Youth in Revolt (Compilation)

Youth in Revolt, Youth in Bondage, and Youth in Exile

By: C. D. Payne

Narrated by: Richard Powers

Nick Twisp started out an honor student and ended up a fugitive.

Youth in Revolt is the three-volume journal of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming 14-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt.

As his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, the gulag of the public schools, a competitive Type-A father, murderous canines (in triplicate), and an inconvenient hair trigger on his erectile response, all while vying ardently for the affections of the beauteous Sheeni Saunders, teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad. He's smart, he's horny, he's resourceful, and he's on the loose.

Movie tie-in alert: A film adaptation starring Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad) with Justin Long, Steve Buscemi, and Ray Liotta has been announced for January 8, 2010 by the Weinstein Company.

©1995 C. D. Payne (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"An unstintingly hilarious black comedy...has all the earmarks of a classic." (Los Angeles Times)

"C.D. Payne has penned a take-no-prisoners book, and Paul Michael Garcia is the perfect reader for it.... Garcia has a little smirk in his tone that perfectly underscores the actions of young Mr. Twisp." (AudioFile)

Triple Your Fun

I love compilations. Three books for the price of one. Each of the first three books in the Youth in Revolt series is about eight hours long, an average novel length, and here you get all three. Only Book One is even available on Audible, so this is more than just a bargain, it's the only game in town for Youth in Bondage and Youth in Exile.

The last time I listened to a compilation, I really liked the material, but I felt it was too much for one straight listen, I felt the magic gradually wearing off, I felt I would have been better off listening to one book at a time. So that was my plan for Youth in Revolt. But I was enjoying it so much, I kept going -- Book Two wasn't quite as good as the first, but still chuckleworthy, and then the third entry turned out to be the best of them all.

There was a fairly popular movie version starring Michael Cera, so you may already be familiar with the first book, if you've seen it, as I have. Nick Twisp, the teenage diarist played by Cera, falls in love with the smart and gorgeous Sheeni Saunders during a summer trip, and hatches all sorts of crazy schemes to get closer to her, all of which go horribly and often hilariously awry. The highlight is Book Three, Youth in Exile, thanks to the introduction of a brilliantly conceived new character, Carlotta Ulansky.

Looking at other reviews, two things stand out -- you either love or hate this broad raunchy teen comedy, one that is as likely to offend you as it made me laugh on a regular basis. Depends I guess on how this kind of humor appeals to you -- think Porky's and American Pie as comparison points. This is not, by the way, suitable for actual teenagers -- it's too explicit, beyond R-rated.

The other thing is the recording. Yeah, problems, including a short missing section in Exile. As there is no real plot, it was of no consequence, just momentarily confusing. You think Audible would have corrected this issue by now. The narration, on the other hand, is quite alright -- if you like the material. If you don't find this funny, you're likely to hate the narration as well. Not the narrator's fault -- strictly a function of whether you love it or hate it.

Love this book!

although I don't care for the abrupt ending, that leaves a lot to be said. overall this book is amazing. I laughed my ass off and made me think and reminisce. I highly recommend a very good listen

Loved it!

What made the experience of listening to Youth in Revolt (Compilation) the most enjoyable?

I loved the wit of the Nick. The author did a great job of helping me look into the mind of a teenage boy or what I imagined it to be like. I laughed out loud so many times while listening.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, although that would be hard to do.

Great Read

I typically read crime novels or suspense thrillers. This was a nice change of pace to laugh out loud in the car while listening. And I have to disagree about the narrator. I loved his delivery, especially his French accent.

my favorite book

loved it from start to finish didn't want to stop listening. cant wait to read the sequel

True Story

I loved this true life story of a boy and his path to enlightenment.

Book two is all screwed up there are parts that are in different order and is annoying.

HYSTERICAL!!

Criminally hormonally crazed, hopelessly heterosexual (well mostly, sort of) teenagers unleashed!

Great writing with fantastic performance by Paul Michael Garcia. I enjoyed this book, but missed a lot of the funny stuff because it was just one hysterical line and situation after another. Hard to catch them all. Something to be listened to many times. I can definitely imagine this being made into a very entertaining movie. About teenagers but, as another reviewer stated, not necessarily FOR teenagers! Lots of (whoa!) racey stuff going on here.

Again, I was so impressed and so thoroughly enjoyed the narrator’s performance! Amazing talent in doing all the many voices, genders, accents, etc. in this very ambitious saga. At over 25 hours, though, this book was rather long and trying to listen to it basically all at once was somewhat of a challenge!

Voice actor is very choppy and strange

The book is fantastic as I remember from teenagerhood. The voice actor is quite choppy and strange sounding. I was convinced it was a text to speech program with inflections at first. I hope I get used to it as Im only a few chapters in but just had to come warn people.

The Essence of Male Adolescence

This ably narrated book captures the highs and lows, the fantasies (of perception and imagination), and the mindset of the male adolescent. No matter its temporal or socioeconomic setting, the novel will strike a chord with any man over 21 and any woman with brothers or sons in that difficult age.

Untitled

Ignoring the fact that I did not find the book very funny, this recording is also missing large chunks. At the end of chapters words will cut out mid sentence and then in the next chapter events have transpired that you did not hear.