I just read this book, Hairstyles of the Damned. My little sister gave it to me because she loved it and, man, it was weird. It’s about this sort of metal-head boy, a high school junior in 1990, who has a shit year and eventually sort of accidentally becomes a punk kid. What’s weird? Well my sister LOVED this book and you know, I was a junior in 1990 and all the bands and mix tapes and situations and bullshit in this book might as well be myself and everyone I knew then.
It was interesting to read. I mean the author is my age and clearly must have drawn on his won experieces to paint such a clear picture of exactly how it was then. And it didn’t make me melacholy, or miss those days or anything. I feel so incredibly removed from it now. I wonder how it was for my sister to read it, like when I read things about teenagers in the 70s or something? You can kind of connect but does it feel just like a story to her, when it feels completely real to me?
AJAX BELL 
September 13, 2006 at 7:27 am
Ms. Class-of-88 thinks she needs a copy of this….
September 13, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Ask her – I’d be curious to see what she said.
Sometimes there are books that capture pieces of ourselves so perfectly that it makes your breath catch in your throat. Sometimes it stays with you, and sometimes, a few years later, that younger self is completely unrecognizable.
September 13, 2006 at 5:32 pm
I hate that book.
Joe Meno is a hack.
I did wonder when I read it if I hated it so much because teenagers are just naturally unsympathetic and repulsive though!