“Aaron Sloan
Block 4
10/30/09
Book Review
The book Its Kind Of a Funny Story, written by Ned Vizzini, was amazing because it was strong in the area of content. Craig Gilner, eighth grade, smart kid, the only thing he cared about was getting into Executive Pre-professional High. He studied for over a year in order to get in. This drove Craig a little insane. All he did was walk around with flash cards during lunch, and when he got home he studied all night when he got home. The detail Ned Vizzini gives while Craig is on the road to insanity was immense. “I was laughed at while in school, and even sometimes while at home, my mom would be saying, ‘why don’t you have some fun?’. I was in a rut, until I met Aaron. I never did know his last name. That’s when the depression began. The vomiting, the suicidal thoughts, and the ‘tentacles’.” Every time Craig even threw up, he gave the texture and color of it. Even the color of the flashcards. Therefore, Ned Vizzini has written a book that has solid content.
Like the content, the style of this book was very descriptive, and full of detail. “As I lay there thinking about jumping of the velvet green, Brooklyn Bridge. It happened again, as I ran to the bathroom with the chunky yellow-green stuff started spewing out of my clenched mouth.” Velvet green bridge, chunky yellow-green stuff, and clenched mouth are all unnecessary details. His style is to put an image in your brain, no matter what, it is always the most descriptive. Truthfully, I didn’t think that there is any way he could have improved this incredibly amazing book. As I mentioned above, I was very impressed with the style of this book.
The form of the book was descriptive, and I found this affective. One main reason that this form did work was because I was constantly visualizing what was happening in my head. This really put me into what was happening, constantly waning more. Another reason that this form worked was because he kept me guessing what Craig’s big decision was going to be, “check out early”, or not. These reasons made the book work for me. It was excellent because the author kept me guessing.
As a result, I give this book a, “ten star” recommendation because the content, form, and style are a good compliment to the very interesting plot, that constantly kept me reading.
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