Did you keep a diary during your teen years? Do you have a box of loopy-cursive, never-sent notes to your crush? Or some overwrought poetry about your bleak existence? An unfinished rockopera? Well, you’re not alone, and inCringe, you’ll find a reason to unearth your adolescent angst and have a good laugh—at yourself. A compilation of real teenage diary and journal entries, letters, songs, stories, and lists—along with biting commentary, background, and self-examination from the now so-called grown-ups who wrote them—Cringeoffers a voyeuristic glimpse at the roller coaster of youth in all of its navel-gazing, soul-searching, social-skewering glory. Cringe -worthy excerpts include Really bad poetry: I lumber like the sad clown with the hope that my performance might make you smile. Yet I am a flickering star over a cloudy sky. Blush-inducing pep talks: OK. It’s the end of February. No more kidding around! You have to go out with someone! You
