I looked over at Gretchen driving and she was starting to sing the next song, 'Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?' by the Clash again, and I said, 'I love driving around with you, Gretchen,' but because the radio was so loud all she could do was see my mouth move.

We were in her crappy car and singing, and at the end of the song 'White Riot,' the one by the Clash, I realized by the way I was watching her mouth pucker and her smile and her eyes blink and wink, we were way more than friends, at least to me. The other problem I had was that I was falling in love with my best friend, Gretchen, who I thought the rest of the world considered fat. Hairstyles, despite its small initial printing, still gained a following among readers who know something about feeling like an outcast and finding solace in punk music.Įxcerpt from Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno (contains some graphic language):

Meno has some choice words for 'conservative' publishers such as Judith Regan, warning against the reluctance to publish riskier material. Hairstyles of the Damned started off at a significantly less well known publisher with only 4,000 copies to start. The main character, Brian, attends Catholic school and pines after his best friend Gretchen, a punk-loving brawler who 'the rest of the world considered fat.' The music they listen to - by the Misfits, Ramones, Black Flag - provides the soundtrack for their struggles.Ī previous novel by Meno, How the Hula Girl Sings, was published by St. Hairstyles is an autobiographical tale about growing up in the '90s on Chicago's South Side. Scott Simon talks with the novel's author, Joe Meno. With almost no major reviews or marketing, the coming-of-age story Hairstyles of the Damned has sold 20,000 copies and gone into its third printing.

Hairstyles of the damned by joe meno