Teen Angst? Naaah...

A quasi-autobiography by Ned Vizzini.

BRILLIANT. 

Teen Angst? Naaah... started as an article in the New York Times when Ned was just a high schooler. 

Little did he know it would soon be published as his very first book.

This collection of short stories and essays follow Ned throughout his high school years and all the awkwardness brought on by being a teen. He talks about school, drugs, video games, girls, friends, fame, and so much more. 

It starts with Junior High and continues on to Post-High School.

What really makes this book enjoyable is that Ned was a teen that was actually experiencing these things in his everyday life. Things that we've all been through. It isn't a cheesy teen book, it's a feel good book for all the kids who didn't quite fit in. For all the kids who didn't know what to do with their free time. For all the kids who just wanted to be kids.

 But what hurt the most about this was reading Ned's words about adulthood. 

He fantasizes about being ID'd for alcohol when he's 30 years old because he looks so young.

He imagines how his mother would feel when he finally gives her grandkids.

He dreams of becoming an old man and living happily ever after.

Yet, at 32 years old he committed suicide in Brooklyn. 

Brooklyn, where his entire childhood took place.

It's hard to think that he had so much potential and so much to live for when he took his own life.

That was the hardest part, knowing he wouldn't get to see all that he hoped for. 

"Every day for the rest of my life I’ll remember my wonderful friend because he jumped, but his readers — including millions of them not yet born — will remember him because he soared." 

-Marty Beckerman

Rest in Peace
Ned Vizzini
December 19, 2013

Looking for other books by Ned Vizzini?
It's Kind of a Funny Story