IT`S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY

Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan x2019;s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life x2014;which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job x2014;Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That x2019;s when things start to get crazy.

At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he x2019;s just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig stops eating and sleeping x2014;until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig x2019;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, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness. For a novel about depression, it x2019;s definitely a funny story.