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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Street violence and threatening situations in gritty 1980s New York
Language
A lot
Heavy profanity throughout; the title is indicative of the register
Sexual Content
Some
Adult sexual content; casual relationships and frank treatment
Substance Use
A lot
Heavy drug and alcohol use; substance use is central to the protagonist's life
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The grinding psychological weight of directionlessness, poverty, and the particular failure of young adult life
What this book is about
An unnamed twenty-something New Yorker drifts through the city's underbelly — losing jobs, apartments, and relationships while scraping by on the margins. Nersesian's cult novel of 1990s downtown Manhattan is raw, funny, and bleakly honest about what it feels like to be young and going nowhere in a city that doesn't care.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Heavy profanity
Heavy drug and alcohol use
Adult content
Gritty downtown NYC setting
Reader Verification
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