It's Kind of a Funny Story

This is the best book I have probably ever read. You can really connect with it even if you're not depressed/suicidal. It really gets to you. Ned does a great job at describing emotions of the characters and all the scenarios. Whenever I feel kinda down, just pick up the book and start reading...kinda releases them in a way. I've read the entire book twice through already and I think I might go a third.. <br /> <br />Get this book!

Recipe for suicide: push yourself beyond your abilities, criticize your performance relentlessly, lust after your best friend's girlfriend, smoke pot and masturbate daily, fail to make emotional connection with others. Do this as a ritualized habit and you're two steps away from psychosomatic meltdown and doing a triple gainer off the Brooklyn Bridge. Following this precise process is what eventually places Craig Gilner at death's doorstep knocking frantically for entrance. Funny thing is, before embarking on his course of destructive habits, he was just a normal, blend into the woodwork kind of kid, a regular guy, the kind of guy you would see walking through the halls at school and notice only if he was momentarily blocking something you were trying to see, "What does that poster say behind that guy---is the anime club meeting today?" One could say in the social domain the primary impression left by his presence was a decided lack of impression. In other words he was terminally unimpressive. <br /> <br />So, how then can this be a funny kind of story when it involves the escapades of a fifteen year old boy under so much social and academic pressure he attempts suicide and checks himself into a Psychiatric Hospital? It is entirely due to the skills of Vizzini that this mélange of otherwise tragic cum melodramatic potential is rendered a soul searching, life affirming, joyous celebration as we are allowed access to an inner sanctum where only the invited may tread. One may immediately on understanding the premise of this tale jump to Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as likely parallel. The mistake with this approach is in confusing apples for oranges. While Kesey's tale is an indictment of the failures in the mental institutions of his day, a grim satire to be sure, Vizzini's foray into psychiatric institutions is teeming with fascinating and personality laden characters who in summation lend a vacation camp veneer to the proceedings within. And what can be taken away from this tale is that even in the most unexpected and unlikely of places, redemption is not only possible, but entirely achievable. <br /> <br />Douglas Coupland was dubbed the voice of his generation with his landmark socially relevant novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Perhaps Ned Vizzini will be awarded the same distinction as the voice of his generation for his contribution A Funny Kind of Story; equally socially relevant and worthy of official acknowledgement. <br />

I read this book for school and now this book is my favorite! You follow a teenager with all the pressure of growing up. From trying to make friends and be cool to the fantasies of your future. You follow Craig Gilner who lives in New York. He goes through many struggles to get into the best high school around, so he can go to an even better university. But when Craig finds out he is in, everything goes downhill. He becomes clinically depressed, he can't eat, and he can't sleep. And ends up in a mental hospital. While in there he meets a variety of people whose lives are just as bad or even worse. I recommend this book to teenagers and up because it will help teens realize they aren't alone when they are feeling down and depressed. And it will help adults understand teens and sometimes even themselves.