the short stories at the end, I thought they were hit or miss. A couple certainly stood out, however, and thought this was a good day-read.

[Brannon O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's best if you can find the Aivia version of the book to get the full story in one book, instead of flipping between the two, but if you can't, this book has all the missing passages. The cut content from Youth in Revolt should never have been cut. It is all wonderful. I want as much of Nick Twisp as I can get.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, a short addendum to Youth in Revolt, is simply all of the pieces of the book that didn't make it into the final cut. And there is a LOT of great material in there. All the entries are dated, so I recommend reading this on your second (or third, fourth, etc.) re-read of Youth in Revolt and inserting the deleted entries where they were taken out to help put everything in context. At times, the entries that were taken out were so good I remember thinking, "Why would they leave this out??" Others, of course, were not that great, but I'm a big fan of DVD deleted scenes as well so this was a lot of fun for me. A great idea for any Youth in Revolt fan.

[Jodi]

i finally got this through mel only to learn that it is not a story, but a collection of excerpts not published in the earlier books. not cool.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not necessary. Doesn't add that much to the real books. Just some outakes from Youth in Revolt, and out of context they don't all make sense.