It is Sachar's second book (Sideways Stories from Wayside School was his first, in 1978).

[2] The book's title is a reference to the song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan, which begins with the line "Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine."

[5] Reviewers consider the book "full of sly humor",[6] and "another corker"[7] It is also described as "a preadolescent way to show contempt for adults' exploitation.

"[8] A film named Johnny's in the Basement was planned, but it was canceled on May 2, 2003.

Johnny sells his bottle cap collection, and he and Valerie spend the $86.33 they receive for it on miscellaneous impractical items.