...Do you have a particular favorite chapter or part of Teen Angst? Naaah...? (I had a guy from Canada tell me that "Let's Buy Beer" was close to his heart because beer is very important in Canada.) Please share it with me and I will put it in the reactions section.
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...People who've read Teen Angst and their reactions (mostly favorite particular parts that they filled out above):
Tabitha / Michigan / 3-11-04 / "I'd say...the part about the racing...and the running- Mmhmm...that part, 'cause it was funny. I don't know- I can't run for crap, but if I ever run in some race, for whatever reason, I'll be sure to try that nice...spitting thing on my face."
Jessie / Kentucky / 3-9-04 / "My favorite part of the book is Moxy Music, which definitely doesn't get enough love among your fans. I love it just for the first paragraph - I completely know the "nerd brain vs. cool brain" feeling. It's caused major problems for me, because my cool, irresponsible brain fights dirty."
Rocio / California / 3-3-04 / "[M]y fave, hands down, THE TEST. greastest description of what serious students go through to pass tests EVER! period. i went through HELL studying for the chente(my word for the catholic high school entrance exams. don't ask). i bought one of those study guide thingamabobbers and wasted a WHOLE SUMMER FILLING IT UP AND I STILL BARELY MADE IT!!!! the stomache cramps, the daily headaches, the loss of nearly all my friends because i kept snapping and refused to use the phone, all wasted. okay, i know it sounds like i'm using this space to b**ch and moan but your book helped me through it all. i read your book in between studying and apologizing and i survived."
Diana / New York / 2-28-04 / "My favorite part was The Test because I took it in November and it sucked because I didn't know about it until a week before..."
Katinkah / Canada / 2-28-04 / "The Wormwhole chapter made me laugh for half-an-hour. Everytime I hear the word 'alternative', I now chortle. And the beer part very amusing as well. I laughed for ages. Beer IS important in Canada. As is hockey." / http://www.livejournal.com/users/detheden/
Tomi / The Philippines / 2-19-04 / "The whole book is the best ever, but if you put a gun in my head and ask my most favorite part I would say Fun in the Sun. Probably beacuse you passed up Cancun for Judith, and well yeah to play Jesus. Thats heroic in my book."
Sara / Wisconsin / 2-16-04 / "'Highway to Hell' Demo Derbys...they're the highlight of this little redneck town I live in. It's quite amusing to watch people in the stands during them."
Emily / Pennsylvania / 2-14-04 / " Ned, man, I LOVED your book!!! It was... more the words can express!! I'd have to say though, the coolest part was when you went to the demolition derby in Allentown, PA. I live there, I've been to that fair (they call it 'The Great Allentown Fair' these days... how original), and I've been to that derby many times!! Though now, they use some kind of car-munching machine for a intermission kind of act instead of clowns.."
Connor / Canada / 2-11-04 / "Parental Approval. Dude there was moshing there? That sad. A disgrace but the book is my absolute favorite I like you're writing style."
Josh / New York / "'Teen Angst! NAAH!' is yet another reason our literacy rate is on the decline. As I read it, I could literally feel the inherent filth seeping into my very body and desecrating my soul like some sort of relentless, burrowing bug with 3-inch long poison mandibles."
...And the professionals:
"[O]ne of the few truly genuinely funny and unpretentious
books I have read in many years." -- Esme Raji Codell, author
of Educating Esme and Sahara Special
"The chapter on taking your girlfriend to prom is
effin' GREAT. Worth the price of the book alone." -- Marty Beckerman,
author of Death to All Cheerleaders and Generation SLUT (2004)
"Ned Vizzini is a young genius! And if he was old, he would be an old genius. Teen Angst? Naaah... is zany, tender, and hysterically funny." -- Jonathan Ames,
author of I Pass Like Night, The Extra Man, What's Not to Love, My Not-So Secret Life, and Wake Up, Sir! (2004)
"People like you are the reason why people like
me bother sitting down and writing. I bet you're wondering if I bought
your book yet, and the answer is a regretful 'No, I suck.'" --
Henry, webmaster of MindlessNothing.com
...NedVizzini.com has been doing polls for a while. They often factor into important decisions in my life or writing:
New Blog Format Results
My website has a new blog format (click "blog" on the left menu). Do you like it?
