In this collection of emotionally earnest and - as is only appropriate to call them - guttural short stories, Chris Benjamin explores in anthological format the deceptively simple guiding theme that this collection is named after: Boy With A Problem is about people with problems. This collection does not interest itself in demonstrating the characters finding solutions to these problems, nor does it always lend its efforts to granting the characters impetus or motivation in ways that a similar setup may have been forced to with a longer medium. Each of the twelve stories in this collection are designed to be raw slices of mind, a snowglobe of time in each viewpoint character's life, during which there is nothing to distract them from the problems that they have allowed to define them.

Benjamin's prose blurs the line between poetic observation and perceptional realism, displaying the world through his characters' eyes and experience in ways unique to them: each story can be heard in a distinctly different voice than all the others, despite sharing an author in reality. While this fanciful style of depiction may hinder a longer novel, for this short story collection format, I find it to be simply proper: the only honest way in which these characters could be allowed to speak, so as to be heard in the way that Benjamin wishes for the reader to hear them.

All told, a heady but fascinating read, one that I would recommend breaking up between several days, as Benjamin's unique way of seizing the reader's stomach in a frigid grip as his characters' souls trounce you in an acidic staring contest is, while entertaining, best taken in doses than meals. Importantly, several stories in Boy With A Problem contain sensitive and mature themes, such as sexual violence, internalized homophobia, and substance abuse, and as such is not necessarily suited to a younger audience.