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Good Kids
At fifteen, Josh Paquette and Khadijah Silverglate-Dunn catch Josh’s father and Khadijah’s mother kissing in a natural foods store. As both of their families fall apart, the teenagers sign a pact never to cheat on anyone, ever. They have no problem keeping the vow—until they meet again at twenty-eight, both struggling with career and identity, and both engaged to other people.
Acclaimed author Benjamin Nugent’s fiction debut is a hilarious, sad, handsomely plotted story of love and class. Stylistically adventurous but always accessible, Nugent trains a keen ear on the vernaculars of Generation Y and the baby boomers, as the young and middle-aged try to decide what parenting, background, and loyalty mean in an America struggling to redefine virtue.
Acclaimed author Benjamin Nugent’s fiction debut is a hilarious, sad, handsomely plotted story of love and class. Stylistically adventurous but always accessible, Nugent trains a keen ear on the vernaculars of Generation Y and the baby boomers, as the young and middle-aged try to decide what parenting, background, and loyalty mean in an America struggling to redefine virtue.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
December 12, 2018
Hipsters in some sort of peril. Deep, sad, disillusioned (but I suppose inevitable) sigh...
September 21, 2012
Here's what happened when I started reading this book: I started and didn't want to put it down. Kept thinking up reasons to go home and pick it up again. Kept thinking, through the course of my day, about when I was going to go home and pick it up again. It's one of those books, where once it was done I felt sad but also deeply aware of why I'd wanted to become a writer at all--which is to say, because I wanted to give other people the experience I'd just had, of wanting to return to the world of a book over and over again. Here's why I kept wanting in: it's really really funny, for starters, in that way that being funny comes from such a fine-grained sensitivity to how people mess themselves up and mess up other things, how desperately they want each other's approval and how thoroughly they end up sabotaging that too. Which is to say: it's the kind of humor that isn't cheap but rather painfully earned by close attention. The world of the book is rich, surprising, compelling. LA and tigers and liberal New England and teenage scheming in the woods. It's funny until suddenly you get blindsided by some moment of insight or beauty that comes at you from the side, makes you realize you're in the hands of a powerful writer who has a deep sense of how these folks are yearning and hurting. It feels dense--at once, somehow--with heart and absurdity in equal measure.
March 23, 2013
Before even opening this book, I had my doubts. One of the blurbs on the back cover described it as a "literary romantic comedy" which is more accurate than I first realized. Yup, it's a rom-com, but it's literary so don't hold out for such a happy ending.
I wasn't surprised to see that the author was also an essayist, because Good Kids has some great thematic elements--and sort of terrible characters. It's such a fine line between nailing the archetype and getting stuck with a stereotype, and this book definitely skews toward the latter.
The book is saved by having some really nicely constructed parallels, the best of which remained subtle and implied and still interesting.
Also--and this seems like an absurd note for a book that reeks of academia--but this book needs to be edited again for continuity and small errors. Maybe I'm just stuck in fact-checking mode (I definitely am), but small things like how characters get home, and the fact that a man in an MG thinks that its German (Is this a character thing? Or is it just sloppiness? What about where Josh drives his car to meet Julie and leaves in her car. What happens to his Volvo?). If you can't keep the verifiable and simple things straight, how is the reader supposed to trust that the details about the cool and young are correct or believable (This reader didn't think they were, due to the details all being slightly wrong, but the author shouldn't make things harder on himself than they need to be)?
I wasn't surprised to see that the author was also an essayist, because Good Kids has some great thematic elements--and sort of terrible characters. It's such a fine line between nailing the archetype and getting stuck with a stereotype, and this book definitely skews toward the latter.
The book is saved by having some really nicely constructed parallels, the best of which remained subtle and implied and still interesting.
Also--and this seems like an absurd note for a book that reeks of academia--but this book needs to be edited again for continuity and small errors. Maybe I'm just stuck in fact-checking mode (I definitely am), but small things like how characters get home, and the fact that a man in an MG thinks that its German (Is this a character thing? Or is it just sloppiness? What about where Josh drives his car to meet Julie and leaves in her car. What happens to his Volvo?). If you can't keep the verifiable and simple things straight, how is the reader supposed to trust that the details about the cool and young are correct or believable (This reader didn't think they were, due to the details all being slightly wrong, but the author shouldn't make things harder on himself than they need to be)?
