Question: OK, I am trying to remember a paperback I read back in the 70s. The plot was very disjointed, so maybe it was one of those books written as a spoof by multiple authors who did not communicate with each other, like **Naked Came the Stranger** or **Atlanta Nights**. All I remember is that the protagonist was just called "The Boy" and it starts out with him living in a shack which is up on stilts in a swamp or at the shore. Something happens (maybe his mentor dies?) and he has to leave, so he climbs out through the trap door in the floor and heads off to various adventures. I know this isn't much to go on, but maybe it will spark someone's memory.

My memory is that this was a relatively new book (two or three years old) when I read it around 1978. It was in English and I think published in the USA. Also, it was an adult novel, rather than young adult, but I don't think it was "adult" in the sense of being erotic.

In response to further comments, I will add that I don't think there were any supernatural / magical elements in the stories. I think it was a standard after-a-global-disaster world. War? Plague? Famine? I don't remember. I also don't remember any geographic details, but US is probably most likely. This was all 35 years ago...

Answer: 
I can recall no details of the plot - I disliked the book very much-, but some other features made me think of "[Deus Irae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Irae)".

* By two authors - Philip K Dick and Roger Zelazny
* Disjointed - according to the wikipedia article (link above) the authors worked on it sporadically and via correspondence
* post-apocalyptic - check
* relatively new in 1978 - it was published in 1976
* a negative correlation is that from the wikipedia article, it does not appear that the protagonist is called "The Boy"

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zPeiR.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zPeiR.jpg)
Was it "A boy and his dog?" I don't remember the swamp, but it had a unique writing style and came out in 1975. The characters name was "Vic" but It could have mostly been "boy."

Edit: sorry, the movie came out in 1975, I guess the book (novella) came out in 1969...