It's Kind of a Funny Story Paperback – Bargain Price, May 1, 2007

Ned Vizzini was an author from Brooklyn, NY. Unfortunately, he is no longer living. In December of 2013, Ned committed suicide at his home in New York City. Suffering from depression for many years took a toll on him and he proceeded to take his own life eventually. His fight with depression as a young adult inspired a book that captured five days he spent in a psychiatric hospital in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The book “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” (2006) follows a young teenage boy who struggles with depression as well and chronicles the days he spends in a psychiatric hospital, also in Brooklyn, after contemplating taking his own life.New York Magazine says, “It’s terrific: funny, incisive, disarming.”People Magazine says, “The wise, witty narrator and sensitive handling of a hot topic should win over older tees- and their parents.”Craig is a typical teen boy who is struggling to find the balance between his friends, his schoolwork and doing what his parents want him to do. He finds that his new school is becoming much harder than he expected and begins to spiral out of control in a way normal teens might. He becomes depressed and overwhelmed. He seeks professional help only to find that his medication is not doing the trick. One night contemplates taking his own life only to be talked out of it by someone on the suicide hotline, the number for which he finds in one of his mother’s self help books. From this point on, the book documents the time Craig spends in the psychiatric hospital trying to recover from his episode and get back to normal life. He also makes some new and interesting friends along the way.Ned does an amazing job of making Craig a very dynamic character. This may be attributed to the fact that he experienced the events himself and puts his own personality into the character. Craig could easily be someone we all went to high school with. For a while he suffers in silence and eventually breaks, as some people do at that point. While making Craig relatable to every stressed out teen, Vizzini makes the story funny. That may be the sole reason this book is so enjoyable; he takes a serious and often scary situation and turns it into something we can all laugh about. Even Craig laughs along with us at some points. An example of this is from page 4 and 5 from his book:“Craig? You want?” It’s passed to me, wrapped up in a concise delivery system, but I pass it on. I’m doing an experiment with my brain. I’m seeing if maybe pot is the problem; maybe that’s what has come in and robbed me. I do this every so often, for a few weeks, and then I smoke a lot of pot, just to test if maybe the lack of it is what has robbed me. “You all right, man?” This should be my name. I could be like a superhero: You All Right Man.On it’s face, this book would seem to be strictly a humorous novel about an awful situation. Ned Vizzini talks about depression and suicide in a way that makes it seem less, well, depressing. Hidden in the book are very thought provoking passages as well which make the reader think a little more deeply about the overall message he is trying to convey. He ultimately serves to shed some light on the severity of depressive thoughts and how nothing should be treated as a mistake. If someone is suffering, listen to them. It could mean life or death at some point. He highlights one of Craig’s “bad” periods on page 117:“Then I’d get bad. Usually it happened after a chill session at Aarons house, one of those glorious times when we got high and watched a really bad movie, something with Will Smith where we could point out all the product placements and plot holes. I’d wake up one the couch in Aaron’s living room (I would sleep there while he slept with Nia in the back) and I’d want to die. I’d feel wasted and burnt, having wasted my time and my body and my energy and my words and my soul.”Vizzini has written a few other books, Teen Angst? Naaah…(2000), Be More Chill (2004), The Other Normals (2012) and House of Secrets (2013). Unfortunately, the sequel to House of Secrets, House of Secrets: Battle of the Beasts was never completed due to his untimely death. These may very well be worth checking out if It’s Kind of a Funny Story was enjoyable or seemed interesting to you.

I read this book in ninth grade for a school project. I love the storyline and would highly recommend.

If you’re looking for an insightful, objective review of this book I would encourage you to look elsewhere. I can’t review this book like a normal one because it’s too personal. But let’s rewind a bit.Here are the basics: Craig is depressed. He’s a hardworking high school student in New York who has increasing trouble coping with daily life. He’s surrounded by friends who are focused on getting high and hooking up and finds himself increasingly marginalized by his internal struggles. This culminates in a suicidal crisis which lands him in a psychiatric hospital for five days. Over the course of his stay, he makes connections with his fellow patients and learns to accept his situation while moving ahead toward a meaningful life.The story is pretty straightforward and the writing is casual yet sensitive. Vizzini writes in the voice of his 15 year old protagonist, though this can be a bit inconsistent at times. Occasionally, aspects of the story seem a bit idealized and simplified. Additionally, the conclusion is rapid and feels tentative as we don’t learn anything of life after the hospital for Craig. This could feel a bit irresponsible or unrealistic as it’s very rare for any sort of mental illness to be corrected and sorted out fully over the course of one week. Depression typically doesn’t work like that.Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredibly meaningful and helpful to me. Like Ned Vizzini and his fictional Craig, I too have had a short stay in a psychiatric hospital. It happened out of the blue. A manic episode with a sprinkling of psychosis (in my right mind I generally don’t think I can communicate telepathically with people--or dogs). After ranting and raving for hours, my parents finally took me to the hospital where I proceeded to shout about how out of control I was and how I might hurt myself if I didn’t get help immediately. I was sedated and transferred to a psychiatric facility. I am so grateful for the support of my family and the genuine, expert care I received. This was another aspect of the book that felt a little unrealistic. Craig received a few individual counseling sessions and one group arts and crafts class. In my experience there were near constant, varied groups and repeated meetings with mental health professionals. Surely care varies from facility to facility. This book highlighted the relationships Craig formed with the other patients--some of them extremely ill-advised. While this has emotional appeal, it may not be the best message for those suffering with serious mental illness. Many people who are unwell enough to end up in a psychiatric hospital can’t quite pull themselves up by the bootstraps like Craig does.It has been a few months since I was released back into the wild. I’m better medicated now. Better therapized. Stable. But I’m still processing my experience. It’s pretty disorienting to go from normal life to institutionalization. It’s more disorienting to go back to “normal” life with a lot of uncertainty and questions and fears. I’ve had tons of ongoing support but processing the trauma is an ongoing experience and can be quite isolating. This book helped in its own way and paved the way for extremely helpful conversations with family, friends, and mental health professionals. At the end of the day, I feel this book has a net positive effect in the movement to destigmatize mental illness. I’d encourage anyone who might be suffering to learn from Craigs example. He struggled alone for a long time seeking help from medication and therapy while not allowing his family and friends to know about the true depths of his internal struggles. The message of the book, while perhaps over-simplified, is clear. There is power in vulnerability and redemption in honesty. It’s so difficult to reach out when in the throes of depression, anxiety, or other mental illness, but it’s so important. Help is available and support can truly help even if life feels hopeless.B+