false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg 175887 13 On the surface, Nick McDonell's debut novel <I>Twelve</I> (written when the well-connected former prep-schooler was 17) feels like an East Coast <I>Less Than Zero</I>: the laconic style and episodic plot; the privileged ennui, drugs, and pop culture sensibility (with sprinklings of Prada, FUBU, North Face, and Nokia replacing <I>Zero</I>'s Armani, English Beat T-shirts, Wayfarer sunglasses, and Betamax); the Christmas break setting; even the italicized flashbacks--it's all there. But <I>Twelve</I> also shares its casual, youthful arrogance with the jaded aggressiveness and jagged style of Larry Clark's <I>Kids</I>.<p>McDonell has crafted a pulsing narrative that clips along at an after-hours pace, pulling the reader along like an ominous rip tide, shifting easily from the Upper East Side to Harlem to Central Park to introduce a cast of loosely connected characters. White Mike, <I>Twelve</I>'s clean-living, Cheerios-loving, milkshake-drinking drug dealer, drives the majority of the barely-there plot. ("Mike uses a teaspoon to eat his cereal, not a big soup spoon, because he likes to have less milk in his mouth with each bite" is about as deep as it gets.) Character development is limited to an easy shorthand ("Long legs, large breasts, blond hair, blue eyes, high cheekbones.") that results in a simple surface-skimming, leaving one too many caricatures of the very youth culture McDonell is writing about. Readers will see the blood-spattered, penultimate set piece coming down Fifth Avenue from page one, but any potential shock value or drama is immediately deflated in <I>Twelve</I>'s head-scratching hangover of a denouement. <I>--Brad Thomas Parsons</I> 1271907 book 2002 Twelve total:508|5:48|4:126|3:181|2:107|1:46| 508 1547 708 81 588651 0802140122 9780802140128 114 19 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176064031m/588651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588651.Twelve 2 2 false Tue Jun 12 23:33:16 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 23:35:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 588651 0802140122 9780802140128 114 19 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176064031m/588651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588651.Twelve 5 0 false Mon Nov 23 12:52:19 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 07:26:24 -0800 2009 more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 2 0 false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 03:22:36 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 03:35:45 -0700 2009 The world of privledged teenagers in New...more...]]> 588651 0802140122 9780802140128 114 19 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176064031m/588651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588651.Twelve 4 0 false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 20:02:15 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 12:04:41 -0700 2009
It's definitely is a book of its own generation and might go down as one of the definitive ones. It's that good. The spirit of the story is re...more...]]> 588651 0802140122 9780802140128 114 19 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176064031m/588651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588651.Twelve 1 3 false Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Wed May 30 08:06:26 -0700 2007 Wed May 30 08:08:50 -0700 2007 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 0 1 false Sun Sep 13 19:56:30 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 16:37:37 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 19:56:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 2 0 false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 19:13:01 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 20:04:48 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 3 0 false Sun Aug 23 18:30:52 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 18:36:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 588651 0802140122 9780802140128 114 19 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176064031m/588651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588651.Twelve 3 0 false Fri Mar 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jan 16 12:49:39 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 13 11:06:56 -0700 2009 This was an extremely quick and easy read that I really couldn't put down.
I have to say I was disappointed with the ending. I thou...more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 1 1 false Sat Sep 06 10:52:27 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 06 10:54:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 588651 0802140122 9780802140128 114 19 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176064031m/588651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/588651.Twelve 3 0 false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 00:36:39 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 01:26:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 927137 0802117171 9780802117175 39 7 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179518521m/927137.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/927137.Twelve 2 0 false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Tue Dec 02 20:41:51 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 20:45:06 -0800 2008 2 Looking back, it wasn't that fant...more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 2 0 true Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 21:34:11 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 21:36:22 -0700 2009 once more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 4 0 false Tue Aug 25 10:09:09 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 10:21:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 2 0 false Sun Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 13:41:07 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 14:45:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 4 0 false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 12:29:42 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 12:31:50 -0700 2009 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 2 0 false Fri Aug 07 11:48:19 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 17:37:01 -0700 2009 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 3 0 false Sat Aug 22 17:16:12 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 17:17:11 -0700 2009 927137 0802117171 9780802117175 39 7 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179518521m/927137.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/927137.Twelve 4 0 false Sat Jan 31 12:46:55 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 04:22:17 -0800 2009 175887 184354072X 9781843540724 302 50 3.05 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172438674m/175887.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/175887.Twelve 4 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Aug 19 14:58:03 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 15:02:47 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=175887