{"product_id":"9780615434216","title":"Misspent Youth","description":"David Mazzotta's third novel continues his comic exploration of the benign absurdity of normal life. His first, \u003cem\u003eApple Pie\u003c\/em\u003e, looked at questions of identity and ethnicity in a college setting. The second \u003cem\u003eBusiness As Usual\u003c\/em\u003e, took on topics of mortality and fortune amidst a corporate meltdown. Painting with his broadest brush yet, \u003cem\u003eMisspent Youth\u003c\/em\u003e presents an interconnected ensemble of all ages meandering through a few months of daily life in a leafy suburban community. \u003cp\u003eBilly, a weary lothario, is taking the plunge into standard domestic life -- although it's not really a plunge, more of a toe-by-toe wade into the shallow end. This tentative behavior is the source of great anxiety to Marlene, his do-it-all, single-mom girlfriend. Her impossibly precocious but behaviorally troubled daughter, Missy, is a concern for both of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBilly gets entangled in the machinations of the other denizens of the neighborhood veldt -- adults indulging their impulses; children bent by the burdens of the world. Without a native's understanding of communal norms and manners, Billy shuffles and sidesteps through carnal temptations, civil disobedience, and outright criminality before finding his place.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMisspent Youth\u003c\/em\u003e lovingly satirizes the happy desperation of 21st Century middle America.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"damWords","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47019116003568,"sku":"9780615434216","price":9.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780615434216_p0.jpg?v=1763597750","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780615434216","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}