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WHO IS THIS IDIOT NED VIZZINI? [hear the deal from the esteemed John Strausbaugh]
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GQ (November 2002)
"TEEN BEATS"
THEY'RE INFURIATINGLY YOUNG, ANNOYINGLY SUCCESSFUL AND MOSTLY GOOD-LOOKING. HERE WE PREDICT HOW LONG BEFORE THESE THREE AUTHORS, NOW FLUSH WITH HOLLYWOOD CASH, ARE SHARING A CELL WITH ROBERY DOWNEY JR. EXCUSE US WHILE WE PLAYA-HATE
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| Son of Sports Illustrated editor Terry McDonell; family friend of Jay McInerney's and Grove Press impresario Morgan Entrekin's. Introduces stuffy Midtown publishers to out of-date hip-hop terms like shiz-nit and hiz-ouse in his roman a clef about the world of coked-up Manhattan prep-school thug wannabes. Sold the film rights to Radar Pictures and started Harvard this fall. | While at Manhattan's Stuyvesant High, chronicled high school humiliations for the free weekly New York Press. A collection of his articles, published as Teen Angst, optioned for Miramax. Chose Manhattan's Hunter College over the Ivy League to keep it real. | At 16, bad-boy German wrote memoir about chasing Frauleins and getting kicked out of four schools, not to mention being paralyzed on left side. Crazy optioned by Hollywood heavy hitters Brillstein-Grey. Currently living in Berlin, at work on second novel. | ||||||
| 2003: Kieran Culkin, passed over for the lead in Twelve, takes a swing at Nick during Vanity Fair's "Young Guns of Hollywood" cover shoot. Nick kicks Kieran in shins; claims, "McDonell is in the hiz-ouse!" | 2003: Keeping it real, snubs Elijah Wood for lead in Teen Angst, in favor of Gary from homeroom. Film bombs. | 2003: After the party of the year in a Berlin loft to celebrate Crazy film deal, dumps Winona Ryder. Quoted in Us Weekly: "That bitch really is crazy." | ||||||
| 2005: Third book, a roman a clef about thugged-out Upper East Side writers who went to Harvard, is panned by The New York Times. Quoted in the New York Post: "Fiz-uck Michiko!" | 2004: In Details interview timed for the release of College Weltschmertz, claims, "I don't even own a suit!" Receives threatening letter from Dave Eggers: "I didn't own a suit first!" | 2004: Publishes follow-up to Crazy, titled Sexy, followed soon after by Cool. Is sued by the estate of Lisa Lopez | ||||||
| 2007: Dropped by Grover, escapes to Paris to "do it Hemingway-style." Announces he's "over" America. | 2006: To keep it real, moves to Lefrak City, Queens, telling neighbors, "Just treat me like a regular guy. Post quotes a neighbor: "Who the fuck is he, anyway?" | 2005: Meets young novelist JT LeRoy during a New York Times Magainze "Teen Literati" shoot. Admits, "Now, that dude is crazy." | ||||||
| 2009: Guest-edits an issue of Nerve | 2008: Writes third book, 20-Something Self-Doubt, on White Castle napkins while homeless in the South Bronx. Rights purchased by Vincent Gallo. | 2008: After being declared the Judd Nelson of German letters, dropped by published; TV pilot, Baywatch Stuttgart, in turnaround | ||||||
| 2010: Living happily in Columbia County, New York, begins a bimonthly gardening column for House & Garden. | 2010: Moves to L.A., buys a really cute bungalo in Laurel Canyon. | 2010: Takes a post reviewing Scheisser films for Latin Inches magazine. |
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