Can you look at this rash for me?

Bo is a very unlikable character. And Rash is a fairly unlikable book. It is clear that Hautman wants to express his political and philosophical beliefs in this book, but there is not a lot of subtlety to it. At one point in the book Bo's Grandpa goes on a big rant that might as well be an op-ed piece in a newspaper written by Hautman. It is just too in your face. At first I really hated this book. I thought that it was way too over the top and I still think it is over the top, but then I started to look at it a different way. Maybe it isn't a thinking book. Maybe I thought about it too much! Maybe it is just a funny book. Because it is funny!
The USA is now the USSA, the extra S stands for Safety, I think. Or maybe just Safe.
Bo can't seem to keep control of his temper. His father and brother have the same trouble. In the USSA that is an even bigger problem than it was in the USA. So many things are illegal and result in a sentence at one of the labor camps. In the USSA, "regular" folks don't work, the prisoners do it all. Bo ends up getting sent to one of these camps. He gets out with the help of one of his school projects gone rogue. He's still angry. He's still not very likable. It's just weird.
Not a great book, not a good book. I need to read Godless though, because everyone tells me it is great. And I did really like How to Steal a Car. It was just...not good.