Hairstyles for the Damned

I just read this amazing book called Hairstyles for the Damned by Joe Meno. If you haven't read this book, I suggest you find a copy somewhere and read it.

It's basically just shit that happens. Shit that happens to this kid Brian Oswald who feels that he doesn't fit in. Just a normal, horny teenage boy who doesn't believe that he's cool enough or tough enough or whatever.

It's different, I'll tell you that. No plot, no happy ending, no nothing. Just shit that happens and some revelations that happen along the way. Just restlessness and shit.

I don't know why the book is so good. As a character, Brian Oswald isn't good. He doesn't get the girl he really wants and he can't keep the ones he can get. On the verge of failing school. Doesn't stand up for himself. Lying often about what he's done and what goes on in his life. Most of the time he's just trying to get laid and find something to do.

It's fascinating how well I connect with him. I mean, I'm not a punk-ass shoplifter who pretends to get run over by soccer moms in the mall parking lot so he can scam them for cash. Pfft, we're lucky if I even get out of the house a see mall parking lots and soccer moms. But, even though he starts out as this kind of math club nerd and end up as a jouvenile delinquent, inside he's very much the same boy who has no idea what's going on or why people behave the way they do. He still fears having to be responsible for himself and what he'll do and of the excessive hatred that he finds in everyone. He still just wants some place to fit in.

It's pretty fucked up, I'll give you that. But... I don't know. I guess we're all the same.