Oh, come on, people! I hear McDonell got this published because his parents are wealthy & in the publishing industry in NY. Nevertheless, could you have written something like this when you were 17? Hm? Could you write something this good now? I'm sure I couldn't. So yeah, I liked it! I hated the end. Other than that, good job. The book reminds me of impressionist painting - though I wouldn't elevate it to that level of artistry. But the speed at which it's presented, the sketched-in details about New York City, the quality of "light" (or darkness) you can almost see & feel, & the almost one-dimensional or cartoonish depiction of characters made me think of an impressionist painting, or maybe a poem more than a novel. White Mike the sober drug dealer is the only character who stands out a little bit more, & I think he is a memorable character, though maybe not an entirely believable one - but it proves that this novel succeeds on some level. You'll remember it even if you don't like it. I thought the blankness of the character development was actually somewhat deliberate on the writer's part - he's showing us that there isn't any "there" there. While the kids that he's writing about aren't "bad" for the most part, they really are sort of empty, & that's frightening too. There are little touches here that are great though - the little stoner kids going to the grocery store & eating the crackers & Marshmallow Fluff - Molly jumping rope in her room because it's the thing she's been good at since she was a child - Andrew taking four hours to get ready to go to the party - three hours of that sitting around watching TV & checking the mirror. I think it's pretty hard to write well about things that are so small and yet so real. They say when you start to write, you should write about what you know, & I think McDonell has done that. So for those who say this is a book about nothing & people with no lives - I say exactly - and that's why it's so frightening. Hm - maybe it helps having grown up with upper middle class kids in Connecticut in the 80's! If you think this book is bad, go read some Danielle Steele. Seriously.