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Exurbia starts with epigraphs from two very different California prophets: lines from a poem by Thom Gunn and Ronald Reagan's 'Morning Again in America' campaign ad. After all that showing off, the real action begins: teenage life in the LA suburbs in 1985. Rocky Horror . Mohawks. Make-up and boys for the girls. For the boys, skating and the odd bout of rebellious skinhead fascism. If it weren't for the morality tale ending, Molly McGrann's novel of sex, drugs and punk would read like a vicious, R-rated Judy Blume scouring the strip-malls to demystify the teenage psyche. As it is, Exurbia disappoints. Too staid for the counterculture it describes, under the Day-Glo style is a tried and tested tale of star-crossed lovers: Romeo and Juliet as prom king and valley girl, a kind of West Coast Story or a punk Grease .