Teen Angst? Naaah . . . A Quasi-autobiography

by Ned Vizzini

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

305.235092

Genres

Young Adult

Nonfiction

Collection

Your library

Publication

Laurel Leaf (2002), Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages

Description

A collection of essays written by the author from age fifteen to seventeen in which he shares impressions of school, sports, cool people, boring people, friends, family, money, music, and obsessions.

User reviews

LibraryThing member the_airtwit

After I read the 444 pages of It’s Kind of a Funny Story (which I feel obliged to defend, because the movie is nothing more than a snooze-fest), I made it a point to read more by Vizzini. I tried Be More Chill last spring. Needless to say, it didn’t work out — perhaps I will allow a second

chance some other time. Instead, I took this as an opportunity to explore the pages of Teen Angst. I had no expectations for it to yank a riot of laughter from my lungs, but I hoped it could produce moderate ha-haing.

This book is for anybody who relates to the woes and mortification one can only endure by living through a misery called high school. I suspect, however, that Teen Angst more closely resonates among “nerds” — kids who sacrifice a night of sleep for a Magic card game, for example. In other words: this book is anyone who knows the awkward horrors that accompany puberty. This includes pre-teens, teens, and adults. All that you require is a sense of humor.

I can’t say I have had an addiction to Magic: The Gathering, but I think many of us can present a portion of ourselves that own a nerd-like label. Labels are for soup cans, Raya! OH, shut up. Labels are so integrated into our schools that I say labels are practically fused into the infrastructure. Which label you were or are coined in high school is beside the point, because I have no doubts we share qualities that dip into several: jock, loner, or stoner — it doesn’t matter. We all have some geekdom in us; albeit, some more than others (and some prouder to show it).

Starting with the year before Vizzini’s entrance into Stuyvesant, Teen Angst? Naaah… chronicles his high school years. From failed encounters with the opposite sex, a trip to The View, rock bands, Magic cards, Ninetendo, beer, to playing Jesus, Vizzini documents it all. (That is not the entire list, of course, but it has to end somewhere.) The illustrations that join the text are too dull for my taste, resembling simplistic computer graphics. Frankly, I could do without them, as the images don’t add to the humor. They don’t necessarily take away from the humor, either, but I’d prefer an all-text copy. The humor, while not exactly my taste, is “clean,” self-deprecating, and relatable. If this book can’t stir some memories of your own funny moments, you’re a nut!

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LibraryThing member fearless2012

It's usually decent, but it's not the equal of the more famous work (It's Kind of a Funny Story)....

It's divided into segments, mostly unrelated, and there are some bad segments, annoying, but if you forget about what doesn't work it passes the time at least.

..........................

There's also

a real gem on page 55 on the nook version-- "My dominant nerd brain was telling me to stay home and cram. My subordinate cool brain was causing problems."-- but this sort of thing does not happen nearly often enough to make it great, nor as often as "It's Kind of a Funny Story" would lead you to expect. It's basically like a sort of silly footnote to (or, chronologically, a rehearsal for) his most famous work, with the sentences quoted above as a sort of blurb or summary.

A usually decent little footnote/rehearsal/(or, chronologically, for the new edition) re-hash.... not more, not less.

(8/10)

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LibraryThing member edspicer

I'd recommend this to my friends for sure. This book is brutally honest about what it's like to be a teenager and how being in high school has its up-sides and down-sides as well as awkward moments. But it's really straight-forward about how life works in your teenage years and offers some great

advice. 5Q4P The cover art is awesome and I'd recommend this to high school students. I chose to read this book because another book by Ned Vizzini, "It's Kind of a Funny Story" is my favorite book and Vizzini is also my favorite author, so I was really interested in what his life was like when he was about my age. MayaG

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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

Written by a NYC teen. This book is based on journal entries the author kept while in junior high and high school. Each humorous essay focuses on some event in his young life such as preparing for the SSHAT test, his first girlfriend, and getting drunk. A good book to point up "writing what you

know." Ned is a regular kid, a nerd even, who's straight and narrow but ocassionally gets caught up in hi-jinx or stupid decisions. Booktalk: read pp 128.

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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV

Ack - should not be compared to Holden Caulfield - this is funny, and Ned is just a little awkward, he's not depressed and he hasn't lost his sister and besides which, he's just plain adorable. Not quite as adorable as my teen son, but almost.

I must say, the layout was a bit annoying at first -

there are these notes that resemble footnotes, but they're at the side, like the illustrations in the American Heritage dictionary. It didn't take too long to get the hang of reading them, though. After all, it's a quick and easy read. Too bad it's in the Bio section at the library - I don't know how many teens, esp. the 'reluctant readers' who would esp. appreciate this, browse there.

And it is a tiny bit dated, lots of stale pop culture references and no cell phones. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and will look for more by the author.

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