Ned Vizzini | |
|---|---|
 Vizzini in 2010 | |
| Born | Edison Price Vizzini (1981-04-04)April 4, 1981 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 19, 2013(2013-12-19) (aged 32) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author |
| Education | Stuyvesant High School |
| Alma mater | Hunter College |
| Period | 1996–2013 |
| Genre | Young adult fiction |
| Notable works | |
| Spouse | Sabra Embury |
| Children | 1 |
Edison Price Vizzini (April 4, 1981 – December 19, 2013) was an American writer.[1] He was the author of fourbooks for young adults, includingIt's Kind of a Funny Story (2006), whichNPR placed at #56 in its list of the "100 Best-Ever Teen Novels"[2] and which is the basis of thefilm of the same name.
Vizzini haddepression, spending time in apsychiatric ward in his early 20s, and authoring several works about the illness. He was found dead in his nativeBrooklyn, New York after an apparentsuicide from a fall, aged 32.[1]
Vizzini grew up primarily in thePark Slope neighborhood ofBrooklyn inNew York City. He attendedStuyvesant High School inManhattan, graduating in 1999.[3] Vizzini's characters and situations are said to be based upon his time spent at Stuyvesant.[4]
Vizzini's first published work was an essay he submitted to theNew York Press, analternative newspaper, about winning honorable mention at the 1996Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.[5] As a freelance writer for the paper, he wrote about everything from family vacations to getting drunk in the street with other kids. The success of Vizzini's work earned him an invitation to contribute a teen-focused article to theNew York Times Magazine.[6]
In May 1998, Vizzini's essay "Teen Angst? Nah!" appeared inThe New York Times.[7] Following this, several of hisNew York Press columns became the core of his first book,Teen Angst? Naaah.... which is amemoir of his teenage years. It is a collection of short stories, most of which were originally published inThe New York Press andThe New York Times Magazine. The book is broken down by years covering junior high through high school and beyond.[8]
Vizzini attendedHunter College, located in Manhattan.[1]
In 2004, his first novel,Be More Chill, was published. A review in theNew York Times Book Review said thatBe More Chill, which is about a high school student named Jeremy Heere who gets a supercomputer pill in his brain that makes him cool, "is so accurate that it should come with a warning," adding that "If it weren't so funny, [Vizzini's] first novel might be too painful to read."[9]
Be More Chill was lateradapted into a musical in summer 2015, with music and lyrics byJoe Iconis. It premiered at New Jersey'sTwo River Theatre. Three years later, anOff-Broadway production opened at theSignature Theater in New York, transferring toBroadway the following February.
In 2006, Vizzini's second novel,It's Kind of a Funny Story, was published. It is based on his five-day stay in Brooklyn'sMethodist Hospital psychiatric ward.[10] The book recounts fifteen-year-old Craig Gilner's battle with suicidal depression as a result of a taxing school year at Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School that exacerbates his feeling of social inadequacy.[6] ALos Angeles Times review called the novel "impressive," noting that "Vizzini’s sense of pacing, structure and character is solid, and his casual vernacular is dead-on, simultaneously capturing the paranoia and self-obsessed negativity of depression as well as the sexual curiosity of adolescence."[11]
In 2012, Vizzini's third novelThe Other Normals was published. It is an "alternative fantasy"[12] about a teenager who falls into a fantasy world that is the basis of his favoriterole-playing game. A review inThe Austin American-Statesman said, "The sharp wit from author Ned Vizzini’s earlier works ... is on display here as well."[13]
WithNick Antosca, Vizzini wrote two episodes of the 2012 season of MTV's supernatural dramaTeen Wolf.[14]
In 2013,House of Secrets, the first novel in a middle grade fantasy series by Vizzini and filmmakerChris Columbus, was published. It debuted on theNew York Times bestseller list, where it remained for four weeks.Entertainment Weekly gave the book an "A−" review.[15]
His essays and criticism appeared inThe New York Times,[16]The Los Angeles Review of Books,[17] andSalon.[18]
Vizzini spoke at schools and libraries around the world about mental health, writing, and how students can use writing as a medicine for mental health. He spoke atUCLA;The Dalton School; theBrooklyn,New York, andChicago Public Libraries;Murray State University;NYU;The National Council of Teachers of English; and a Master's Tea atYale.[19]
Vizzini and Antosca were story editors on ABC's 2013 drama seriesLast Resort. They are the credited writers of the episode "Nuke It Out."[20]
From 2006 to 2012, Vizzini facilitated awriting workshop for localteenagers. The workshops were held monthly in aPark SlopeBarnes & Noble.[21] The teens who attended had the chance to have their work published on the group's blog, "Give Us Money."[22]
Vizzini, who often spoke and wrote about his struggles with severeclinical depression, died by suicide on December 19, 2013, in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 32.[23] The New York City chief medical examiner's office said he suffered blunt impact injuries. The writer's brother, Daniel, told reporters that Vizzini had jumped off the roof of the building where their parents lived.[24]
