It is this simple contradiction that makes Meno’s portrait of adolescence so convincing: He has dug up and displayed for us the secret paradox of the teenage years, the desire to belong pitted against the need for individuality-a constant clash of hate and love.” “Underneath his angst, Brian, the narrator of Hairstyles of the Damned, possesses a disarming sense of compassion which allows him to worm his way into the reader’s heart. The adults are sparingly yet poignantly drawn, especially the fathers, who slip through without saying much but make a profound impression.” Not the greeting card kind, or the Harlequin paperback version, but the type who thinks, deep down, that things matter, that art can change lives.” You won’t regret a moment of the journey.” “Sensitive, well-observed, often laugh-out-loud funny. “The most authentic young voice since J.D.

Jim DeRogatis, pop music critic, Chicago Sun-Times From the opening sentence to the very last word, Hairstyles of the Damned held me in his grip.” “Joe Meno writes with the energy, honesty, and emotional impact of the best punk rock. “Captures both the sweetness and sting of adolescence with unflinching honesty.” “Captures the loose, fun, recklessness of midwestern punk.”

“A funny, hard-rocking first-person tale of teenage angst and discovery.” His gabby, heartfelt, and utterly believable take on adolescence strikes a winning chord.” Meno ably explores Brian’s emotional uncertainty and his poignant youthful search for meaning. “Meno gives his proverbial coming-of-age tale a punk-rock edge, as seventeen-year-old Chicagoan Brian Oswald tries to land his first girlfriend. Included in MTV.com’s “These 17 Music-Themed YA Books Could Be Your Life”Ī selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program.

Hairstyles of the damned by joe meno