Paranoid Park

I've been looking forward to checking out Paranoid Park on DVD, but before I could make that move, I first needed to read the novel.

And now that I have, I really want to see the movie.

The book is gripping--just the kind of nail biter I crave. In Portland, the lives of "streeters" and "preps" converge at a sketchy, downtown skate park. The story opens like a wound, with a crime that compels the reader to the final pages, waiting for the already disintegrating world of one "prep" skater to unravel completely. Will it? Or will life somehow work out less disastrously for our teen skater? Is that even possible? Maybe, no matter what occurs, things cannot possibly work out. It's a lot to think about. And obsess over. Maybe enough to drive one to paranoia. But with good reason.

Once started, I couldn't put it down.
Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson, 2006 Penguin/Viking.