>>15
This anon sums it up rather well. This book was required reading for me back in high school, and at the time it struck me as terrible. I think it's because I was completely unable to empathize with the supposed protagonist; A complete loser and unabashed screw up, who used curse words like they were conjunctions.
The whole book put me in the mind of a kid trying to get attention by acting out, only in book form.