February 2, 2013
To slightly corrupt a cliché, the sins of the parents are visited upon the children. Josh Paquette and Khadijah Silverglate-Dunn are 15-year-old high school classmates who one afternoon spy Josh's father kissing Khadijah's mother in a natural foods store. The realization that their parents are having an affair creates a strange bond and a tenuous friendship between the two, although Josh finds himself wanting more from their relationship. One afternoon the two sign a vow never to cheat while in a relationship, and although Khadijah and her mother move away from town shortly thereafter, both are committed to keeping this vow.
As he enters adulthood, Josh finds himself becoming a musician, drawn into any world that doesn't resemble his father's socialist-leaning life in which dreams are talked about constantly but never pursued. Josh follows his new band to Los Angeles, and after the semi-successful group breaks up a few years later, he meets Julie, the host of a wry animal show on a local cable network. After a series of comical miscommunications, the two begin a serious relationship which survives the couple's serious-but-playful banter as well as Josh's inability to pursue any type of career. (He's able to sustain himself somewhat on royalty checks from his band's one hit song, which is used frequently in the entertainment world.)
Soon, the two get engaged and plan a future together, complete with three children. But the strains of coming from two different backgrounds start to pull at them, and their problems aren't helped when Khadijah, whom Josh hasn't seen in 13 years, comes to Los Angeles to visit her fianc&233;, one of Josh'a acquaintances. Both are committed to keeping the vow they made when they were teenagers, but the tug of fascination with their past and what could have been make keeping those vows more difficult than they imagined.
"It's better if you don't place your faith in a vision of how things are going to be," Josh says. "The shock of what happens can be superior to any concept you had in your head at the start."
I really enjoyed this book, and thought Benjamin Nugent did a great job laying out the story and creating interesting, complex characters. (Most of them, at least.) I really liked the beginning and the end of the book, as I was intrigued by how Josh and Khadijah's discovery of their parents' infidelity and the aftermath of this discovery would unfold, and when they encountered each other again as adults, I wondered whether Nugent would surprise me. I felt parts of the book dragged a bit, mainly those involving Josh's father, whom I found immensely irritating and one-note. But Josh's struggles have many layers, and even though I don't tend to like characters who seem somewhat rudderless in their lives, I was completely engaged in his story.
It's amazing how many ways relationships can go, even when they're succeeding or failing. Nugent is a wry observer of human foibles, particularly where relationships are concerned, and I look forward to seeing what else he comes up with in the future.
As he enters adulthood, Josh finds himself becoming a musician, drawn into any world that doesn't resemble his father's socialist-leaning life in which dreams are talked about constantly but never pursued. Josh follows his new band to Los Angeles, and after the semi-successful group breaks up a few years later, he meets Julie, the host of a wry animal show on a local cable network. After a series of comical miscommunications, the two begin a serious relationship which survives the couple's serious-but-playful banter as well as Josh's inability to pursue any type of career. (He's able to sustain himself somewhat on royalty checks from his band's one hit song, which is used frequently in the entertainment world.)
Soon, the two get engaged and plan a future together, complete with three children. But the strains of coming from two different backgrounds start to pull at them, and their problems aren't helped when Khadijah, whom Josh hasn't seen in 13 years, comes to Los Angeles to visit her fianc&233;, one of Josh'a acquaintances. Both are committed to keeping the vow they made when they were teenagers, but the tug of fascination with their past and what could have been make keeping those vows more difficult than they imagined.
"It's better if you don't place your faith in a vision of how things are going to be," Josh says. "The shock of what happens can be superior to any concept you had in your head at the start."
I really enjoyed this book, and thought Benjamin Nugent did a great job laying out the story and creating interesting, complex characters. (Most of them, at least.) I really liked the beginning and the end of the book, as I was intrigued by how Josh and Khadijah's discovery of their parents' infidelity and the aftermath of this discovery would unfold, and when they encountered each other again as adults, I wondered whether Nugent would surprise me. I felt parts of the book dragged a bit, mainly those involving Josh's father, whom I found immensely irritating and one-note. But Josh's struggles have many layers, and even though I don't tend to like characters who seem somewhat rudderless in their lives, I was completely engaged in his story.
