Teen Angst? Naaah . . .

by Ned Vizzini

In Teen Angst! Naaah . . . Ned Vizzini offers an authentic and raw portrayal of the crushing anxiety many teens experience, and which often is dismissed as simple ‘angst’. In this classic testament to high school, Ned invites you into his world of school, parents, cool (and almost cool), music (the good and bad), friends, fame, camp, sex (sort of), Cancún (almost), prom, beer, video games, and more.  With wit, irony, and honesty, Vizzini presents the weird, funny, and sometimes mortifying moments that made up his teen years. From the author of Broadway musical sensation Be More Chill and It's Kind of a Funny Story, this is a quasi-autobiographical examination of one high schooler’s battle with social anxiety, written when the author was just nineteen.

 “Fiercely intelligent and introspective . . . Insightful, and thoroughly charming.” —SLJ

• ISBN10: 0385739451
• ISBN13: 9780385739450
• Publish Date: 14 September 2010 (first published 1 August 2000)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780385739450

Reviews

[boghunden]

After seing the movie It's Kind of a Funny Story, I knew that I had to pick up the book. I just didn't want to do it right when the movie was fresh in my mind, so I picked up this one instead. That seems to be a mistake.

I didn't like this book. Most of all, it felt like a bunch of high school essays. Now, that's fine if you are in highschool. When he published this book, [a:Ned Vizzini|11672|Ned Vizzini|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1341737392p2/11672.jpg] wasn't in highschool anymore. There are essays about SATs, magic cards, a movie he and his friends made(I actually turned to youtube and saw the movie (The Attack of the Killer Turtle)), turning 18, prom etc. The thing is, I didn't really care.
I don't get why this was published. What exactly was the purpose? If I wanted to read random essays, I'm sure Google could help me with that.
So yeah, I found this book to be quite dull. I was hoping it'd be a very emotional read, or at least a real book, in terms of experiences etc., but I didn't feel like that was what I got.

The last essay, set after highschool, is just a acknowledgement essay, really.

This is supposed to be a quasi-biography, and well...it feels like diary entries, so I guess he kind of succeeded in that part.

Normally, I'd write about the characters as well, but I guess it doesn't really make any sense, since some of them are based upon people that Ned really knew, and then who am I to judge etc.? So yeah, not gonna do that.

I still want to pick up [b:It's Kind of a Funny Story|248704|It's Kind of a Funny Story|Ned Vizzini|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396050502s/248704.jpg|240980] though, because really, I loved the movie.