When I Was a Loser: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School

by John McNally

Book Overview

For Anyone Who's Ever Been a Teenager

Who's teenage years weren't terrible? Remember the scary older kids? The sadistic gym teacher? The smelly kid who sat next to you in science class? Your first fumbling kiss? That time you threw up in the cafeteria? Your first attempt at putting on a condom? The period that arrived unexpectedly? That awful fight with your parents? The first time you got drunk? That note you wrote that you...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416532447
• ISBN13: 9781416532446
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

See. Something may come of all that bad hair, those stupid kisses

John McNally's only guideline when he asked twenty-five contemporary writers to submit essays for this book was to write a personal essay about being a loser in high school. What he received from these writers was a selection of essays that range from sweet and heartbreaking to hilarious. It should not surprise you to learn that there are stories in this collection about proms, first kisses, bad hair, stupid crushes, and dozens of other reasons for you to celebrate that you survived high school. In the essay, "White Anklets and Blue Anything," Elizabeth Crane writes about her experience at Barbizon's School of Modeling (BSM). "I had my reasons for wanting to go," Crane writes. "...one being that I perceived myself to be quite beautiful in spite of the fact that this was recognized by exactly no one else at the time besides my mom. I genuinely believed that the boys at our school were just idiots not to see it. Photographic evidence in the way of my 2 x 3 feet graduation photo from BSM, dressed in a printed polyester leisure suit, handmade by my grandmother to my specifications, proves I may have been the idiot." If you've read McNally's America's Report Card or The Book of Ralph, you will recognize the touch of his humor and heart in many of these essays.

Get in touch with your inner loser!

This is a wonderful collection of stories about the angst of our high school days, when each of us secretly believed that everyone else had mastered the art of being cool, but we alone failed to fit in. All the stories are terrific, but I especially enjoyed John McNally's funny and sensitive "Hair Today..." and Quinn Dalton's haunting "Do Not Wear Green on Wednesdays". I had not previously read anything by many of the authors whose work appears in this volume, so it will serve as a roadmap in discovering the rest of their work. No matter what memories you carry of your teen years, you will find something in this book you can relate to, and enjoy.