Excerpt from It’s Kind of a Funny Story

I hope you had a chance to download a copy of Two Teardrops this weekend! And hopefully, you had a good Easter and didn’t fall prey to any April Fool’s Day jokes!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

My current read is It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, a young adult book about depression and managing mental illness. It has been made into a much-acclaimed movie. In spite of the subject matter, it’s a light-hearted book with plenty of humour. While the thought processes and experiences of Craig, the main character with depression are quite different than mine, Ned Vizzini wrote from his own experience and tragically succumbed to his own depression at age 32.

My family shouldn’t have to put up with me. They’re good people, solid, happy. Sometimes when I’m with them I think I’m on television.
Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That’s when things start to get crazy. At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn’t brilliant compared to the other kids; he’s just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away.

3 thoughts on “Excerpt from It’s Kind of a Funny Story”

Tell me what you think!

Scroll to Top