It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Pages: 444

Intended Audience: Mature Teens

Genre: Real Life / Mental Health

Notes for Parents: Contains mature content, some sexuality

The Back Cover

Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The author suffered depression and spent time in a psychiatric ward in his early 20s. In 2013, at the age of 32, he took his own life. The novel was made into a movie in 2010.

What’s good?

Using clever narration and insightful dialogue, the story follows Craig Gilner as he becomes overwhelmed by life’s demands. His struggles with the fear of failure lead to thoughts of suicide. After checking himself into a psychiatric ward in the hospital, Craig meets a diverse group of fellow patients who expose him to many of life’s obstacles, providing him with a unique perspective. Both engaging and disturbing, the simple plot, sterile setting, and somber premise are juxtaposed with self-deprecating humor and astute self-awareness. The characters are strong and well-drawn, the writing is formidable, and the subject is especially relevant.

Best Part: Craig’s metaphorical descriptions, especially of the little man who pulls the string in his stomach.

What isn’t good?

The story is slow, especially at the beginning, and very predictable considering the cover description tells us he will consider suicide and check himself into a hospital—which doesn’t happen until a third of the way through the story. However, once Craig is inside, the pace improves significantly. The rest of the novel follows the five days he spends inside the ward, where he adjusts to being back on the meds he had decided to stop before becoming suicidal. While the premise lacks drama, it still manages to convey the seriousness of mental illness.

Worst part: The make-out scene near the end was incredibly awkward.

Recommendation þþþþo

I think my expectations for this novel were too high. Most reviews hyped the humor, but I found it to be more ironic and disquieting than funny. However, the writing was superb – characterization, dialogue, and narration were all very strong. The reader witnessed the stigma of mental illness and the exhaustive effort it takes to live with depression and anxiety. I have to add that while the end was hope-filled, it was a difficult buy into knowing the author’s real-life ending.

Vizzini, Ned. It’s Kind of a Funny Story. New York: Hyperion, ©2006, 2015.