Punctuated with the equivocating "maybe," the valleygirl "like," and every conceivable application of "fuck," Hairstyles of the Damned is the authentic voice of the world of adolescent angst where everyone is an outcast searching for a place to call home.Joe Meno's novel is a year in the life of seventeen year old Brian, a Catholic school student, who wants more than anything to find himself and be accepted by those around him. Along the way his family falls apart, he stops talking to his best friend, he finds and is fired from a job, his new best friend becomes a hardcore stoner, he loses his virginity and then loses the girl, and he commits a series of crimes on skateboard.
Music is the driving metaphor of Hairsyles. Brian transforms himself from a serious metalhead to a punk rocker, only to realize that the non-conformists are just conforming to a different standard.
"Just because you have blue hair and fucked-up clothes doesn't mean you're better than everyone else. Because you know what? You're just conforming to someone else's code. Even though don't wear kakhis or sweaters or whatever, but to me all you guys look the same.You think you're so individualistic, but you're not. You guys...you're anti-snob snobs. But you're just as mean as the preppy kids. You're all just as fucking lame."Whether a preppy, punk rocker, jock, straightedge, cheerleader, stoner, or something else, high school, Brian discovers, is all about belonging.
Hairstyles of the Damned is a must read for parents, teachers, and all those graduated from highschool in the last twenty years.
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