Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is a fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

 young adult novel by Peter Cameron. James Sveck, the protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

, tells the reader about his life, including the reasons he became the "Missing Misfit" and is seeing the psychiatrist.

Plot

James Sveck is an isolated young adult caught in the summer before he is to begin college at Brown University. The only person in his life with whom he is able to successfully relate is his grandmother; otherwise, James prefers solitude. Cameron’s use of first person narration allows for the reader to create an intimate relationship with James as he works through his life and through the therapy sessions to which his parents have made him go. The reader learns about James’s present as he tells the events of his days, but the reader learns about his past when James’s reflects on his therapy sessions.

Characters

• James Sveck - 18 years old; lives with his mother; emotionally close to his grandmother
• Gillian Sveck - James's older sister; going into her fourth year at Barnard College
  Barnard College
  Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
  
  ; dating Rainer Maria Schultz
• Paul Sveck - James father; questions James about his sexuality
• Marjorie Dunfour - James' mother; owns gallery and is divorced from Paul Sveck (169)
• Rainer Maria Schultz - language theory professor at Brown College
• Barry Rogers - the man whom James's mother marries but she returns from the honeymoon in Las Vegas without him after he steals her credit card to use for gambling
• John Webster - works for James's mother at the art gallery (10); grew up in Georgia; went to Harvard (23)
• Dr. Rowena Adler - James' psychiatrist (65)
• Hilda Temple - mother's life coach (15)
• Miro - the family dog; black standard poodle; James feels the family talks more often to the dog than each other (15)

Awards and recognition

• American Library Association
  American Library Association
  The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
  
   (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults 2008
• Amazon.com
  Amazon.com
  Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
  
   Top 10 Editor’s Picks
• Starred reviews in Booklist
  Booklist
  Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
  
  , Hornbook, and Kirkus Reviews
  Kirkus Reviews
  Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
  
  

Film

In 2010, Jean Vigo Italia announced a film based on the book, directed by Roberto Faenza

Roberto Faenza

Roberto Faenza is an Italian film director.Born in Turin in 1943, Roberto Faenza received a degree in Political Science and a diploma at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia....

 and co-written with Cameron. Marcia Gay Harden

Marcia Gay Harden

Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...

will star as James' mother.