The schtick is that two friends are stuck in their hometown after high school, not really knowing what they want to do with the rest of their lives and having limited options available to them. So to fill in the time before inspiration strikes, they sit around in a diner, being mean about people who can't stick up for themselves, making homophobic remarks and just generally hating anything. Not a single positive thing was said throughout this book; it was all just boring negativity.
I couldn't find a single thing to like about the two characters. They were boring and hated everything.
The artwork was weird. People are drawn in a really creepy way, with peculiar lips and once I noticed the lip thing I couldn't un-notice it. 90% of the artwork is just a series of talking heads saying mean things about other people. There's very little variation.
I haven't seen the film (with Thora Birch and Scarlett Johannson), but I think this might be a rare example of the film being better than the book. There were some aspects that I thought would work better on film and I could see those two actresses maybe making something of the characters.
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1-star is the fact that it captures the sense of post-school, pre-rest-of-life small-town ennui perfectly. But unfortunately boredom isn't something I like to read about.
2 stars