It's amazing how many ways relationships can go, even when they're succeeding or failing. Nugent is a wry observer of human foibles, particularly where relationships are concerned, and I look forward to seeing what else he comes up with in the future.
August 10, 2013
I couldn't actually bring myself to finish this, so maybe it's wrong to mark it 'read' and give it two stars. I haven't quit a book since the '90s. But I have so little to rebel against, why not rebel against goodreads.
I only give the very worst of the worst bad books one star, so I should justify why this earned an additional star. It's written well, structurally? Like, it's not well-written, to make it interesting: the author has no voice and the story has no tension. But it is written well in that way that would have made your high school English teacher proud. So I guess the English teacher in me feels this deserves two stars. The rest of me is going to read something else now.
Note to future self, or anyone who cares: I made it page 92 or so, tried to skim, died from boredom, wrote this review from beyond the grave.
I only give the very worst of the worst bad books one star, so I should justify why this earned an additional star. It's written well, structurally? Like, it's not well-written, to make it interesting: the author has no voice and the story has no tension. But it is written well in that way that would have made your high school English teacher proud. So I guess the English teacher in me feels this deserves two stars. The rest of me is going to read something else now.
Note to future self, or anyone who cares: I made it page 92 or so, tried to skim, died from boredom, wrote this review from beyond the grave.
August 1, 2012
So disappointed by this book! The beginning was promising: funny, and clever, and sad, but midway through the book I just stopped caring about the characters. Josh became sort of unbearable: a smug, navel-gazing Wes Anderson movie times 3. I wish the end had matched the start.
February 22, 2019
The conflict is that the two main characters parents are having an affair.
May 25, 2015
"Literary romantic comedy" were the three words that drew me to this book (found on the back in a quote). Nugent's writing is beautiful, funny, and engaging. I could barely put this down, and then found myself trying to put off reading it because it's only 200 pages long and I didn't want to finish it. The dialogue is punchy, vivid, and often cinematic.
Towards the end, the narrator gets a little rambly/philosophical in a way that I think could have been better accomplished told through the plot instead, but I still recommend this book for a light, funny read. It brings me joy that there is a book out on the market that manages to capture so many genres that I admire in one.
Towards the end, the narrator gets a little rambly/philosophical in a way that I think could have been better accomplished told through the plot instead, but I still recommend this book for a light, funny read. It brings me joy that there is a book out on the market that manages to capture so many genres that I admire in one.
August 13, 2014
What a great writer! Will look for more by this author. ending was a bit, meh, but didn't take away from my enjoyment of the whole novel. recommend.
Read
January 12, 2021First zero-starred rating ever for me on Goodreads. Book was absolute dreck. Not worth wasting any additional words.
November 30, 2022
Josh Paquette and Khadijah Silverglate-Dunn are two fifteen-year-old kids living in the 1990’s. Josh’s father and Khadijah’s mother are having an affair and because of this, the two teens vow never to cheat on anyone for the rest of their lives. Later, when Josh and Khadijah are in their twenties and meet again after a long time apart, they are each engaged to other people and have a difficult time keeping true to their childhood vows to one another once the spark is re-ignited and they find themselves becoming entangled with one another.
Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd, has crafted a mostly effective tale which is part dramedy and part coming-of-age that will have you re-living your childhood if you’re a nineties kid and even if you’re not, it will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever tried to forge their own adult life and deal with the sea of complex nuances that come with it.
Nugent’s writing is pretty solid and had me laughing out loud and sharing passages (one involving a cock ring of all things) with people I was on a road trip with. If I had any complaints, it would be that for some reason, the latter half of the book didn’t really contain the same punch as the beginning half. The book was pretty short and seemed almost more of a novella, so I think it could have been drawn out a little longer to wrap things up more neatly.
Still, if you’re a fan of Baumbach films, this book would be for you. It has that same sort of feel that you get when you watch The Squid and The Whale or The Life Aquatic.
Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd, has crafted a mostly effective tale which is part dramedy and part coming-of-age that will have you re-living your childhood if you’re a nineties kid and even if you’re not, it will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever tried to forge their own adult life and deal with the sea of complex nuances that come with it.
Nugent’s writing is pretty solid and had me laughing out loud and sharing passages (one involving a cock ring of all things) with people I was on a road trip with. If I had any complaints, it would be that for some reason, the latter half of the book didn’t really contain the same punch as the beginning half. The book was pretty short and seemed almost more of a novella, so I think it could have been drawn out a little longer to wrap things up more neatly.
Still, if you’re a fan of Baumbach films, this book would be for you. It has that same sort of feel that you get when you watch The Squid and The Whale or The Life Aquatic.
December 22, 2020
"Literary romantic comedy" is one of the blurb excerpts quoted by many other reviewers, here -- a romantic comedy this book is NOT. It's an ugly, disillusioned tragedy in which the characters have wry senses of humor. Their attempts at comedy read, ultimately, sad and self-loathing.
That said, this book *is* literary. It's realistic, though ugly (and each character deeply flawed), and it's concerned with the nature of hope, the past, etc. -- individuals' models of understanding and controlling the world. A seemingly superficial concern with partisanship is actually, explicitly, a proxy for cultural differences in how we see ourselves as heroes in our narratives of who we are.
Ultimately, I'm landing on the side of this being a worthy book, despite the fact that I didn't like it very much. I find it hard to recommend, unless you loved The Catcher in the Rye -- this book is almost certainly in that literary conversation.
That said, this book *is* literary. It's realistic, though ugly (and each character deeply flawed), and it's concerned with the nature of hope, the past, etc. -- individuals' models of understanding and controlling the world. A seemingly superficial concern with partisanship is actually, explicitly, a proxy for cultural differences in how we see ourselves as heroes in our narratives of who we are.
Ultimately, I'm landing on the side of this being a worthy book, despite the fact that I didn't like it very much. I find it hard to recommend, unless you loved The Catcher in the Rye -- this book is almost certainly in that literary conversation.
April 20, 2018
"Funny, how after dire events you could simultaneously rise and fall in your own estimation. Maybe this was how you moved through adulthood - always walking both direction at once, toward redemption and hell."
Benjamin Nugent is clearly a good writer, but every single character in this book is exhausting.
Benjamin Nugent is clearly a good writer, but every single character in this book is exhausting.
May 23, 2017
Listened to the Audio version . (Charlie Thurston narrator) Had a hard time remembering the characters names.
It ended just zap like that.
Is Josh 's homeless lifestyle caused by the way he was raised and his parents infidelity.?
It ended just zap like that.
Is Josh 's homeless lifestyle caused by the way he was raised and his parents infidelity.?
February 18, 2018
Enjoyable, in the way I like to watch cheesy television i.e. 90210 or Melrose place. Finished book in a couple of days - was an easy read.
March 12, 2018
Great storyteller.
April 6, 2018
This book was decent. I liked that it was a pretty quick read and that it tried to stay true to life. The ending was pretty true-to-life as well, but not satisfying at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2019
I enjoyed this book all the way through. However, I felt like it ended abruptly.
July 16, 2019
It was ok. I really lost interest about halfway in the book.
August 29, 2019
Wow, this was.... not great.
March 4, 2021
Eh... A 3 but barely... Got to the end and thought, what was the point? Not enough of an arc. Fortunately it was a pretty quick listen.
Read
May 8, 2021Great coming of age story that made me understand the quote "he who fears corruption fears life" - Saul Alinsky
September 9, 2022
I wanted more out of it but it was nicely written. Super funny and definitely recommend
September 26, 2022
Deserving of its low rating, I’m sorry to say.
May 20, 2023
Loved the first part of the book when the character were still in high school, the rest was less compelling
March 26, 2024
Not my usual type of book, but still enjoyed it for the most part.
April 16, 2025
I liked the 1st half, but after I just lost total interest.
May 18, 2025
Super fun n and out read, language made the characters feel real like clearly the author knows their worlds, took awhile to get going.
February 9, 2026
2.5 stars. Interesting beginning and then meandered along to a lackluster end
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews