Youth in Revolt
Encyclopedia
Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp is a 1993
epistolary novel
by C. D. Payne. The story is told in a picaresque fashion and makes heavy use of black humor and camp
. The book contains parts one through three of a six-part series (the three sequential parts were published as three separate books).
Nova
that dies soon after the sailors get it. In response, the sailors go for revenge. After outsmarting them, Jerry strategically decides to take a vacation, so they all go to a religious mobile home camp.
It is there that Nick meets Sheridan "Sheeni" Saunders and his life is turned completely upside down. Through plots to get Sheeni closer to him he ends up with several crimes on his hands and is forced to run from the police. He tricks everyone into thinking he went to India, thereby escaping the police. Nick hides out with his sister Joanie and returns with help from his friend in Ukiah, Frank "Fuzzy" DeFalco. He dresses in Fuzzy's late grandmother's clothes, adopting the name Carlotta and a conservative disposition. As he does so, he befriends Sheeni and several other people who Nick knew before. While spending the night with Sheeni on Christmas Eve
, she reveals to him that she knew from the beginning it was him, not Carlotta. He then gets "the best Christmas present a youth could receive
," starting a secret relationship with Sheeni.
He inherits a fortune when an elderly neighbor of Nick's older sister takes a liking to Nick and decides to put him in her will. When she dies Nick is briefly left half a million dollars richer, until his mother's boyfriend, a somewhat corrupt police officer, seizes the money. Faced with homelessness from the loss of the house he had been squatting in, he becomes rich beyond belief when an idea of his, a wart watch, makes it big.
and Fox television worked together on a television show based on the book. A pilot was filmed, but it was never developed further.
and directed by Miguel Arteta
. Michael Cera
stars in the role of Nick Twisp, newcomer Portia Doubleday
plays Sheeni Saunders, Ray Liotta
is Lance Wescott, Jean Smart
is Estelle Twisp, Steve Buscemi
is George Twisp, and Erik Knudsen
is Leroy "Lefty". Justin Long
plays Paul Saunders, Sheeni's older brother. The movie was filmed in Michigan. The locations were Royal Oak, Michigan
, Rochester, Michigan
, Frankfort
, Lake Leelanau RV Park, Interlochen, Lake Ann
, Ferndale
, Detroit, South Lyon, Ann Arbor, Wixom
, Brighton
, and Hazel Park
. It was released on January 8, 2010.
1993 in literature
The year 1993 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Professor Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, becomes the longest running book on the bestseller list of The Sunday Times....
epistolary novel
Epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...
by C. D. Payne. The story is told in a picaresque fashion and makes heavy use of black humor and camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
. The book contains parts one through three of a six-part series (the three sequential parts were published as three separate books).
Plot summary
The book's protagonist is Nicholas "Nick" Twisp, a 14-year-old boy of above-average intelligence. His life continues like a normal teenager's with his best friend Leroy, a.k.a. Lefty, and his divorced parents George and Estelle. His mother is dating a truck driver named Jerry, who sells a group of sailors a ChevyChevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
Nova
Chevrolet Nova
The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a compact automobile manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors produced in four generations for the 1962 through 1979 model years. Nova was the top model in the Chevy II lineup through 1968. The Chevy II nameplate was dropped, Nova becoming the...
that dies soon after the sailors get it. In response, the sailors go for revenge. After outsmarting them, Jerry strategically decides to take a vacation, so they all go to a religious mobile home camp.
It is there that Nick meets Sheridan "Sheeni" Saunders and his life is turned completely upside down. Through plots to get Sheeni closer to him he ends up with several crimes on his hands and is forced to run from the police. He tricks everyone into thinking he went to India, thereby escaping the police. Nick hides out with his sister Joanie and returns with help from his friend in Ukiah, Frank "Fuzzy" DeFalco. He dresses in Fuzzy's late grandmother's clothes, adopting the name Carlotta and a conservative disposition. As he does so, he befriends Sheeni and several other people who Nick knew before. While spending the night with Sheeni on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, she reveals to him that she knew from the beginning it was him, not Carlotta. He then gets "the best Christmas present a youth could receive
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
," starting a secret relationship with Sheeni.
He inherits a fortune when an elderly neighbor of Nick's older sister takes a liking to Nick and decides to put him in her will. When she dies Nick is briefly left half a million dollars richer, until his mother's boyfriend, a somewhat corrupt police officer, seizes the money. Faced with homelessness from the loss of the house he had been squatting in, he becomes rich beyond belief when an idea of his, a wart watch, makes it big.
Characters
- Nicholas "Nick" Twisp - The 14-year-old protagonist. The novel is told through his journal entries. Nick is a cynical teen who pines for Sheeni Saunders. He creates, throughout the story, two alter egos: Francois and Carlotta. Francois is the "bad side" and Carlotta is the relatively "feminine side".
- François Dillinger - Nick's FrenchFrench peopleThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
bad side. The first name comes from Sheeni's prediction that her French future husband will have that name. - Carlotta Ulansky - Nick's feminineFemininityFemininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
side, got the last name from an elderly woman he met at his sister Joanie's apartment building. Dresses in Fuzzy's late grandmother's clothes, Nick later passes off as Carlotta. - Sheridan "Sheeni" Saunders - A 14-year-old girl who is the object of Nick's desire.
- Estelle Twisp - Nick's neuroticNeurosisNeurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
mother, an employee of the DMVDepartment of Motor VehiclesIn the United States of America, a Department of Motor Vehicles is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Similar departments exist in Canada...
. - George Twisp - Nick's alcoholic father, a failed writer who dates hot young women and neglects his child support duties.
- Joanie Twisp - Nick's crudely rebellious 18-year-old sister who lives in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with her boyfriend Dr. Philip. - Mr. Elwyn Saunders - Sheeni's strict lawyer father. He also is quick to anger, not fond of Nick, but likes Trent.
- Mrs. Saunders - Sheeni's religious mother, also is not fond of Nick, but she accepts Trent.
- Trent Preston - Nick's arch nemesis, former boyfriend/current friend of Sheeni (with whom she is still in love)
- Lacey - George's dim-witted 19-year-old girlfriend who works as a stylist.
- Paul Saunders - Sheeni's psychedelicPsychedelicThe term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
older brother, who speaks in riddles, but is alone able to see through all of Nick's machinations. He has designs on Lacey. - Frank "Fuzzy" DeFalco - Nick's friend in Ukiah. His father owns a concrete company and is having an affair with a female employee. His mother, in retaliation, has a brief affair with George Twisp.
- Vijay Joshi - Nick's friend, and later rival, in Ukiah. He is from India and is a Republican (he later claims to be a Democrat in an effort to woo Sheeni).
- Apurva Joshi - Vijay's 16-year-old sister, who in Nick's eyes, is second to only Sheeni in beauty. She is Trent's girlfriend.
- Jud Ferguson - Nick's next-door-neighbor in Oakland. He later moves to Ukiah, renting the extra bedroom in George Twisp's house, so he can support the concrete worker's strike (the DeFalco concrete company).
Sequels
The book has three sequels. The first is Revolting Youth: The Further Journals of Nick Twisp, a book that is roughly the size of one of the three books that make up Youth in Revolt. The second is Young and Revolting: The Continental Journeys of Nick Twisp, and the last book in the series is Revoltingly Young: The Journals of Nick Twisp's Younger Brother, which picks up thirteen years after the events in Young and Revolting.Cut material
Additionally, Cut to the Twisp: The Lost Parts of Youth In Revolt and Other Stories features all of the material that was edited out of post-1993 editions of the first three volumes that make up Youth in Revolt, as well as other short works by Payne.Stage play
Youth in Revolt was adapted into an unsuccessful stage play in 1994 by Carl Hamilton and Bob Warden of Box Car Productions. It had its premier at the Cable Car Theater in San Francisco in 1994. It has also been produced in Denver and several locations throughout Northern California with greater success. It is based on the first book, Youth in Revolt.TV pilot
In 1998, MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and Fox television worked together on a television show based on the book. A pilot was filmed, but it was never developed further.
Film adaptation
In March 2004, a film adaptation of the book was announced, written by Gustin NashGustin Nash
Gustin Nash is an American screenwriter best known for writing the 2007 film Charlie Bartlett and the 2010 film Youth in Revolt.-Life and career:...
and directed by Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film Chuck & Buck , for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.-Early life:...
. Michael Cera
Michael Cera
Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in Arrested Development, Youth in Revolt, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno. Cera received the 2008 Canadian Comedy Award for best male performance for his work in Superbad.-Early...
stars in the role of Nick Twisp, newcomer Portia Doubleday
Portia Doubleday
Portia Doubleday is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the 2009 film Youth in Revolt as Sheeni Saunders and in the 2011 film Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son as Jasmine.-Life and career:...
plays Sheeni Saunders, Ray Liotta
Ray Liotta
[File:Ray Liotta is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Henry Hill in the crime-drama Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams...
is Lance Wescott, Jean Smart
Jean Smart
Jean E. Smart is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her comedic roles, one of the best known being her role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women. She later gained critical acclaim for dramatic work, with her portrayal of Martha Logan on 24...
is Estelle Twisp, Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
is George Twisp, and Erik Knudsen
Erik Knudsen
Erik Kenneth William Knudsen is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Daniel Matthews in Saw II and Robbie Mercer in Scream 4 and played Dale Turner in the CBS series Jericho.-Life and career:...
is Leroy "Lefty". Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
plays Paul Saunders, Sheeni's older brother. The movie was filmed in Michigan. The locations were Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak, Michigan
Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 57,236. It should not be confused with Royal Oak Charter Township, a separate community located nearby....
, Rochester, Michigan
Rochester, Michigan
Rochester is an affluent city in north Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan on the northern outskirts of metro Detroit. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census...
, Frankfort
Frankfort, Michigan
Frankfort is a city in Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,513 at the 2000 census. The elevation of Frankfort is above sea level. The city is situated with Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Betsie, formed by the Betsie River before flowing into Lake Michigan, on the...
, Lake Leelanau RV Park, Interlochen, Lake Ann
Lake Ann, Michigan
Lake Ann is a village in Benzie County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 276. The village is located within Almira Township.-Geography:...
, Ferndale
Ferndale, Michigan
Ferndale is adjacent to the cities of Detroit to the south, Oak Park to the west, Hazel Park to the east, Pleasant Ridge to the north, Royal Oak Township to the southwest, and Royal Oak to the north....
, Detroit, South Lyon, Ann Arbor, Wixom
Wixom, Michigan
Wixom is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 13,498 at the 2010 census. The city was home to the former Wixom Assembly Plant, which produced the Lincoln LS, the Ford Thunderbird, the Ford GT, and the Lincoln Town Car...
, Brighton
Brighton, Michigan
Brighton is a principal satellite city of Metro Detroit located in the southeast portion of Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,444. Brighton forms part of the South Lyon-Howell-Brighton Urban Area...
, and Hazel Park
Hazel Park, Michigan
Hazel Park is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 16,422. Hazel Park was incorporated in 1941 and bills itself as "The Friendly City"....
. It was released on January 8, 2010.