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81%
Yes
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19%
No
Total Votes: 32
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...We do contests occasionally when questions need to be answered and there are things to be given away:
The "Send in a picture of yourself and get a signed, advance Be More Chill!"
contest
I've decided that the fan pictures in the pictures section of this website are sorely lacking. There just aren't enough of them! I accidentally deleted a whole folder of photos a few months ago and I want to make up for it, because the selection of faces was amazing and cool--eventually I'm going to make a morphing video of you guys a la "Black Or White" (who did that song again?). So here's how this one works:
You sign up below and attach a picture.
I randomly pick someone (or maybe two people) who get free, signed, advance copies of my new book Be More Chill. These copies are softcover (the actual book will be hardcover) and they have some typos, but they are available in the present time, unlike the actual book, which won't be out until 06/01/04.
The picture you send me will be put up on the website in the "pictures -> fans" section, like THIS. A'ight?
The "Join the Be More Chill Street Team / and get a free signed Be More Chill in May"
contest
This might throw everyone for a loop. First of all, I'm actually going to have a street team; you have to get your head around that. Then, it's more of an initiative than an actual contest, because everybody who participates wins. Here's how "Join the Be More Chill Street Team / and get a free signed Be More Chill in May" works:
You sign up below.
In the next few months, You get 500 flyers for my next book, Be More Chill, shipped to your address .
Along with these flyers, you get the date, time and location of a concert in your area.
You go to this concert (you don't actually have to go, just to get there and stand outside before the concert ends).
As people are leaving, you give out ALL the flyers while saying this phrase: "Buy this book... it's like the <> of books."
(optional) You take a photo of yourself so you can be honored on this website. This may require friends--bring them!!
In return for your valiant efforts, you get a free SIGNED copy of Be More Chill a month before anyone else, in May of 2004.
Join the Be More Chill Street Team! The only street team dumb enough to be promoting a book!
[limit 25 heads in this contest -- only 0 slots left!]
Sorry! We already have enough people for the contest! The response has been really great. Check back soon, we might be opening it up to more heads! THANK YOU!
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...Where are they now? (from Teen Angst):
Phew. I have not talked to Judith in 1527 days.
Dad still works at his job (with Mom 24/7), but does not come home as late as he used to. This is nice to see. He is a big fan of the Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm--he's like HBO's wet dream. He plants trees on Saturdays, but other than that likes pretty much everything that he used to like: video games, driving and sarcasm.
Mom is very active in her local church and is doing her
best to ensure that I never leave her area code. She is mad enough that I
am not in her zip code.
My brother escaped death on Sept. 11th and is now in a college in a Southern state where all the girls are hotter than anything he (and certainly I) have ever seen before.
My sister is a smart cookie with decent taste in music, enrolled in HS in Brooklyn and doing just fine. She is a very talented web designer of her own.
Owen (Russian friend) went to college,
got in trouble with the FBI for hacking, managed to destroy the evidence
(a hard drive) before they could catch him, escaped to Florida where he
lived in a house full of Brazilian models and filmed them for an adult website. (Safe to click. And worth clicking.)
Last seen in New York drinking coffee.
Poppy (dominoes player) is gone. No one will talk about him in the old neighborhood.
James (shy friend) went to college, worked in liquor store, built various things in his house. Now he is a professional woodworker with a cool girl in my neighborhood.
Ike (Mayan friend, from Wormwhole) went to college, lived
in various apartments. He got a job in construction too, which is perfect for his amazing strength. Last seen packing backpack to travel to Las Vegas for New Year's 2002.
Carlo (overbearing paint employer) not
seen. Perhaps he's out of business!
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81%
Yes
