Youth in Revolt is a story of a teenage boy who goes to the most extreme measures to be with the girl he loves. Nick Twisp starts off as a 14-year old boy with an unsympathetic mother, a non-caring father, and his mother's boyfriend who is as dumb as they come. He hates everything about life, well his life at least. He even complains how his last name "which [he loathes] is Twisp" and how "even John Wayne on a horse would look effeminate pronouncing that name" (1). He reluctantly goes with his mother and her boyfriend to Clear Lake for a small vacation. Instead of a nice hotel, they stay in a dirty old trailer. It is here where Nick meets Sheeni, who turns out to be the one person who might like him back out of anyone.
However, when they both go back home, Nick formulates plans to get close to her again. These plans end up in him committing false suicide, arson, possible forgery, and hilarious situations that only lead him further into hardships. As the story progresses, the reader finds that young Nick Twisp is more influenced by his arrogance then anything and for some reason decides to make matters worse instead of solving them.
These matters include taking on the identity of two fake people and constantly trying to find ways to fix situations by creating others. Throughout the story, his dad, his mom, his love (Sheeni), his best friend (Lefty), and the people he meets end up getting mixed up in these crazy incidents.
His story is told in a similar way as Catcher in the Rye as both characters have pessimistic views on the world. Still, Nick Twisp provides a much more hilarious and common character than Holden Caufield . Although Nick gets into outrageously impossible situations, he acts more like a human being than Holden does. While Holden moped around and argued with everyone, Nick would simply find a way to embarrass himself.
C.D.Payne decided to create a story about a character and a plot so funny that it makes you wonder how you could have thought other books were even close to funny. The hilarious jokes and dangerous ideas that flood young Nick's mind give you an insight into a funny, yet crazy teenager.
The book is great for almost any reader. Those who like stories about teenage troubles would love this as would anyone who likes a good comedy. And for those who hate the world but find stuff to laugh about, this is exactly your book.
This book sounds very unique, quite unlike anything I think I've ever read before. I found it very clever how you compared the viewpoints of the main character to Holden in Catcher in the Rye because that gave me a sense of what the tone of the book is like, yet you took this comparison a step further to evidences their differences by saying how each of them would probably behave in a certain situation. Your post made this book seem to be pretty humorous, though the struggles of the main character appear to be anything but that, which I think adds a light-hearted tone to something that could have been a potentially very heavy topic. Great post, very insightful, and sounds like a very different and comical read.
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