A review by amoeller
Teen Angst? Naaah... by Ned Vizzini

5.0

Teen Angst? Naaah… is a necessary novel for teens, I think. It’s a collection of short stories/essays that Vizzini wrote when he was in late middle school and all through high school, detailing all those questions we may face as we mature. It discusses all the little things we may be too afraid to acknowledge on our own, in a way that makes us realize that it’s alright. All we need is a little humor to get through the rough stuff. School. Grades. Couples. Sex. Drinking. Drugs. Family. Friends. Everything. Vizzini published a book to let other teens see themselves in him, to see that they are not the only ones. It’s a reassuring piece.

Being a high school-er/teenager myself highly worried about school primarily, this was a breath of fresh air. It made me feel like I wasn’t crazy for being so worried about my grades and college and so on. I felt like this was the male version of myself. I was especially pleased in the essay where Vizzini details his experience spraining his ankle in junior year volleyball. Not because of him getting hurt, but because I had a similar experience in eighth grade basketball. Let’s just say it landed me in the nurse’s for a few hours and then going back and forth between urgent care centers and my doctor’s and an orthopedics’ office. I wound up wearing a boot for several months afterward. I felt like I wasn’t the only dumbass to injure him- or herself in gym class.

These essays having been written by the teenaged Vizzini adds a brutal honesty to the real world. Yeah, shit happens, but we live on, maybe hating a certain thing/person for a while afterwards. But that is life, for ya. It just makes it all feel more real. Like…this is how many teenagers see life. They are overcome with anxiety and deal with problems and all this other stuff. He makes people see the truth in a lighthearted manner that makes the learning experience all the better.

At the end, Vizzini writes:

…Some of my friends questioned the ending. “It just…ends,” they told me. I responded,
"It’s life! Life doesn’t have tidy endings….”

This is where something really just dawned on me. The problems we face, eventually do go away. They might end with a neat little bow, or they might end in havoc and a couple more problems. But they end. Life isn’t very consistent on things and how perfectly they are, but things do give way at one point or another. That concluded statement nailed the coffin shut for me, and gave me a new light on things. I am grateful for this quasi autobiography. It’s helped me realize an abundance of things about myself and others. I do not know how I would have gone forward without reading this. This is a needed book for many people. We all have problems, and I think Vizzini was trying to help us realize that it’s okay to have problems when he agreed to publish his essays. So, all you teens out there, pick up this book, and embrace your differences and your setbacks. We’re all unique beings with different standpoints on everything, but that’s what makes us human. Let these words save you, as they have saved me.

Let this novel’s tidy ending get you ready for all the untidy ones you are going to have.

Thanks for acting like you’re paying attention.

All quotes pulled from the novel, and included bonus content.

Carpe diem.

R.I.P. Ned Vizzini. Let your words forever be cherished.